'This is for them' - Portadown promotion hero dedicates Championship title success to club's supporters

Mayse netted his 17th league goal of the season to give the Shamrock Park outfit a cushion against Dundela on Saturday – they knew one point would be enough if Institute and Bangor drew at the Brandywell – and even Jordan Jenkins’ equaliser couldn’t stop the party celebrations getting underway in County Armagh.

It hasn’t always been plain sailing for Niall Currie’s men this season, losing 10 matches throughout the campaign and they even trailed the Duns by 10 points at a stage, but saved their best form for the crucial run-in, winning 11 of 16 league games in 2024 to eventually seal silverware glory.

Having joined from Dungannon Swifts last summer as one of Currie’s headline arrivals, Mayse has shone brightly for the Ports, also scoring a decisive penalty against Glenavon to set up a BetMcLean Cup final showdown with Linfield alongside his league exploits.

The 30-year-old is now back in the top-flight, where he has previously played for the likes of Dungannon and Ballymena United, and admits achieving the end goal has made all sacrifices worthwhile.

"It has been a long haul of 10-and-a-half months coming up and down the road,” he said. “You're questioning yourself going up and down the road training twice a week in the rain whether it's worth it or not, but look around today and it's most certainly worth it.

"I've said before that big players step up in big games. Kenny (Kane) put it on a plate for me and my job is to score goals, so it was great to do that and give ourselves a cushion.

"We knew a draw would do today if results elsewhere went our way and thankfully they did. We didn't want to be dependent on another result but that's the way football goes and we're champions."

The pressure and expectation on Portadown to deliver promotion was apparent from day one with Currie signing experienced stars such as influential captain Gary Thompson, Dougie Wilson, Ross Redman, Eamon Fyfe and Mayse.

Another five arrivals in January helped breathe new life into their pursuit and Mayse feels the changing room handled the challenge perfectly.

"From the first training session we came in during pre-season the pressure was all on us because everybody had labelled us as favourites with the squad we had assembled,” he added. “We do have a Premiership-level squad, but we were in the Championship for a reason so it was a level playing field in our eyes and we knew the challenge that every team was going to bring us.

"It's a really tough league - it's probably harder to get out of this league than stay in the Premiership, so we're proud of how we went about it. The odds were against us being 10 points behind at one stage and we had other distractions with the League Cup and Irish Cup. Niall brought in five new boys in January and our squad was galvanised.

"These fans deserve to be in the Premiership. They follow us in their numbers and just look at the support today for a Championship club. It's not just at home - they came in their numbers on a Tuesday night to Bangor and they sing from the 1st minute to the 90th so this is for them."