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| Joe Worrall of Nottingham Forest lifts the trophy following their team’s victory in the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final match between Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest at Wembley Stadium on May 29, 2022 in London, England. |
Nottingham Forest clinched
promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years with a 1-0 win
against Huddersfield in the Championship play-off final on Sunday, a game worth
£170 million ($215m) to the winners.
Levi Colwill’s own goal late in the first half at
Wembley was enough for Steve Cooper’s side to hit the jackpot in the most
lucrative single match in world football.
Forest will gratefully accept the huge financial
windfall, but it was the relief at ending their long exile from English
football’s elite that spurred the frenzied scenes of celebration among their
thousands of red and white-clad fans.
For the first time in the 21st century, Forest can
look forward to welcoming the Premier League’s top clubs to their City Ground
stadium.
The promotion was a personal triumph for Cooper,
who has revitalised Forest since replacing the sacked Chris Hughton in
September
Forest were bottom of the table after taking one
point from their first seven games, but Cooper had the midas touch as he erased
the bitter taste of his defeat with Swansea in last year’s Championship
play-off final against Brentford.
Cooper repaired the wounds of Forest’s worst start
to a season for 108 years and ensured they remained focus after losing a shot
at automatic promotion in their penultimate game of the season against top-two
rivals Bournemouth.
Fourth placed Forest beat Sheffield United on
penalties in the play-off semi-final and held their nerve again to earn the
ultimate prize against Huddersfield.
“I’m just so proud of the players, staff,
fans,” said Forest defender Joe Worrall.
“We’ve been fantastic all season – we were
really unlucky to not go up automatically. We’ve played with honesty and we
play football the right way,” he added.
Having knocked Arsenal and Leicester out of this
season’s FA Cup before losing narrowly to Liverpool, Forest’s sleeping giants
have awoken from their slumber at last.
Forest’s golden period came under legendary boss
Brian Clough, who led them to the English title in 1978 and won the European
Cup in 1979 and 1980.
Clough’s retirement in 1993 triggered a steep
decline in Forest’s fortunes, with their wilderness years featuring a
three-season spell in the third tier.
Forest had been regular visitors to Wembley during
Clough’s heyday but this was their first appearance at the national stadium
since 1992.
Former Forest skipper Stuart Pearce welcomed the
end of the club’s exile from the top flight.
“Nottingham Forest will be a massive credit to the
Premier League next year,” the former England defender told Sky Sports.
“The atmosphere inside the stadium is quite
incredible. I’m not sure I ever played at Wembley in a Forest team that had
this sort of atmosphere.
“That’s how much it means to this football club.
They’ve waited a hell of a long time to actually get back into the Premier
League.”
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