THREE is the magic number for Worcester Raiders’ title-winning manager and proud Aston Villa fan Karl Gormley after all his sides scooped silverware.

Gormley led Raiders’ junior team to Stourport & District Youth Football League Under-14s Division glory before seeing his beloved Villa win the Championship play-off final on Monday to gain promotion to the Premier League.

It was then confirmed on Wednesday that Raiders’ senior side had clinched the West Midlands League (WMRL) Division One crown.

Gormley said the long-awaited triumph completed a hat-trick he could only dream of last summer.

“It has been a cracking year,” Gormley said.

“I am a Villa fan as well, so this news has topped it off nicely.

“I would have been happy with one of those (titles) at the start of the season so to get three makes it all worthwhile.

“Years like this do not come round very often.”

Gormley cannot wait to get his hands of the Division One trophy when it arrives at Claines Lane at 10am on Saturday.

However, he feels aggrieved his Raiders players were denied the chance to celebrate their title success on the final day of the season four weeks ago.

“We feel a bit hard done by to not have the trophy delivered on the last day like everybody else,” Gormley said.

“But there was nothing we could do about it. The lads have been as good as gold and we are just waiting for Saturday now.

“The trophy will be presented at the ground and then we are all off to Worcester Racecourse in the afternoon so we are going to make a good day of it.

“A lot of hard work has gone into getting to where we are now.

“This is my third season here and we have come so far in that time.”

Celebrations were put on ice when rivals Darlaston Town took the WMRL to the Football Association (FA) over allowing the result of an abandoned match between Bustleholme and Raiders to stand. The Worcester side finished one point ahead of Town.

However Darlaston’s appeal was quashed by the FA to the delight of Gormley.

“It has been a pain but it has been out of our hands,” Gormley added.

“All we have been able to do is comply with what the FA and the league have asked from us.

“We got the right result from Wembley. It was just a shame it had to go this far.

“We spoke to a lot the other teams and they all said we deserved to win the league.

“We were the best team and only one side did not think so.

“But we are not too bothered about that.

“We are looking forward to celebrating on Saturday and then start planning next week for the forthcoming season.”