There are only two spots in the 2011-2012 Npower Championship left to fill after an extraordinary final day in the Barclays Premier League. Throughout a tense 90 minutes of football, only Blackburn out of the five teams who could go down, did not spend any time in the bottom three, and as the final whistle blew on the season, it was Blackpool and Birmingham who eventually joined West Ham in relegation.
Blackpool, exactly one year to the day after winning promotion via the Championship play-offs were desperately close to survival, even leading champions Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford, before conceding three goals in 20 minutes to lose 4-2. They were joined by Carling Cup winners Birmingham, whose season has fallen apart since beating Arsenal at Wembley back in February. They went into this afternoon’s game at Tottenham on a run of two wins in 12 matches since the showpiece final, and a last minute Roman Pavlyuchenko effort saw them lose 2-1 and therefore down after two years back in the top flight. They will however be playing in the Europa League next season because of their cup success.
It proved to be a day of celebration for Blackburn, Wolves and Wigan however. The Latics started the day second from bottom, but a fine 1-0 win at Stoke hauled them to safety, whilst despite losing 3-2 at home to Blackburn, Wolves managed to survive- With 87 minutes played, the side led by Barnsley legend Mick McCarthy were heading down. Losing 3-1, a Stephen Hunt effort three minutes from time lifted them above Birmingham on goals scored, before that last minute Pavlyuchenko effort made it academic.
The final Championship places will be decided next weekend when first, Huddersfield face Peterborough in the League One Play-Off Final next Sunday, and Swansea face Reading in the Championship Play-Off Final 24 hours later.