LONDON – It came in the 24th minute: the moment towards which the last 12 months had been building.
As Southampton striker Adam Armstrong guided the ball into the bottom corner of the goal with his right foot in front of the Leeds United fans, the seething mass of red and white shirts on the opposite half of the stadium formed a single entity. They stopped in unison before darting forward and descending in a chaotic tumult of limbs and tears.
Another 76 minutes of tense, tense football followed before the final whistle gave way to celebrations in the stands: Southampton had won the Championship play-off final 1-0 and, with that, they head to the Premier League.
An acrid red mist billowing from the flares in the stands quickly began to creep across the pitch as Southampton players ran in all directions before converging at the feet of more than 35,000 delirious supporters at the west end of Wembley. A year after relegation, Southampton returns to the golden halls of the world's most important league.
Dubbed the “richest game in football”, promotion to the Premier League via the Championship playoffs generates around £140 million and £170 million in new revenue for the victor (or between $177.3 million and $215 ,2 millions). Just think of all the Callum Wilsons Southampton can sign with that kind of money.
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“I feel really grateful,” Southampton manager Russell Martin said in a post-match press conference. “I've really felt that all week. I feel a lot of gratitude for what the players have given us, the staff, the fans.
“Yes, I feel immense pride in what we have achieved, but I am grateful to the owners who gave me the opportunity in the first place. Jason [Wilcox]He had a good day here yesterday and he's gone.
“But I feel it was not a sexy appointment for Southampton Football Club and they were brave enough to give me the opportunity and I hope I have repaid them with a day that they will remember forever, and it has given me one of the best days of my career, without doubt.”
For the 38-year-old manager, it is a vindication of his empathetic and compassionate leadership style. When he arrived at St. Mary's in June 2023, Martin joined a club devastated by redundancies, with the majority of the playing staff seeking a transfer. The fact that he and director of football Wilcox, who has since left for Manchester United, have been able to tie together the disparate threads that had frayed during the relegation season is testament to the interpersonal skills Martin prides himself on.
However, it would be a mistake to think that the Southampton boss is a man without principles. Martin preaches a doctrine of near-total dominance, and the degree to which his team has coveted possession is almost fanatical.
No other team in the English Football League has a higher possession average than Southampton this season (65.6%). Expand that a bit to the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, or indeed any other club in Europe's top five divisions and none of them can compare to the Saints' devotion to the ball.
Martin's revolution took time to capture hearts and minds on the south coast, before a 3-1 victory over Leeds began a club-record 25-match unbeaten run in all competitions. A similar story unfolded here as Leeds came out firing, inspired by their 18-year-old star Archie Gray. The adaptable midfielder-turned-right-back is the third generation of the Gray family to play for the Leeds first team since his grandfather Frank and great-uncle Eddie, who were part of the legendary Don Revie dynasty, started the family business in the 1960s and 1970s.
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Did stage fright hurt Leeds in their loss to Southampton?
Jon Champion and Stewart Robson react to Southampton's victory over Leeds United that sealed their return to the Premier League.
Leeds even held Southampton to 52% possession in the first half, but in truth, we should all have seen this result coming, as Southampton have beaten Leeds three times this season, with Armstrong scoring four of their six goals. He slotted in behind the usually reliable Ethan Ampadu before firing home his all-important 24th goal of the season that has now ensured his immortality at the club.
This was Groundhog Day for Leeds in more ways than one. The bad streak at the end of the season that led them to fall in the playoffs almost caused the resignation of their fans. They have never seen their team advance through the playoffs, falling short in all six of their seasons and losing a record four Finals.
Nightmares of the past will have seemed all too real as they approached Wembley under an ominously stormy sky in north London, a picture of lightning flashing behind the monolith looming like an enchanted clifftop castle.
The stoic attitude of Yorkshire lads and lasses is a tired stereotype – when it comes to their football team, few are able to match them for excitement. It's a sometimes exhausting connection that, like anything worthy of deep feeling, can cause pain and joy in equal measure.
“I love working for such an emotional club, but the shirt can be quite heavy, because of the expectations,” Leeds manager Daniel Farke said after a damaging defeat to Blackburn Rovers on April 17. That fervent support can energize or paralyze. .
In north-west London, the usual pincer movement of Leeds' Wilfried Gnonto and Crysencio Summerville on opposite flanks was nullified by Southampton's defensive system, causing the dangerous pair to take frequent breaks in possession, robbing them of attacking oomph. . The only sudden breath for Martin came when Dan James' shot hit the crossbar with five minutes remaining.
“What a season,” Armstrong told Sky Sports. “What a way to get promoted. I think if they had given us the playoffs at the beginning of the season, we probably would have accepted it… I'm speechless, you can see the atmosphere today. The boys tried hard, that's what we needed throughout the season, but yeah, what a victory.”
This, however, is not a story of triumph against all odds. Twelve months ago, both Southampton and Leeds were relegated to the Championship with parachute payments from the Premier League. Leeds have £35.5m Georginio Rutter roaming around in midfield, while Southampton have been able to retain a player of Kyle Walker-Peters' quality.
Farke's side scored 90 points this season, becoming only the second Championship club in history to reach the mark and fail to achieve automatic promotion. Southampton did not suffer defeat in any competition during five months of the campaign.
The easiest way to get promoted back to the top is at the first moment you apply, while still possessing a considerable financial advantage over the rest of the division. But missing out on the riches of the Premier League, combined with the need to comply with financial regulations, would have left Southampton facing difficult questions that have very few easy answers.
Despite their return to wealth, changes are sure to come for Southampton. The Sport Republic ownership group that took over in 2022 has big plans for the club, and the team that achieved this triumph appears ill-equipped to travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City and the Emirates to face Arsenal. Not that their fans seemed to care: they were still there more than two hours after Armstrong's decisive goal, singing about the Saints' progress to the Premier League.
