Aston Villa ensured promotion to the English Premier League after beating Derby County 2-1 in the Championship play-off match at Wembley Stadium on Monday (27/5).
Aston Villa opened the scoring in the 44th minute thanks to Anwar El-Ghazy goal utilizing assists from Ahmed El Mohamady. They doubled the score in the 59th minute through John McGinn’s goal in the 59th minute.
Whereas the only goal of the former Chelsea player’s squad Frank Lampard was scored by Jack Marriott assists from Jayden Bogle.
Villa became the third team to ensure the last ticket was promoted to the English Premier League next season. They followed Norwich City and Sheffield United. The three clubs replaced Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield Town next season.
Following is a brief profile of three clubs who have successfully promoted to the English Premier League:
1. Norwich City
Norwich City managed to lock the top of the Championship final standings. They collected 94 points from 46 matches this season.
The total of the club has eight appearances in the English Premier League. The first time they were promoted in the country’s highest caste competition in 1993/1994 and lasted for three seasons until relegation in 1994/1995.
They have just returned to the English Premier League in 2014/2015, a long wait for the club. However, at that time they only survived a season.
Under the direction of Daniel Farke, Norwich returned to the competition next season since relegation in 2015/2016.
2. Sheffield United
Sheffield United accompanied Norwich to the English Premier League with second place in the Championship competition.
Sheffield must go through a 12-year waiting period to return to the English Premier League. They last went to the highest caste competition in the 2006/2007 season.
The new total of three times the club nicknamed The Blades appeared in the English Premier League. They experienced a major overhaul since the club received an injection of funds after 50 percent of the shares were purchased by one of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
3. Aston Villa
Aston Villa must go through the play-off path after only finishing in third in the Championship standings. In the final play-off, they successfully defeated Frank Lampard’s squad, Derby County, 2-1 and ensured promotion to the English Premier League.
Aston Villa are the club most often appearing in the English Premier League compared to two other clubs which are promoted next season. In total 23 times they felt the loud atmosphere in the competition.
The last time the Lions appeared in the English Premier League in 2015/2016. After being relegated, Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner sold a majority shareholding to Chinese conglomerate Xia Jiantong on May 18, 2016.
Even though fresh funds have been injected, Aston Vila cannot return to the English Premier League. Jiantong decided to look for another partner to invest. Only on July 20, 2018, a wealthy Egyptian businessman, Nassef Sawiris, bought 55 percent of Villa’s shares through his company, NSWE Group. The club has only just been promoted from the Championship this season.
