The Magpies made sure of their return to the top-flight at the first time of asking thanks to a 4-1 win over Preston North End at St. James’ Park.
After losing their first two games in the Sky Bet Championship, United have not been out of the division’s top-two since the beginning of October, having racked up 27 wins and 80 goals with a fortnight of the campaign still to run.
And, with the pain of last season’s relegation consigned to the past, Elliot paid tribute to all of those who have played their part in recent weeks and months – and spoke of his desire to help take the club to strength to strength in those to come.
“This genuinely feels like the start of something special. You don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself, but I think the club – if I’m being honest – it’s the first time since I’ve been here that everything’s in line,” he told nufc.co.uk. “Everyone knows what we’re going for. Everything has been done this year to put everything in place for us to be successful, and that’s what we’ve done.
“We’ve ticked the first box, and we’ve done brilliantly. The fans have been magnificent – they’ve stuck by us, and we’ve sold out every single away game. The last 20 minutes tonight, the atmosphere was unbelievable. They know as well as we do that we’re hopefully at the start of something special, though we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. But, that’s what the likes of Matt Ritchie, Dwight Gayle, Clarky (Ciaran Clark) and Jonjo (Shelvey) have come for. That’s what we’re starting to do – hopefully getting us back to having those brilliant nights at the highest level.”
On a personal level, Elliot could hardly have timed his return to action any better.
The popular stopper had not made a single first-team appearance for United in over a year, but more than played his part in the victory which saw Rafa Benitez’s side over the line.
“I remember jogging out towards the Gallowgate End thinking, ‘Blimey – I can’t believe this is happening!’” he said. “It’s been more than a year – 13 months – since my last game, and you’re thinking, ‘I just want to make sure I don’t let the lads down, because they’ve been unbelievable.’ To get the opportunity, after such a tough time – not only getting back from injury, but sitting there waiting for my opportunity – it was just good to take it.
“But, I can’t sing Karl (Darlow)’s praises enough. I’ve had probably the best goalkeeper in the league in front of me, and he’s been unbelievable all season. The manager rotates his squad, and he’s given me a game, and it’s nice to actually contribute – though it’s a very, very small contribution, it’s still something.
“It’s nice to pay back all the support I’ve had from the lads and the staff. Special mention to Sean Beech – the physio – and the doctor, Paul Catterson – because there were some really dark times. I had my knee done, then my thigh done, and then I got an infection so I was back in hospital. Little things like that, you think about. You want to put it right. Sitting in A&E for seven hours, you think you’re never going to play football again, let alone feel better.
“It’s absolutely amazing to come back on a night like this – with all of the stuff that’s in front of us – it’s brilliant.”
By clinching their return to the Premier League, the Magpies have become just the second side out of the last 18 relegated to bounce straight back up automatically.
Elliot feels his teammates have coped admirably with the burden of expectation this term, and insists they will have plenty to take pride in when they start to reflect on the season gone by.
“It’s what we set out to do nine or ten months ago, and we’ve got there. We’ve been under a lot of pressure, but the lads have coped with it unbelievably well,” he said. “It hasn’t been smooth sailing, but it was never going to be.
“The manager has kept everyone calm, we’ve dealt with it one game at a time, and every single lad in the dressing room has given something to the cause. I’ve never been in a dressing room that gets on so well – everyone can look around, look each other in the eye, and be really proud of what they’ve done. It probably won’t settle in for a few days, but when the lads really do think about some of the performances they’ve put in this year, and look back to some of the games, (they’ll realise) it’s a massive achievement.
“With the manager and the lads together, we’re only going to improve. We have a very young team, but they have this experience behind them now – this toughness – and hopefully, that will kick them on for next year.”
