Championship leaders Brighton were promoted to the Premier League after they beat relegation-threatened Wigan, and Huddersfield then drew at Derby.
Brighton had to wait on the result of the 17:00 BST kick-off at Pride Park, before their return to the top flight after 34 years was confirmed.
Glenn Murray’s crisp strike from the edge of the area put the hosts ahead.
Solly March smashed in a second after the break, before Nick Powell’s header made it a nervy final five minutes.
Brighton can now start preparing for life in the top division again following their relegation in 1982-83 and subsequent journey down and back up the leagues.
A Huddersfield win would have meant the Seagulls needed one more point to mathematically guarantee promotion, but their goal difference was already far superior to the Terriers.
Wigan put up a spirited defensive display but offered little going forward until Powell’s goal, and now face the prospect of an immediate return to League One.
They are five points from safety with three to play, including games against play-off chasing Reading and Leeds.
Why are the Seagulls soaring?
Brighton missed out on automatic promotion on the final day last season, when a draw at Middlesbrough saw Boro go up with Burnley and the Seagulls finish third on goal difference.
They then lost in the play-off semi-finals to Sheffield Wednesday.
But Chris Hughton’s side have bounced back superbly this campaign, winning 28 of their 43 matches, including all five games in April so far and bettering last year’s total of 89 points already.
- Attacking threat – Murray (22), Anthony Knockaert (15), Sam Baldock (11) and Tomer Hemed (11) have scored 59 of their 73 goals this season.
- Home form – The Seagulls have picked up the most Championship points at home with 54, and won 17 of their 22 games there.
- Unbeaten run – Brighton did not lose in October, November and December, winning 11 of their 15 games during that spell.
- Tight defence – They have conceded the fewest goals in the Championship (36) with 21 clean sheets.
They could have beaten Wigan by an even bigger margin, but Murray saw his header ruled out for a foul and the Championship’s Player of the Year, Knockaert, had a goal chalked out for offside and a strike cleared off the line.
Can Brighton survive?
Of the 71 promoted teams to play in the Premier League, 31 have been immediately relegated. But Brighton fans may want to put a positive spin on it – more than half of them stay up. The average finishing position is 15th.
Only twice have all three promoted teams stayed up – 2001-02 and 2011-12 – and only once have they all gone down – 1997-98.
In recent years there has been an upturn in fortune for promoted sides. Since 2008-09, there has been only one season in which two of the three promoted clubs have gone straight back down (2014-15). In the five seasons prior to that, it happened four times (2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07 and 2007-08).
In their current squad, excluding loan players, only six boast previous Premier League experience – Murray, Knockaert, David Stockdale, Steve Sidwell, Shane Duffy and Liam Rosenior.
But Hughton, who has won 63 of his 123 games in charge on the south coast, has managed in the top flight with Newcastle and Norwich.
They are also in for a bumper payday, with promotion to the Premier League worth an estimated £170m.
Source: BBC Sports
Discussion about this post