After 45 Years Huddersfield earn Premier League promotion with gutsy win on penalties

There could surely be nobody who enjoyed this season's Championship playoff final. Not the neutrals, who were subjected to 120 minutes of increasing tedium and grim, tension-filled incompetence. Not Reading, who after a brilliant season in which expectations were exceeded, had their campaign defined by one game. And maybe not even Huddersfield Town, who ultimately won promotion to the Premier League after an excruciating penalty shootout. Not that they will care too much about how they won, of course.



David Wagner has been fond of comparing his side's run to Leicester City's Premier League title victory, which might be a bit much, but this is still an extraordinary feat. The boss was brought in last November to ensure Huddersfield survived in the Championship and, having done that, he has now taken them out of the division via the other end. The man who learned his trade under Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund will now be managing against his old friend in the top flight.

The final ended 0-0 after extra-time and there was very little to recommend the opening 120 minutes. But even after they missed the first penalty in the shootout, Huddersfield held their nerve to win the final in exactly the same manner as they beat Sheffield Wednesday in the semifinal. Goalkeeper Danny Ward, on loan from Liverpool, made a crucial save and centre-defender Christopher Schindler converted the final penalty.

Still, despite the dramatic ending this was a desperate spectacle. You could make a strong case for the abolition of the playoffs, and not just because of the inherent unfairness of a team who finished the "regular" season in sixth place winning promotion ahead of one who came third.


The final ended 0-0 after extra-time and there was very little to recommend the opening 120 minutes. But even after they missed the first penalty in the shootout, Huddersfield held their nerve to win the final in exactly the same manner as they beat Sheffield Wednesday in the semifinal. Goalkeeper Danny Ward, on loan from Liverpool, made a crucial save and centre-defender Christopher Schindler converted the final penalty.

Still, despite the dramatic ending this was a desperate spectacle. You could make a strong case for the abolition of the playoffs, and not just because of the inherent unfairness of a team who finished the "regular" season in sixth place winning promotion ahead of one who came third.


One might say that a winning team deserves their success based on how well they deal with that pressure, but it's as close to random chance as professional football gets.

The playoffs are obviously going nowhere, as the excitement they provide over the season compensates for the tedium of a final, but they aren't even compelling spectacles for the neutral: rather than a football game, you're watching 76,000 people gathered in a stadium to very publicly lose their minds over the course of 120 minutes.

Last week, their Yorkshire neighbours Bradford had similarly spurned a number of early opportunities in the League One playoff final, which ultimately cost them promotion. Any Huddersfield fans of a nervous disposition might have feared very recent history was repeating itself.