A record number of TV viewers tuned in to watch Nottingham Forest’s Wembley victory over Huddersfield Town.
Steve Cooper’s side sealed their return to the Premier League with a 1-0 win in Sunday’s promotion-decider. They did so in front of more than 36,400 Reds fans at the national stadium, but many more watched from elsewhere.
The match was screened live on Sky Sports. And Sky say it was their most-watched English Football League game on record.
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An average in-home audience of 1.75million viewers were glued to a nervy contest. The peak saw viewing figures of 2.24m.
Levi Colwill’s own goal just before half-time proved to be the difference between the two sides. It ended Forest’s 23-year absence from the top-flight as they completed a remarkable transformation under Cooper, having been bottom of the Championship table when he arrived last September.
The final whistle was greeted with wild celebrations on and off the pitch. And the Reds head coach said afterwards he hoped a message had been sent out to those watching on.
“There’s such good will around the club. We’ve been desperate for something like this. I’ve felt it in the last eight or nine months,” Cooper said.
“We’ve just tried to put a sense of belief in amongst the club which is connected with the supporters. There’s no doubt we deserve to be promoted, with the football we’ve played and the games we’ve won, and the attitude we’ve given - every time we’ve had an average performance or lost, we’ve recovered.
“There was only once we lost two games on the run, and ironically, that was against Huddersfield. But we bounced back.
“I’m just really proud of everybody connected with the football club, including the supporters. It’s a magical football club, and we’ve reminded the world of that.”
