The richest prize in English football has been won by Brentford, after they beat Swansea 2-0 in the Championship play-off final and, with it, sealed promotion to the Premier League.
Winning the game is worth a minimum of £170m, considerably more even than what Chelsea or Manchester City could get for winning the Champions League final.
The west London team, which was last in the top division of English football in the 1946-47 season, can now look forward to their debut Premier League campaign.
Swansea, in contrast, were trying to rejoin the elite after being relegated in 2018.
The Bees had to turn the tide of history to reach English football’s promised land, as, prior to the game, all of their nine previous play-off campaigns had ended in defeat.
The match was played in front of 12,000 fans in glorious sunshine at Wembley as sport continued its slow progress back to normality after the COVID pandemic closed stadium doors.
Brentford, who finished third in the Championship table, seven points ahead of their opponents, were 2-0 up after 20 minutes through Ivan Toney’s penalty and Emiliano Marcondes.
Swansea finished the match with 10 men after Jay Fulton was sent off.
Brentford captain Pontus Janssen said: “I’m so proud of this squad – we were here last year [when they lost to Fulham] with a big disappointment and it’s been a hard year but we finally got here.
“We felt so disappointed after Fulham last year, but from day one we promised each other we’d be clever and focus on the next game, and now we’re here.”
“I could go home to Sweden and retire now as this is what I have dreamed of.
