Leicester City and Ipswich Town are the two championship teams that have been promoted to the English Premier League (EPL).
Enso Marescas secured the championship title with 97 points with Ipswich following closely behind with 96 points after successful 46 games.
Maresca’s side placed in next season’s topflight was confirmed following Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat by Queens Park Rangers after Leicester beat Southampton 5-0.
The Foxes – who won the Premier League against the odds in 2015/16, were relegated under Dean Smith on the final day of the 2022/23 season, bringing their nine-season spell back in the topflight to a close.
It also marked the end of an era for a number of players as inevitable post-relegation upheaval followed.
Championship Teams to Play EPL in the Next Season
In 2021, Leicester lifted the FA Cup for the first and only time in their history in 52 years.
It all started with promotion as Championship title winners in 2013-14, and now the decade has been bookended with another promotion.
Of their Championship rivals, only Southampton have a higher average possession this season than Leicester’s 61.2 per cent or have racked up more passes than the Foxes’ total of 25,216.
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Ipswich has been promoted to EPL following their promotion from League One last season by sealing a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002.
In doing so, they have become just the fifth side to earn back-to-back promotions to the Premier League after Watford in 1999, Manchester City in 2000, Norwich in 2011 and Southampton in 2012.
For 22 years Ipswich have been absent from the Premier League, but they will start their third stint in the division when they return next season.
Their first spell was between 1992 and 1995 with Ipswich securing one of the coveted spots in the first Premier League season of 1992/93 by winning the old Division Two the previous season.
Following their relegation in 1995, they spent five seasons in the second tier before a playoff final win over Barnsley returned for the first time in 2000.
Ipswich Journey of Struggles
They enjoyed a remarkable first campaign back, securing a fifth-place finish and qualifying for the UEFA Cup under George Burley, who was named Premier League manager of the year.
Ipswich has experienced a gradual and painful decline.
At their lowest, the Tractor Boys found themselves finishing 11th in League One as a number of managers tried but failed to take them in the opposite direction back to the Premier League.
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Then came three more seasons outside the promotion picture before, in 2019, they dropped into the third tier, League One, for the first time since 1957 after finishing bottom under Paul Lambert.
Lambert could not bring Ipswich back up and neither could his successor Paul Cook.
Kieran McKenna’s side headed into the Championship season’s final day on Saturday needing to avoid defeat to secure the division’s second automatic promotion spot behind champions Leicester City.
And goals from Wes Burns and Omari Hutchinson sealed a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town to spark jubilant scenes at Portman Road.
Ipswich were most recently in the Premier League in 2002, having previously finished fifth in the 2000-01 campaign.
McKenna was appointed Ipswich manager in December 2021 with the club 12th in League One.
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