FootyChatter.com

BBC CWR reaction to Coventry City's promotion BBC CWR This video can not be played Coventry draw 1-1 at Blackburn to win promotion to Premier League Thomas headed equaliser for Sky Blues after Morishita had given Blackburn lead Coventry are back in the top flight for first time since 2001 Point for Blackburn leaves Rovers five points above relegation zone with two games to play Alex Hoad and Deepak Mahay Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Slightly scrappy passage of play with slips from both teams and Blackburn's Ryoya Morishita dribbling into trouble when he had Ryan Alebiosu galloping into space overlapping on his right. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry All gone a little quiet at Ewood, the incessant noise from the away end has died away and, dare I say it, some nerves might have crept in. Remember, Coventry only need a point tonight to return to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Kevin Gallacher Former Blackburn striker on BBC Radio Lancashire That's better football from Blackburn but again there's about five Coventry players in the box. Blackburn have to take more risks, Yuri Ribeiro was the only one there but its good defending by Coventry. You have to make the most of everything. Have the willpower to go that extra half-yard. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Good spell of pressure from Rovers now, and nearly a sight of goal. Milan van Ewijk has produced what might have been a goal-saving intervention near the penalty spot after a cut-back from the right of the area, sliding in to prevent Yuri Ribeiro getting a clean shot away at the expense of a corner - which Rovers waste. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry City are bossing possession but they can't break through the organised Rovers defence and when defender Bobby Thomas decides to dart through a gap to get things going and pass square just outside the box, the ball is pinged backwards towards halfway, leading to some groans in the away end. Have your say using the 'Get Involved' button Back in 1980 Steve Ogrizovic came to our school for a sponsored penalty kick competition as he was a mate of our chemistry teacher, Mr. Higgins. I think I scored three from 10! !! ! I did get an autograph though in my chemistry book as I was the school goalkeeper. Dean, Northumberland Looks like Coventry are feeling the pressure. Jeff, Leicester As a Pompey fan, I’m not surprised by the intensity Blackburn have found tonight so far. The threat of relegation often oils that final gear needed at this time of the season. Jake, Streatham Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Hate to say it, but if you'd never seen a game of football before and were told that one of these sides was trying to get promoted, and the other was in the bottom half, you'd think Rovers were the ones on the up. They do not have a goal to show for their endeavour, however, which is so often their problem. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Steve Ogrizovic Ex-Coventry City goalkeeper on BBC CWR Jack Rudoni did all the hard work with his chance earlier. It's a lovely take and he races forward but he'll be disappointed he's only found the side-netting there. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Yuki Ohashi has been in the thick of everything. He gets up at the back post to meet a Ryan Alebiosu cross from the right with a firm header which beats Carl Rushworth but comes back off the bar. .. However, Lewis Smith's whistle went for a nudge on a defender in the lead-up, so it wouldn't have stood anyway. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Rob Gurney BBC Radio CWR Sport To say this referee is letting a lot go is something of an overstatement. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Mesmerising feet from Jack Rudoni who is found at the end of a long spell of possession for the visitors and darts into the box from the left, weaving past one man and stepping past another, which narrows his angle so much that he can only lash an off-balance shot into the near side-netting. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Rovers are working very hard indeed off the ball, pressing their visitors back all the way to keeper Carl Rushworth. Whether their paper-thin squad can keep up that intensity for another 65 minutes remains to be seen, however. .. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry We heard from Jack Rudoni before the match saying Coventry would need to match the Blackburn fight to allow their quality to show. .. They're not at the moment. Rovers are playing with great intensity and pinching possession and playing directly and causing the leaders plenty of problems. