Gareth Clements: Larne's success started with Tiernan Lynch - we never doubted his vision

Lynch has led the Inver Reds to six trophies – including consecutive Premiership titles – in seven years at the helm and this summer they’ll take part in European football for the fourth time, now qualifying for the Champions League in back-to-back seasons.

Kenny Bruce, who co-founded estate agent Purplebricks, took over at Larne in September 2017 with the club sitting in Northern Ireland’s second-tier and in an interview with BBC Sport in November 2022 revealed he had invested £5million into the County Antrim outfit.

He has totally transformed the whole club and helped drive standards in the Irish League to another level – both on and off the pitch – with Lynch backed to bring success – something which he has more than delivered on.

"He has been 100% vital - the bottom line is that it starts and stops with the gaffer,” said Clements. "Kenny bought into the vision that Tiernan had when we met seven years ago - he was really professional in how he presented his dream and what that was at that time.

"That was a man who had a budget here of £300 per week - he still had this vision of full-time and he knew what it would take and look like. We never doubted him from that presentation he made.

"Obviously there are always bumps in the road and outside noise, but the relationship we have we're all as tight as a drum and long may that continue."

With title celebrations in full swing at Inver Park on Saturday evening, Clements was able to look around the stadium and savour another step in an incredible transformation of fortunes in recent times.

Larne had spent 11 consecutive seasons in the Championship, finishing no higher than fifth before achieving Premiership promotion in 2019, and have kicked on once again to become a top-flight force.

"I just spoke to David Jeffrey and told him that six years ago today we finished against Lurgan Celtic in the Championship fighting for seventh place,” added Clements. "Six years later, we've won the Championship, have won four County Antrim Shields, won two European play-off finals and won the Gibson Cup twice - there's been a bit that has happened!

"There's work on and off the pitch, but the credit has to go to the players because it's them that gets it over the line.

"The sacrifices that are made by the players and families I just can't speak highly enough of...there are times where they aren't allowed out for six weeks and Tiernan works in blocks of games and the focus is on that and the amount of points we want to take from it.

"Everybody buys into it and it works really well for us. It's very emotional and I'm very proud.

"I'm delighted to get it over the line...it's alright saying we had it won, but we had to come out against Coleraine and be professional and that's what we did."