Former Town midfielder and academy coach Kieron Dyer says he spent some time crying and thinking of the person who donated his liver following confirmation of Chesterfield’s National League title and promotion back to League Two.
Dyer, 45, a member of ex-Blues boss Paul Cook’s Spireites coaching staff, underwent a life-saving liver transplant in September.
Chesterfield sealed promotion and the National League title by beating Boreham Wood 3-0 at the SMH Group Stadium on Saturday.
"When the final whistle went I was sat on the bench and was probably crying for five minutes because I was thinking of my donor,” Dyer told TalkSPORT.
"The family of the donor have reached out to me. I have spoken to them. They know who I am. The family asked me to kind of continue the legacy of my donor so that was for him today as well.”
Despite having played for Newcastle in the Champions League and England, for whom he won 33 caps, at a World Cup and European Championships, Ipswich-born Dyer, pictured above celebrating with former Blues forward Armando Dobra, believes this is the pinnacle of his time in football.
"I have had a decent career, I have played for my country and I have been to World Cups, but this is probably my biggest achievement in football – winning the National League,” he reflected.
"Being a coach you have the responsibility of the whole team and you cherish these moments – they are like your family.”
He says his Chesterfield side haven’t always been given due credit for their achievement this season.
"The players deserve all the love – I think they have been disrespected this season,” he continued.
"I heard numerous times before I came here that the National League is the hardest league to get out of. But, all of a sudden, because this season we are romping it, it is now the easiest league because Wrexham aren’t in it. I think it is disrespectful to the players.
"I always hear we have the biggest budget – we haven’t got the biggest budget – we are third or fourth in the league. So that is another slight against us.
"Then we hear that we’ve got the biggest squad when in fact we have used the fewest players in the league.
"The players have been a real credit to this football club and us as staff are really proud of them.”
He says plans for next season have already been discussed: "We started to plan for what league we were in and stuff like that. Players were identified. We have been planning month and months in advance and now we have officially got it confirmed.
"The gaffer is big on giving players a chance to prove themselves so there won’t be a major overhaul. But as you have seen this season when we got [Will] Grigg, [Michael] Jacobs and [Tom] Naylor in, [so] hopefully there will be a few marquee players.”
In addition to Dyer, Cook and Dobra, former Blues winger and coach Gary Roberts is also on the Chesterfield staff, while Bailey Clements and Harley Curtis are members of the squad.
Dyer spoke to Life’s a Pitch TV regarding his transplant in November.