May 3, 2011

Norwich City promoted to English Premier League

Norwich City have claimed the second automatic promotion place from the Championship up to the English Premier League.

The Canaries found themselves in a battle with Cariff City to see who would finish second in the league, with QPR the runaway winners of the division, and both clubs played on Monday night. Before this round of fixtures, Paul Lambert’s Norwich side had a one point lead over Dave Jones’ Cardiff side, with two games remaining.

A Simeone Jackson goal gave Norwich a 1-0 win at Fratton Park against Portsmouth, whilst Cardiff suprisingly slipped up at home, losing 3-0 to Middlesbrough.

It has been a wonderful story of changed fortunes for the club, with Paul Lambert taking over the club in disarray but managing to steer them to back-to-back promotions, after the club won League 1 by nine points last season.

Few expected Lambert’s side to be challenging for promotion this season as they were newly promoted, but the Canaries have shown a great level of consistency, as they have not lost two games in a row this season and have only suffered one defeat in their last 15 fixtures.

Cardiff now must fight their way through the playoffs if they are to make it to English football’s top tier, and will be joined by Swansea, Reading and either Nottingham Forest or Leeds United.