Ipswich ends 22-year wait for Premier League status
Ipswich Town secured its return to the Premier League after a 22-year absence by seeing off Huddersfield Town 2-0 at Portman Road on the final day of the ELF Championship regular season.
Kieran McKenna's side, which only earned promotion from EFL League One last year, required a point from the match to finish in the second automatic promotion spot, with Leeds United unable to better its third position after a 2-1 defeat to Southampton in its fixture, the Saints themselves finishing fourth.
Both with now join West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City in the play-offs that will decide the third team to be promoted to England's top flight.
Wes Burns put Ipswich on its way with a 27th-minute strike, before Omar Hutchinson sealed the deal early in the second period.
Ipswich joins Leicester City in going up to the top flight automatically, the Foxes having secured their passage last week before cementing top spot last Tuesday (AEST).
As it turned out, even a loss would have seen Town go up as Leeds failed to pick up the three points it needed against Southampton.
Joel Piroe cancelled out Adam Armstrong's goal, but Will Smallbone restored the visitors' lead before half-time at Elland Road and it remained that way to the final whistle.
Leeds will now face Norwich City in the play-offs after the Canaries dropped from fifth to sixth with a 1-0 loss to Birmingham City.
West Brom's 3-0 win over Preston North End ensured it finished the season in fifth, meaning a play-off semi-final date with Southampton.
Despite its home win over Norwich, Birmingham joined Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town in being relegated to the third tier.
That is owed to Plymouth Argyle defeating top-six chaser Hull City 1-0, while Sheffield Wednesday eased to a 2-0 victory at Sunderland.
Rotherham's relegation was confirmed last month, while Huddersfield was effectively already down barring a miraculous set of results on the final day.
