Championship finale – Ipswich return to Premier League, Wrexham suffer last-round heartbreak | OneFootball

The Championship delivered a dramatic final day, with promotion dreams realised and play-off places decided.

Coventry City and Ipswich Town sealed automatic promotion, while the battle for the remaining play-off spots went down to the wire on Matchday 46.

Automatic promotion

Coventry had secured the title and a return to the Premier League for the first time since the start of the century before the final kick-off as the only Championship side to smash the 90-point landmark.

Frank Lampard’s high-flying side refused to rest on their laurels and trounced Watford 4-0 on the road to celebrate their long-awaited top-flight return in style.

Runners-up Ipswich headed into the last weekend of the regular season as favourites to join the Sky Blues in securing automatic promotion, boasting a narrow one-point lead over third-placed Millwall.

Kieran McKenna’s side held up their end of the bargain, hammering mid-table Queens Park Rangers 3-0 at Portman Road to clinch an immediate return to the top flight.

Despite thrashing already-relegated Oxford United at home, Millwall will have to navigate the dreaded play-offs to dine at England’s top table for the first time in over two decades.

Play-off spots

One point could make all the difference in Millwall’s desperate bid to return to the Premier League, as they now must seek promotion through the play-offs.

Beaten FA Cup semi-finalists Southampton pulled off a dominant 3-1 win at Preston North End to end the regular season with an impressive 18-game unbeaten league run.

The Saints emerged victorious from their last appearance in the play-offs, overcoming Leeds United in the 2024 showpiece, and will be determined to replicate that success this time around.

However, they’ll face stiff competition from Middlesbrough, whose last Premier League campaign came in 2016/17. Boro had a play-off spot in the bag before the kick-off, yet they threw a spectacle at the Racecourse Ground.

Seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive promotion, Wrexham needed three points against Kim Hellberg’s team, but there was nothing to separate the sides at half-time.

One of the most enthralling first halves of the current Championship season ended in a 2-2 draw, but the scoreline didn’t change until the final whistle, crushing Wrexham’s dreams.

Derby County and Hull City were both poised to pounce on the Robins’ potential mistake and secure a sixth and final place in the post-season mix.

Although the Rams were 1-0 up at the break, they ultimately fell to a 2-1 home loss to Sheffield United, while Hull fought back from an early deficit to register a precious home victory over Norwich City.

Oliver McBurnie’s match-winning brace gives the Tigers a chance to make their Premier League return for the first time since the fateful 2016/17 season.

Relegation

Despite announcing the completion of a long-running takeover saga, Sheffield Wednesday will compete in League One next term after one of the worst campaigns in Championship history.

In addition to suffering an 18-point deduction, the Owls managed just two wins in 46 league matches during the regular season, finishing bottom of the table with a negative points tally of -3.

Henrik Pedersen’s side at least bowed out in style, overcoming out-of-sorts West Bromwich Albion in an intense 2-1 victory at Hillsborough Stadium.

While Wednesday’s relegation was somewhat expected, no one could have imagined that Leicester City would face the same fate after starting the season among the promotion favourites.

Only a decade after being crowned the Premier League champions, the Foxes are now preparing for life in the third tier of English football in one of the most astonishing declines in modern football history.

With no chance of avoiding the drop, 22nd-placed Oxford failed to offer resistance at Millwall, slumping to a 2-0 defeat in their farewell Championship outing.