We now know which teams have won promotion to the Premier League from the EFL Championship.
Leicester City secured their place back in England's top flight for 2024/25 as champions of the second tier. On April 30, Ipswich Town moved three points clear in second place after a 2-1 win over Coventry City, and a 2-0 home win over Huddersfield Town on the final day sealed their return to the top flight after a 22-year absence.
In total, three teams earn promotion to the Premier League, replacing three sides who will be relegated from the top flight. The pedigree and riches on offer for teams competing in England's top men's division make the Championship promotion race one of the most exciting in European football.
MORE: Reliving Leicester City's incredible Premier League title win
Teams promoted to Premier League 2024
Leicester City became the first team to secure promotion to the Premier League in the 2023/24 season. They were guaranteed to finish in the top two as a result of Leeds United's shock 4-0 loss to QPR on April 26, and they were crowned champions three days later after winning 3-0 at Preston North End.
Ipswich Town took second place in the table after a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town on the final day.
Southampton secured the remaining promotion place after winning the Championship playoff final, defeating Leeds United 1-0 at Wembley Stadium.
Championship table after final matches on May 4, 2024
| Pos. | Team | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1. | Leicester City | 46 | 31 | 4 | 11 | 89 | 41 | +48 | 97 |
| 2. | Ipswich Town | 46 | 28 | 12 | 6 | 92 | 57 | +35 | 96 |
| Top two are promoted automatically | |||||||||
| 3. | Leeds United | 46 | 27 | 9 | 11 | 81 | 43 | +38 | 90 |
| 4. | Southampton | 46 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 87 | 63 | +24 | 87 |
| 5. | West Brom | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 70 | 47 | +23 | 75 |
| 6. | Norwich City | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 79 | 64 | +15 | 73 |
| Teams from 3rd to 6th qualify for playoffs | |||||||||
| 7. | Hull City | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 68 | 60 | +8 | 70 |
Leicester City promoted to Premier League as champions
Leicester City became the first team in this season's Championship to win promotion to the Premier League.
They celebrated without even kicking a ball on April 26: Leeds' shock 4-0 loss at QPR meant the Foxes were guaranteed to finish in the top two positions in the table. A 3-0 win away to Preston North End on April 29 meant they were officially crowned champions of England's second tier.
MORE: The full, updated EFL Championship standings for 2023/24
Leicester were relegated from the top division last year along with Leeds and Southampton, just seven years after their miraculous Premier League title triumph. They took a gamble before 2023/24 started by appointing Enzo Maresca as manager — the former Juventus and Sevilla midfielder had just six months' experience as a head coach on his resume and had spent the previous season as an assistant under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Yet the appointment proved a masterstroke. Maresca restored a positive, proactive brand of football to Leicester, leading them to 30 wins from their opening 44 league games of the season.
Looking ahead into the next season, the Foxes have yet to finalise plans to replace manager Maresca, who left for Chelsea. Graham Potter and Carlos Corberan are favourites to step in.
Ipswich promotion sees McKenna linked with top jobs
Ipswich finished second in the table to claim the other automatic promotion place and seal a return to the top flight for the first time since 2002.
It underlined the remarkable job overseen by manager Kieran McKenna, who took over a side struggling against relegation from League One in December 2021 and has led them to consecutive promotions with a brand of exciting, attacking-based football.
"Not many people get offered those jobs!"
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) May 26, 2024
Some big teams are circling around Kieran McKenna...
Our panel discuss the next move for the Ipswich coach!#EFLPlayOffs pic.twitter.com/GosCHNREre
McKenna cut his teeth as an assistant at Manchester United, working under Jose Mourinho and then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and his work at Portman Road has seen him linked with the top job at Old Trafford, as well as the vacant positions at Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion. Ipswich will be desperate to keep him for their first season back in the big time.
Southampton win 'richest game in football'
Southampton were the last team to earn promotion to the 2024/25 Premier League, beating Leeds United 1-0 in the playoff final.
Adam Armstrong scored the only goal of the game to send Saints back to the top tier — an impressive achievement given their poor form in the early part of the season, which saw manager Russell Martin come under serious pressure.
The playoff final is often referred to as "the richest game in football" given the Premier League wealth on offer to the winning team. For the beaten side, Leeds on this occasion, it means at least one more season in the notoriously difficult Championship. Losing this game is perhaps the most painful defeat of all.
