LONDON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Ipswich Town was promoted to the Premier League on Saturday after a 2-0 win at home to Huddersfield Town.
The result means that Ipswich returned to the top level of English football after a 22-year absence, and a journey that saw them drop as low as League One - the third tier of the English game.
Ipswich went into the final round of matches in the Championship (second division) with a three-point lead over third-placed Leeds United and knowing that a draw would be enough to assure their historic return.
Goals from Wes Burns and Omari Hutchinson gave fans in their Portman Road Stadium a comfortable afternoon against a rival that needed to win to have any chance of avoiding relegation.
The promotion is down in large part to the work of coach Kieran McKenna, who joined the club from the east of England in December 2021 when they were struggling in the lower half of League One.
He brought around an important turn in fortunes in his first months in charge, before leading Ipswich to promotion to the Championship last season. He has now steered the club to consecutive promotions - an impressive feat given the difficulty of the second tier of the English game.
Ipswich joined Leicester City back in the Premier League, while Leeds United, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City will now go into the play-offs for the remaining promotion spot.
Meanwhile, Rotherham and Birmingham City were relegated to League One, along with Huddersfield. ■