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry End-to-end stuff. Ephron Mason-Clark's curling cross is headed away at one end before Kristi Montgomery launches a lung-busting run down the right, beating two City defenders, but his looping cross while off balance is too close to Carl Rushworth, who gathers at the second attempt after a fumble. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Steve Ogrizovic Ex-Coventry City goalkeeper on BBC CWR Blackburn have had a few breaks, particularly down Coventry's left, their right. Not much to trouble Coventry yet though other than that Ohashi effort. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Rovers looking very dangerous on the break whenever they can get a cross into the middle and the latest is nodded towards Moussa Baradji before being cleared, but a clumsy foul from Taylor Gardner-Hickman relieves the pressure on Coventry with a free-kick on the edge of their own box. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry David Anderson BBC Sport England The Coventry fans belted out their ‘Super Frank Lampard’ song and this will be a sweet moment for the England and Chelsea legend. He had come up short in his previous attempts to win promotion to the Premier League, losing the 2019 Championship play-off final with Derby and in last season’s semi-finals with Coventry. This was set to be Lampard’s best achievement as a manager and will top guiding Chelsea to the 2020 FA Cup final and keeping Everton up in 2022. The away fans were enjoying themselves and sang ‘City are going up and Leicester are going down’ in glee at the plight of their Midlands rivals. They felt a Coventry goal was inevitable, even though Rovers threatened first when Carl Rushworth saved from Yuki Ohashi’s flying, point-blank header. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Milan van Ewijk pounces on a loose pass in midfield and gallops down the right flank before swinging in an inviting cross which no 'bold hot coral' shirts can get on the end of at the back stick. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry Frank Onyeka is led to the sideline but looks like he'll be ok to return shortly. Play has resumed. Blackburn 0-0 Coventry We have a break in play as Frank Onyeka is down in the City box after a clash of heads and is getting some treatment. He may be a tank, but those still hurt. .. Coventry City have won their third promotion in nine seasons Bobby Thomas equalised six minutes from time at Blackburn Rovers to secure Coventry City's return to the Premier League after 25 years and begin their promotion party. Thomas wrote his name in Sky Blues history as he headed home in front of the away fans to send them wild at Ewood Park. The Coventry fans sang the 25-year-old defender's name and after the club's journey all the way down to League Two, Frank Lampard has led them back to the top flight. Thomas' goal was tough on Blackburn and they deservedly led through Ryoya Morishita before the Championship leaders hit back to earn the point they needed to seal promotion. For Rovers, the draw lifted them five points clear of the relegation zone, but having played two more games than third-from-bottom Oxford United. Following the final whistle, former England and Chelsea midfielder Lampard went onto the pitch to celebrate the Coventry's greatest moment since lifting the FA Cup in 1987 and the players ran to the away fans in the Darwen End, holding promotion banners. The away fans had felt this moment was inevitable, but it was Rovers who threatened first when Carl Rushworth saved Yuki Ohashi's flying header from Ryan Alebiosu's cross. Rovers went close again from the same combination and Ohashi headed against the bar from Alebiosu's ball, only for referee Lewis Smith to blow for a push by the Japanese forward, before Morishita saw a shot blocked. Coventry were flat and all they could muster was a stabbed shot from Ephron Mason-Clark wide of the far post. It came as no surprise when Blackburn scored on 54 minutes through Morishita. Alebiosu's cross was deflected to the feet of Morishita and the Japan international shot home off Thomas. Coventry finally put Blackburn under some sustained pressure and Jack Rudoni glanced a header off the inside of the post, although the offside flag was then raised against Haji Wright. But the Sky Blues kept going and got their reward in the 84th minute when Victor Torp swung in a free-kick from the right for Thomas to head home from close range. How Coventry earned Premier League return after 25 years The rollercoaster race for second spot - who's going up with Coventry? Coventry sent the message out early on that they meant business this season and that their last-kick-of-extra-time play-off heartbreak against Sunderland in May was not going to cast a shadow. Beating Derby County 5-3 at Pride Park in game two was backed up by a 7-1 humiliation of Queens Park Rangers as the Sky Blues went goal crazy. By the end of October, Coventry had scored 24 more in 10 