Michael Kightly's former team mates join the promotion party

May 31 2009 by Lisa Smith, Sunday Mercury

Now he is thrilled that his own success has been mirrored by so many of his former team-mates with Kightly now planning to join up with some of them for a small holiday celebration next month in Dubai.

Kightly explained: “It has been a fantastic season not just for me with Wolves, but for so many of my old Grays’ mates too.

“My manager and assistant at Grays when I was there, Mark Stimson and Scott Barnett – who was a former Wolves keeper – got promotion to League One through the play-offs with their new club Gillingham and they’ve signed Dennis Oli and Jonathan Nutter so they obviously went up as well.

“Then my old room-mate Gary Hooper went up to the Championship with Scunthorpe and Aaron Mclean, who’s a good mate of mine, got promoted with Peterborough to that league too.

“Glenn Poole got promoted to League One with Brentford and they were all my team-mates so with me getting promoted as well, it’s been quite a summer for all of us.”

Kightly admits the season of success has led to some banter among the old pals, although insists he has not been the one to remind his former colleagues that he has the ultimate prize – a passport to football’s elite Premier League in his grasp.

“We were all on the BlackBerry Messenger the other week having a chat,” he said.

“It’s hard for us all to meet up because of holidays and everything, but I’m really close to Aaron McLean and will be going away with him and his girlfriend this summer.

“When the other boys get back for pre-season I’m sure we’ll try to fix up some sort of celebration together.

“I’ve certainly not given it the ‘big one’ about the fact I’m going into the Premier League – that’s not me at all!

“There were a few messages flying around ‘bigging’ my promotion up but I’m not like that and have stayed away from it!”

Kightly actually missed Wolves’ end of season run-in with a broken metatarsal injury but insists nothing can dampen his spirits this year.

“It’s great to see so many players from Grays having gone on to achieve in the league,” he said.

“I’ve said before that it’s almost unbelievable for me that the gaffer took a punt on me for 25 grand and then two-and-a-half years later I’m in the Premier League.

“It’s a fairytale and one I hope will carry on.

“It does feel like I’ve been at Wolves for years, ten years almost, I feel so at home here.

“But when you do think back and realise that three years ago I’d suffered the heartache of being knocked out of the Conference play-offs with Grays and now I’m looking forward to the Premier League, it’s unbelievable.”