Devonshire Colts are enjoying life back in the limelight.

Colts returned to top flight football at the weekend by securing the final automatic promotion spot, joining First Division champions Ireland Rangers.

Not many had predicted that the Orangemen would make such a speedy return to the Premier Division after losing a number of players following relegation last season.

But they proved the pundits wrong by completing the task with a youth squad blended with the experience of stalwarts Shannon Burgess, Kevin Bean, Makonnen Hollis and Jermel Belboda who formed the backbone of the team this season.

Now it remains to be seen how quickly the young Colts can adapt to the unforgiving pace of Premier football next season.

?Pre-season training will probably start earlier than usual,? warned Colts coach Jay Bean. ?And we will work out a strategy on how we intend to shut teams down immediately.?

The team?s overall fitness and ability to put the ball in the back of the net will also be central to their bid to prove they belong right up there with the big guns, Bean noted.

?That?s definitely going to be key,? he added.

The former Colts midfielder and sweeper also wouldn?t mind acquiring a few more ?experienced? players for next season just to add more stability.

?I would definitely love to work with the nucleus of our team next year,? Bean continued. ?But I?m almost certain we are going to need additions because the team is so young. They aren?t able to really play four or five consecutive high calibre games . . . they haven?t reached that maturity yet.?

One player Bean would like to see return is former Colts striker Aljame Zuill, though he remains doubtful given the player?s recent championship success with new club Devonshire Cougars.

?I?m not quite sure now that Cougars have won the league . . . but it would be nice to see him back in Colts colours and still consider us as his home,? he said.

?Defence has always been one of Colts? strengths and on occasions we have been able to break away and score. But I think we are going to require a consistent goalscorer to lead the team up front next season.?

Recapping the past season, not once, said Bean, were there any doubts about Colts? ability to making a swift return to the Premier Division.

Adding to their season?s success, the club entered the history books as the inaugural winners of the First Division Champions Cup Tournament in early January.

?This is largely a new group of young players and we have four players who are teenagers,? Bean explained. ?Some of our players attend CedarBridge Academy and Berkeley Institute and so it?s great they have even accomplished this much.

?But I always knew they were capable of gaining promotion. They still have to mature a bit and with that will come consistency. And once they understand that they will have to work hard for what they want. I think they will go a long way.?

But promotion alone, added Bean, was not this season?s top priority.

?We decided to try and pull everybody together at the beginning of the season,? the coach said. ?We wanted to return the club to the way it was when I was coming up as a youth player ? everybody pulling together as a family or community. That?s what we are focusing on at the moment . . . to get Colts back to being a family oriented club.?

Bean also praised overseas based college students Zuri Darrell, Ryan Nesbitt, McQuin Burch and Coolridge Durham for their valuable contributions ? particularly during the Champions Cup campaign over the Christmas break ? along with son, Jason Dill, who carried much of the team?s goalscoring duties in attack and the seasoned quartet of Burgess, Hollis, Belboda and Bean.