Forest seal Premier League return after 23 years away

Nottingham Forest sealed their return to the Premier League after 23 years away thanks to a 1-0 win against Huddersfield at Wembley.

Levi Colwill’s own goal after 41 minutes was the difference between the sides in the Championship play-off final on Sunday, meaning Forest will play in the top flight for the first time since 1999.

It completes a remarkable season for Forest, who were bottom of the table after eight games when Steve Cooper took over in late September.

Huddersfield, meanwhile, see their dream of getting back to the Premier League after three years away come to an end.

How Forest sealed their top-flight return

The breakthrough came just before half-time for Forest via the unfortunate Colwill, who inadvertently turned James Garner’s shot into his own net with an outstretched leg that left Lee Nicholls in the Huddersfield goal helpless.

Huddersfield were struggling to create chances and threw on their semi-final matchwinner Jordan Rhodes and Duane Holmes with a quarter of the game to go to try and find a way back into the game.

A short while later they finally got in behind Forest as Holmes raced in and found Harry Toffolo in the middle. He then appeared to go down under the challenge of Jack Colback, but referee Jon Moss deemed it a dive and booked the Huddersfield man – with a VAR check then upholding his decision.

And that would be that for Huddersfield’s challenge, in a disappointing conclusion to what has otherwise been an unexpectedly brilliant campaign from Carlos Corberan’s side.

What’s next?

The fixtures for the 2022/23 Premier League season will be released on Thursday, June 16. The EFL fixtures will be on Thursday, June 23. You can follow both days of announcements across Sky Sports.