JUBILANT Bury FC chairman Stewart Day says it's "onwards and upwards" toward his dream goal after the Shakers clinched promotion on Saturday.

An impromptu after-match party at the JD Stadium saw 1,000 celebrating fans congregate to mark Bury's rise to League One, following their 1-0 win away at Tranmere

It brings Mr Day one step closer to his ultimate target of Championship football.

The 3-1 loss of promotion contenders Southend at Morecambe meant automatic promotion was guaranteed, with a 61st-minute strike from Tom Soares enough to give Shakers the victory they needed.

After the final whistle, many of Bury's 2,300 travelling supporters took to Tranmere's Prenton Park pitch to show their joy and relief.

But that was just a rehearsal for what proved to be a big celebration bash later on Saturday when the coach carrying the victorious Shakers squad arrived back at the JD Stadium.

Fans lined Gigg Lane and clapped and cheered their returning heroes. Inside the ground, they showed their appreciation as each player was introduced to the joyous crowd.

Gordon Sorfleet, club press officer, said: "I'd say there were 1,000 fans at the ground after being alerted through social media. The fans were a mixture of those who had and who hadn't attended the Tranmere match. Everyone was in party mode and it was a late night."

It was a fitting way for Bury's travelling supporters to celebrate after earlier enduring a tense 90 minutes. One of the Shakers' die-hard fans who was at the Tranmere game was Bury councillor Tony Isherwood.

"I'm delighted that we managed to gain automatic promotion rather than going to the play-offs where we have the second worst record of any team in the league," he said. "To go up automatically is great, after a fantastic run of 13 wins in 16 matches. The last 15 minutes of the Tranmere game seemed to last forever."

Also celebrating the achievement is celebrity Shakers fan, award-winning film director Danny Boyle, from Radcliffe.

He said: "I'm absolutely delighted Bury achieved automatic promotion to League One. I have followed their progress all season and really enjoyed watching their last home game of the season, the 2-0 win over AFC Wimbledon, which set up the exciting finale last weekend.

"Congratulations to everyone at Bury FC. The promotion is great for the club, their fans and for the town. I'm already looking forward to next season, including all the North West derbies."

At this stage, no announcements have been made about any official celebrations and it seems highly unlikely that there will be a repeat of the 2011 open top bus parade in Bury which crowned the club's promotion-winning season four years ago.

Meanwhile, Mr Day is savouring the success. Commenting on the automatic promotion after a day of high drama, he said: "Unbelievable — absolutely incredible. To see those scenes at the end of the game, the fans coming on to the pitch, I know they shouldn’t do but the emotions were running high. It’s an unbelievable thing for the football club.

"Two years ago when I took the club over we were down and the club was out. Basically, now is the chance for the club to get back on its feet.

I said we would get promotion and, thankfully, we have done. I am absolutely over the moon. These lads deserve it for the hard work they have put into it. And the supporters deserve it."

He continued: "So, onwards and upwards now. We have got to get ready for League One and that is the task for over the summer. I will keep on backing this football club

"I told you I had a five-year plan of how I wanted to try to get into the Championship. That’s not to say that I am out after five years, that’s to say that’s my goal to try to get us where we need to be. We are on course — two years and one promotion.

He added: "Financially it is so much better for us getting that promotion.

I want to create this football club so it becomes sustainable but I also want to be a football club that’s challenging for promotions.

I don’t want to be a football club that’s happy being in League Two or even League One. We have got to kick on now.

Meanwhile, fans can relive Saturday's celebrations. The club is putting together The Shakers TV Special summarising the day, which will be available on Friday.