Leeds and Burnley secured promotion back to the Premier League on Monday with Leeds boss Daniel Farke admitting it ‘has been a long road.’
Leeds lost in the play-off final last year but thrashed Stoke 6-0 at Elland Road on Easter Monday to remain top of the table.
Then, after Burnley’s 2-1 win over Sheffield United at Turf Moor confirmed promotion for both Leeds and the Clarets, the squads could celebrate.
Farke, who won promotion to the Premier League twice with Norwich in 2019 and 2021, said he was “lost for words”.
Farke, enjoying a celebratory beer, said: “It doesn’t happen that often.
These scenes outside Elland Road 😍😍 pic.twitter.com/k9c9rbzYzV
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) April 21, 2025
“You can see the atmosphere here, it’s incredible. It’s well deserved, 94 points at this stage is unbelievable. The lads should celebrate, all our supporters should celebrate.
“We will make sure that this Easter Monday will last for one or two more days.
“It’s difficult on such an emotional day to reflect too much, but it was a long road. It’s not easy to stabilise the ship after relegation and to deal with that.
“We played fantastic last season, with 90 minutes, before the heart-breaking game at Wembley, but to show resilience and keep going, we deserve today to celebrate.”
Burnley captain Josh Brownhill joked the Clarets had “bored our way to the Premier League” after securing a return to the top flight at the first attempt.
Scott Parker’s side have conceded just 15 goals in 44 matches and victory over their promotion rivals ensured they could not be caught with two matches remaining.
“I’m speechless. All that hard work this season. We’ve been written off so many times, people calling us boring but we’ve bored our way to the Premier League again,” Brownhill, who scored both goals, told Sky Sports.
“The feeling is absolutely incredible. I don’t think a lot of the lads will sleep.
“I’m just so buzzing for a lot of the lads who haven’t played Premier League football, how much it means to them to get this club back into the Premier League.”
Parker has now won promotion to the Premier League with three different clubs, after achieving the feat with Fulham and Bournemouth.
However, he felt this was the pinnacle. He told Sky Sports: “It means everything really.
“We set on a mission at the start of the year to get promoted and early on in the season there were a lot of ups and downs but where we currently are is nothing short of incredible.
“This one feels better. It feels special. I’ve had some bumps in the road as a manager after losing my job at Bournemouth and at Brugge.
“I decided to take a year out and come back into this and there was a big challenge ahead. I’m relieved and happy.”
