Key Takeaways
- Frank Lampard led Coventry City back to the Premier League with three games to spare.
- The 47-year-old rates the promotion alongside his Champions League and league titles won at Chelsea.
- Coventry have not played top-flight football since relegation in 2000-01.
Frank Lampard fought back tears on Sunday after Coventry City sealed their return to the Premier League for the first time in 24 years.
A last-gasp Bobby Thomas header earned a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers and the point the Sky Blues needed to climb up automatically.
Lampard, who took charge 15 months ago with the club 17th in the Championship, called the moment “one of the biggest” of his life.
“I’m proud of myself, the staff and the players,” the former Chelsea and Everton manager told Sky Sports. “We arrived in a people carrier and stepped into the unknown. Now we’re going to the Premier League.”
Lampard won three Premier League crowns and the 2012 Champions League as a player, but he believes this success is just as special.
“I was lucky to play in great Chelsea sides, yet this feels like over-achieving,” he said. “The boys have improved through hard work, not big budgets.”
Coventry’s fans spilled onto the Ewood Park pitch at full-time, celebrating a rise that began in League Two only seven years ago. The club lost play-off finals in 2023 and 2024, but have charged to second place this season without parachute payments.
“This league is brutal,” Lampard added. “People think it’s easy; it’s harder every year. To go up with three matches left is incredible.”
Coventry will officially become a Premier League club in August, ending the longest absence in their history.