Lampard's Coventry seal emotional return to Premier League after 25-year absence

[p]Frank Lampard's side needed just one point heading into [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/blackburn-6Nl8nagD/coventry-GOvB22xg/?mid=YoUcLSRG"]Friday's Championship fixture at Blackburn[/a], which they achieved with a 1-1 draw, thanks to Bobby Thomas' 84th-minute equaliser.[/p][p]The draw at Ewood Park took the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/coventry/GOvB22xg/"]Sky Blues[/a] to 86 points, enough to guarantee them a top-two finish and automatic promotion with three games remaining.[/p][p][b]"It was an incredible moment. This is what it's about,"[/b] a tearful Lampard said in an emotional post-match interview.[/p][p][b]"Coming here and getting a point at this stage isn't easy. We had to see it out, and we didn't know whether to attack again. [/b][b]Doing this after 25 years? Wow! Wow!"[/b][/p][embed guid="ce4d16ee-9510-4d9b-ab6e-fd5b450a1246" url="https://x.com/Coventry_City/status/2045244479825690740" social-type="twitter" /][p]The weekend could have seen Coventry crowned champions if they had won and second-placed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ipswich/thqhB2MB/"]Ipswich[/a] were to lose to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/middlesbrough/6F0lvLNC/"]Middlesbrough[/a] on Sunday. However, that will have to wait another round, at least.[/p][p][b]Promotion is a symbolic moment for Coventry, who have endured a whirlwind recent history.[/b][/p][p]They were playing in League Two as recently as 2018 and have finally broken through the Championship ceiling after a couple of near misses.[/p][p]In 2023, Coventry reached the playoff final at Wembley and agonisingly lost out in a penalty shootout to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/luton/SlybbadF/"]Luton[/a].[/p][p]Coventry missed the playoffs the season after, and a poor opening to the last campaign saw popular manager Mark Robins replaced with Lampard.[/p][p]He took over when they were 17th and a stunning recovery saw them surge into the playoffs, but it was heartbreak again as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sunderland/WSzc94ws/"]Sunderland[/a] beat them late in the semi-finals.[/p][p]But Lampard made sure there wouldn't be another disappointment, having made Coventry a force to be reckoned with in his first full season at the helm.[/p][image alt="Coventry have been promoted" id="2ff13937-12e4-4142-b338-1986718ebea1" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="e745a347-61d8-412e-9941-c900e3fcf32d" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]They have been the pace-setters for the vast majority of the season, adopting a style that has them as the Championship's leading scorers.[/p][p]A brief mid-season dip in form appears to have been the only blemish on an otherwise momentous campaign.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/soccer/england/championship/"]See the full Championship table here.[/a][/h2]