"It's that confirmation that we are capable of achieving things" - Shaymen boss Millington reflects on Halifax's Wembley triumph

Millington's first season as Halifax manager didn't look like it would last the course at times, experiencing some serious turbulence along the way.

But he finishes it having joined the handful of Halifax Town managers who have won a trophy with The Shaymen.

"It still feels a bit surreal, it feels like it's something I've witnessed happening to other people rather than us," he says.

"We were so focused on the game and trying to prepare properly and deal with the environment that it made it hard to soak up the experience as much as the fans could.

"But it's starting to sink in."

For Millington, the surreal nature of the occasion included leading his team out before kick-off.

"I didn't know what I was doing!," he admits.

"I didn't know where I was meant to be walking or what I was doing, and Jack Senior kind of had me on remote control, he was saying 'no gaffer, this way, that way!'

"It was a bit surreal, I felt like a little boy just playing at it.

"I saw a clip of it the day after and it just looked like it was something happening to something else.

"From 75 minutes onwards I was watching the clock, which is quite unusual for me.

"Usually I get to 85, 90 minutes and then start becoming aware of the time.

"But I was watching the clock a lot more closely from 75 and willing it to go down.

"That caused a different level of anxiety in me, I could feel the nerves for the last 15 minutes, and then the added minutes, which were particularly long.

"I felt fairly comfortable for the majority of the game.

"Towards the end of the first-half I was keen we'd create something. I felt the first-half had gone so much to plan that it would be really positive for us to get some reward for that, because a lot of times this season things have gone to plan tactically but we haven't managed to take the lead when we've had the control.

"So that was something that was on my mind and Cookie scoring when he did was hugely important, not only from a wider game management perspective but also it showed the tactical approach we were taking was working, which created even more belief we were going to go on and win it."

Millington says his first action at full-time was to shake hands with opposition manager Mike Williamson.

"I was mightily impressed with Gateshead and always have been," Millington says.

"The way the play, the players they've got, they're a really interesting team to prepare to play, so I thought it was right to go to them.

"Then it was just individual hugs, just getting round each other and recognising the input the staff have had.

"There's no way I can say in words how amazing they've been this season, it's impossible to articulate and give everybody outside the club a picture of what they've done.

"It's phenomenal, the level of consistency and perseverance and level-headedness is phenomenal.

"That was a special moment for the backroom staff as well as the players."

A group of staff that had been resilient in the bad times, now united in sharing the best of times.

"It's some confirmation that what we all believed at the start of the season wasn't absolutely insane," Millington says.

"Staff, players, fans, the hierarchy of the club, we all believed we were capable of achieving something this season.

"Of course your attention is drawn to the league and promotion, which was the aim we wanted to achieve and we fell short on that by some way.

"But I think the last couple of months has highlighted we weren't all crazy in hoping and expecting to do something special.

"I think the run-in has backed that up and shown that we have got the ability to compete at the top end of the division, and the Trophy run has been a reward for that hard work and perseverance.

"It's special for a number of reasons but I think for me, it's that confirmation that we are capable of achieving things as a staff and with this group of players that's the biggest thing we'll take out of it."

Trust in the process, vindication of the methods.

"When we recruit players, we try to recruit good characters, good people and those we believe have go the skill-set to do the job," says Millington.

"We have exceptional characters, we have people with good levels of experience, we've got people with exceptional skill-sets so you have to believe those ingredients are going to come good sooner or later.

"When results aren't going you way, and when performances aren't going your way, of course it becomes more difficult, but the belief was always there that we had the right people in the right places and if we kept doing the right things, it would turn.

"It took a bit longer than we'd have liked of course, but that's the way truly good things come is through time, it doesn't happen quickly."

Millington's first silverware in management. He hopes it won't be his last.

"The experience was phenomenal, the whole experience of the days running up to it and the occasion of being at Wembley were phenomenal," he says.

"I'm watching the players and thinking 'this should set a fire off in some of these young lads to want more of this'.

"For the youth team players who were around it, I'm hopeful it can be the catalyst to really switch them on to what they can go on and experience in the game if they approach it in the right way.

"There's an element of that for us. The desire was always there to be successful but maybe it just sets off a little bit of that belief that, actually, this stuff is possible for Halifax Town and we've got to aspire to being on that kind of stage more regularly."

As well as the trophy that currently sits in his lounge, Millington's reward is also the satisfaction of orchestrating a job well done and making memories thousands of Halifax fans

will cherish for life.

"I am responsible when things aren't gong well, the buck stops with me," he says. "But what I always have to remember is I'm not alone in the process of trying to correct it.

"At risk of sounding boring, I've got some fantastic people around me who are all pulling in the same direction and trying to achieve the same end.

"I feel the sense of responsibility to the core, I have to recognise I'm not alone in trying to put it right and it's not all on my shoulders.

"I've got use the skills and the people around me to try and get it right.

"So the flip-side of that is that when we have moments of success and we do things well and people say 'oh what a great job he's doing', the reality is I've got a part in that process but it's the people and the skill-set of those around me that ultimately makes us successful when we have these moments.

"It's an extreme role in that everything's my fault when things go wrong but everything's down to me when things go right and the truth is far from it.

"I've got to take the responsibility and be the one who makes the final decisions on trying to correct issues.

"But when big decisions have to be made, every moment this season when that's happened, there's been a real consensus among the staff around those big decisions.

"It's not been a divided backroom staff where we've had two or three different opinions, we've all been very much in agreement in what the solutions are and how to fix certain situations.

"Even in our approach to Gateshead, we looked at them in isolation in detail and then we came together with what we believed would be the right approach and we were all in agreement for the most part."

Millington spent the first hour of the coach journey back responding to the flood of congratulatory texts he received.

"Some had arrived before the game which I hadn't seen because I didn't have my phone with me, and obviously an awful lot after," he says.

"A number of managers from the National League sent nice messages, ex Halifax Town players, just any number of people with different associations with myself or the club sent some really nice messages.

"That was a really nice hour, just on my own, flying through those messages and getting a real sense of the wider impact the result had had."

The trophy was initially taken home by goalkeeping coach Paul Oakes.

"I was trying to take it home but I couldn't fit it in my car!" says Millington.

"The case it comes in is massive, you need a pick-up truck to shift it.

"We tried to get it in my car and it wouldn't fit so Pogsy took it home and brought it to my house on Sunday.

"So it's just sat in my front room at the minute and we just sit and stare at it for a period of time each day."

The trophy will now take pride of place in several Halifax Town households over the next few weeks.

"I want to make sure that people get a bit of time with it because it is something special," Millington says.

"What it also does is help our nearest and dearest recognise what all the sacrifices are for.

"The players' families sacrifice time and holidays and opportunities to do things together so they can follow their careers and their dreams.

"It's the same with the staff, the families of the staff miss out on time with them and we miss out on our kids' sports days and school plays travelling al over the country, so having a bit of time with that very impressive trophy might just help them appreciate the sacrifices they've made a bit more."