ENGLISH LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP:NEWCASTLE UNITED were promoted to the English Premier League last night, before kicking a ball in their Championship game against Sheffield United. Eleven months after their traumatic relegation, Newcastle's return, all but a mathematical certainty after their win at Peterborough on Saturday, was confirmed when Nottingham Forest failed to beat Cardiff City.
Forest went into that match 15 points behind Newcastle with five games remaining. They can no longer catch up, following a 0-0 draw at the City Ground.
Last night’s 2-1 victory only added to the joy flowing on Tyneside.
Newcastle manager Chris Hughton, who has the job full-time after a successful stint as a caretaker, said: “This is a wonderful achievement and we are absolutely delighted. That we have secured promotion with six games to spare is testament to this set of players and how good a season they have had.
“This is what we have been building towards all season and I’m delighted for everyone associated with the club.
“But we have got a game tonight and it’s one we very much want to win. Our focus now is on that because we want to celebrate promotion with victory in front of our magnificent fans.”
The promotion marks a crossroads for the club’s owner, Mike Ashley, in his controversial tenure at St James’ Park. Promotion and the estimated €70 million it will bring in are fitting rewards for an impressive fightback by the club.
Ashley, who refused to back Alan Shearer as manager after the club suffered relegation last spring, remains unloved by those supporters who will never forgive him for the ruinous errors his administration made as Newcastle slid into the lower reaches of the Premier League.
They ultimately fell through the trapdoor with a squad of highly-paid players who were drastically under-achieving on the pitch amid chaos off it.
That group of players, however, has dwindled in size and volume over the past nine months, and while a general sense of resentment over a decline hastened by dreadful decision-making in the boardroom remains, the intensity of the rancour has softened for many fans.
Ashley’s rehabilitation may be far from complete, but the man who assumed control in 2007 is due credit for his financial commitment, which has seen him bankroll the club with a further €40 million this season after once again shelving plans to sell it.
In many ways, that decision was taken out of his hands. Despite much bluster, none of the interested parties came anywhere near handing over the €100 million Ashley wanted to sell a business he had bought for €145 million.
At the other end of the Championship, Peterborough’s one-year stay in the second tier will not be extended, after a 2-2 draw at Barnsley confirmed their relegation.
