For Chris Davies at Birmingham, the promotion was around a year in the making.
In terms of his managerial career, it was nearly two decades.
“It was something that I’ve been working towards since my playing career came to an end at about 19 or 20 years old,” Davies tells Sky Sports.
“I never really considered myself a non-player. I think of myself as a player who ended young. So that empathy for understanding what it’s like to be a footballer is at the heart of my coaching philosophy.
“It’s been a really long process of coaching and development, from kids all the way up – until my last role at Spurs and then here.
“It was always my ambition to become a manager. I’ve had opportunities in the last few years that I didn’t think were quite right for me, but when this one came up I was obviously really keen.
“Thankfully, Spurs agreed for me to move here, and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my career by far.”
At 40-years-old, it’s been some first job for Davies, who was previously part of the coaching set-ups at Swansea, Liverpool, Celtic and Leicester under Brendan Rodgers, before being brought to Tottenham in 2023 by Ange Postecoglou.
It was all experience that helped him prepare for the pressure of leading a hugely-fancied Birmingham side straight back into the Championship at the first time of asking.
“I’ve worked very, very closely with some top managers for a long time so I knew what I was walking into,” Davies says.
“But the big difference I’ve noticed is the emotional side. You’re more heavily invested in every moment. As an assistant you still want to win, but you don’t bear that same responsibility.
“If anything I feel calmer and happier as a manager. Leadership and being a No 1 comes naturally to me. I like the pressure and I want that responsibility.
“As an assistant it can feel like you’re playing doubles in tennis with your manager, and you don’t want to let him down because he’s your partner.
“But when you’re playing singles you’ll try different shots and do things because you’re the one it falls on.”
Davies also acknowledges that without a notable playing career behind him, he has to earn respect in other ways.
“I’m not a manager that’s able to walk in and say, ‘I’ve won a World Cup’,” he says. “I have to teach, coach and manage the players and communicate with them.
“But I’ve had great experiences at big clubs – Liverpool, Celtic and Tottenham. So I’ve experienced what it’s like and with the demands at those clubs.”
Birmingham, in truth, were expected to win the league – and fairly comfortably. They have hugely invested in the squad and anything but an immediate return to the Championship would have been a disaster.
They sealed promotion in midweek, the perfect preparation for Wembley on Sunday. Ironically, Peterborough – the side they beat on Tuesday night – are their opposition in the Vertu Trophy final, live on Sky Sports.
Victory there, matched with the title, would be the perfect way to supercharge the journey Birmingham are on.
Because for Davies, it was the plan beyond League One that excited him the most.
“There is real ambition and that is what attracted me here – even though the club went down to League One,” he says.
“There’s real investment and they’ve got big plans. Everything suggested the owners were serious about this project and it excited me.”
Safe to say he is not the only excited person connected to Birmingham right now.