Third climb under McKenna perfect
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To complete their return to the Premier League, Ipswich Town needed a win on Saturday and coach Kieran McKenna’s team left little doubt early on about their success. The East of England beat QPR from London 3-0. Another team from the British capital was denied direct promotion: Millwall has to go into the playoffs despite a 1-0 win against relegated Oxford United.
George Hirst and Jaden Philogene had given Ipswich a 2-0 lead within the first ten minutes, with Kasey McAteer putting the finishing touches in the 85th minute. The Blues are following coach Frank Lampard’s champions Coventry City into the English elite league. They have been there for a total of six seasons since the Premier League was founded in 1992/93. In the last one, 2024/25, we were relegated straight back as a promoted team. Even then, McKenna was already responsible. The Northern Irishman only led Ipswich from the third division into the Championship in 2023 and made it through to the top in 2023/24.
Coventry, where promotion was already certain, secured a 2-0 away win in the exhibition game at Watford. Under coach Lampard, the team from the West Midlands increased its squad value from 92 million to 194 million euros and is therefore already more valuable than Europa League semi-finalists SC Freiburg (191 million). “I’m proud of myself and the coaching staff. We embarked on something unknown and fell in love with the players and the fans. This is one of the greatest successes of my career. It’s on a par with winning the Champions League,” Lampard said in April when promotion was completed.
Championship: Playoff participants and relegated teams have been determined
The playoffs for the third promotion place will soon be held by Millwall and the previously determined participants Southampton and Middlesbrough. As the fourth team for the final rounds, Hull City (2:1 against Norwich) fought for a place in the playoffs at Wembley Stadium in a long-distance duel with Wrexham (2:2 against Middlesbrough). The semi-finals will take place in the return leg on the 8th/9th. and 11th/12th May. The final will take place on May 23rd.
Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City were already relegated. The Foxes are facing a sad anniversary of their sensational championship title ten years ago. Although Leicester also had to struggle with point deductions due to violations of the league’s financial rules, a comparison with Germany shows how much the team played below its potential: 1. FC Köln (squad value: 137 million), Mainz 05 (139 million), Borussia Mönchengladbach (149 million) and FC Augsburg (159 million) are all top-class and still have a similar squad value to Leicester, which will be in the third division in the future must compete. In the Championship, only three teams end the season with a higher squad value than the Foxes. On Saturday they said goodbye with a 1-0 away win at Blackburn (all results from matchday 46).
Wrexham misses fourth promotion in a row
For Wrexham it was about their fourth promotion in a row on the last matchday. Since the takeover by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, formerly McElhenney, Wrexham has become the only professional football club in England to be promoted three times in a row; from the fifth-tier National League to the Championship. This series is now broken. Despite the sporting setback, Wrexham is already preparing for the Premier League and is making targeted investments in infrastructure. The stadium, the Racecourse Ground, which currently has 13,500 seats, is being expanded. The new grandstand should be ready by summer.
