Bill Shankly famously said that the title race was a marathon, not a sprint.

This time of the season, though, with the finishing tape in sight, it's time to get a move on, and already one or two have come sprinting across the line.

My old club Doncaster did it last week in their first season back in Division 3, and this week it was the turn of Norwich City to seal their return to the top flight after a nine-year absence.

I have many happy memories of visiting Carrow Road, particularly when old friends like John Bond and Ron Saunders were the managers.

Delia Smith, the TV chef, has brought a lot of interest to the town and its football. She's a genuine supporter who has been watching the team since she was a small girl and, unlike a lot of club directors, has actually put a lot of her own money into the club.

Most significantly this season she helped finance the wages of on-loan striker Darren Huckerby to ensure that he signed full time. His goals and his all-round play have been instrumental in their promotion.

I hope the other automatic team to go up will be West Bromwich Albion because of my friendship with another old Southampton connection, Frank Burrows, who worked with me at The Dell many years ago and now assists Gary Megson.

I can remember Gary attending schoolboy training sessions at Hillsborough along with my own son Chris while I was coach at Sheffield Wednesday - Gary's father, Don, was the club captain.

Another significant success this week was the promotion from the Conference of Chester City with Mark Wright at the helm.

I said a while ago that this once lanky young lad I signed from Oxford United would become a good manager.

And I didn't change my opinion even after an unhappy experience as manager of Oxford when he was asked to leave.

Many would have fallen by the wayside, but knowing only too well the battling streak that most ginger heads have, he went down a level and brought Chester back into league football - just to prove a point.

His own chairman, while heaping praise on Mark for his achievement, echoed my own thoughts when he said: "I am sure he will manage in the Premiership one day.

"While we would never want to lose him, we certainly could not stand in his way if the call comes."