Nottingham Forest promoted to confirm 20-team Premier League line-up
Nottingham Forest secured their return to the Premier League after a 23-year absence – and a guaranteed £170m boost to their income – with victory over Huddersfield Town in the Championship Play-Off Final yesterday at Wembley.
The only goal in Forest’s 1-0 win came late in the first half when Huddersfield defender Levi Colwill turned James Garner’s shot past his own goalkeeper.
The club have been on a rollercoaster journey this season after starting their Championship campaign with six defeats in seven games.
Forest’s Ryan Yates said: “It’s incredible – this is for the fans. I don’t think it was our best performance – we got the goal and then we were always going to sit in our low mid-block.
“A couple of times I lost the ball in that second half, there were some nerves, but luckily they didn’t punish us.”
The two-time European Cup winners have history in the top flight and will be a Premier League team once again. They join Fulham and Bournemouth in going up.
Promotion is worth at least £90m in additional central distributions, plus around £80m in parachute payments should Forest be relegated, according to Deloitte. The total value of promotion soars to £300m if the former European champions survive their first season back in the top flight.
Today’s result completes the 20-team line up for the 2022/23 Premier League season and Forest can now look forward to hosting the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool at the City Ground.