games, won six (in a row), and lost just once - at Wrexham. That proved a mere wrinkle as Lampard's freewheeling funsters quickly reeled off five more victories on the spin. At the start of December, they had seen off nearest challengers Middlesbrough 4-2 at The Riverside, were 10 points clear at the top and the first team in 50 years to score 50 goals after 18 games in a second-tier season. Forwards Brandon Thomas-Asante, Wright and Ellis Simms scored half of those while on-loan Brighton goalkeeper Rushworth's seven clean sheets, including a club-record 613 goalless minutes, tested the mantra of 'never fall in love with a loan player' to its max. Freed up by Lampard's desire for his players to express themselves, Coventry were irresistible. But, of course, the relentlessness of the Championship is the ultimate test and the Sky Blues were always going to be tested at some stage. The question was how would they deal with it? Bobby Thomas celebrates scoring his equaliser for Coventry City to secure promotion back to the Premier League after 25 years Defeat at Ipswich and a 1-1 draw at Preston North End in early December did not cause undue alarm for Coventry, especially with back-to-back home wins against Bristol City and Swansea City to follow. But another loss to the Tractor Boys - their first at home of the season and first without a home goal since the opening day - hinted at trouble. With Thomas-Asante out injured, the goals dried up and so did the clean sheets as the Sky Blues lost their way, particularly away from the sanctuary of the CBS Arena. Seven games without a win on the road followed as fans became fractious, worried sides had finally worked them out. But it takes more than just a loss of form to turn a blip into a slide. You need a rival to step up and crank up the pressure. Step forward Middlesbrough, who turned the heat up on Coventry to boiling point with a superb run of six wins in a row at the start of 2026 as the Sky Blues' double-digit lead was wiped out. By the time the two promotion rivals met on 16 February, Boro were two points clear at the top - and Coventry had lost four of their previous eight games. In the Championship's statement fixture, the Sky Blues' 3-0 win - with Wright bagging a hat-trick - made theirs loud and clear. Their swagger and confidence restored, Coventry's relentlessness returned and this time they never looked back. Five more victories followed on the spin as they cruised into the Easter programme nine points clear at the top again with Premier League vibes well and truly back. Inspired January loan signing Frank Onyeka grabbed his first goal, and Rudoni his fifth in four games, in a thrilling 3-2 Good Friday win over Derby and another point at Hull put the top flight at their fingertips going into Saturday's lunchtime meeting with Sheffield Wednesday. Despite a frustrating goalless stalemate, other results meant only a mathematical miracle could stop City's Premier League party starting. At Ewood Park, it was officially launched. This video can not be played O'Neill: 'We got what we needed out of the game' After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 17th April 2026 at 21: 54 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Michael O'Neill Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Manager: Frank Lampard Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Manager: Michael O'Neill Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Manager: Frank Lampard Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 To watch and listen, you need to enable Java Script in your browser. BBC CWR reaction to Coventry City's promotion. BBC CWR. Audio BBC CWR reaction to Coventry City's promotion BBC CWR Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Blackburn are winless in their last 10 league games against Coventry (D5 L5), since a 4-0 away win in October 2020. Coventry have kept a clean sheet in their last five league games against Blackburn – they’ve never gone six without conceding against an opponent, while only against Chelsea have Rovers had a longer goalless run (7 between 2006 and 2009). Each of Blackburn’s last three home league games have ended level, with the last two ending goalless. They last drew four consecutive home league matches in May 1988 (4). Accounting for 3pts per win all-time, Coventry’s 85 points this season is already their most in a single league campaign in the club’s history. The Sky Blues will be promoted to the Premier League if they avoid defeat in this match, last featuring in the top-flight in 2001.   Haji Wright has scored 16 goals in the Championship this season, his joint-most in a single campaign for the club (also 16 in 2023-24). Only Viktor Gyökeres has netted more than 16 times in a Championship season for the Sky Blues (21 in 2022-23, 17 in 2021-22). Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.