Sheffield United have sealed a return to Premier League football for next season
Sheffield United have secured their return to the Premier League following their promotion-clinching 2-0 victory over West Brom on Wednesday that assures them of finishing second in the EFL Championship standings.
The South Yorkshire club confirmed their promotion with three games left to play this season, joining Vincent Kompany’s first-place Burnley as the two sides to be automatically promoted from the Championship.
Led by Paul Heckingbottom, United have been fighting at the top of England’s second tier since their relegation from the Premier League in 2021. They have 85 points from 43 games this season and also reached the FA Cup semifinals, where they were eventually knocked out by Manchester City.
Second-half goals by Sander Berge and Anel Ahmedhodzic guided them to victory over West Brom to take an unassailable seven-point lead over third-placed Luton Town, who have played 44 games.
“We’ve worked so hard for this all year and to do it at home in front of our own crowd is so special,” Berge told Sky Sports. “We want to give back to the club and fans. I came here when we were in the Premier League and now we’re back where we need to be.”
United enjoyed an excellent season in the Premier League following their promotion from the Championship in 2019 under previous boss Chris Wilder as they finished ninth in England’s top flight. But they were relegated following a dismal subsequent season which saw Wilder sacked as the club picked up just 23 points.
They missed out on promotion last season after losing to Nottingham Forest in the playoffs.
Promotion can be worth over £300 million ($373.95 million) over five seasons if a club survives their first season in the Premier League, according to last year’s Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance.