Leeds return, Arminia sensation and Spice's patience: who achieved a promotion in leading football countries

Bilich's good job at West Brom and Fulham's promotion

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the name of Leeds resounded throughout the world. The team fought for medals in the Premier League and achieved success in European competitions. The Peacocks made it to the Champions League and UEFA Cup semi-finals. However, the club then faced serious financial problems and flew out of the Premier League. This was only the beginning of the end, as Leeds even introduced external management, and the team spent several seasons in Ligue 1 - the third-strongest English division.

But in 2020, the three-time champions of England returned to the Premier League after 16 years. They were close to this in 2019, but then suffered an offensive defeat by Derby in the playoff semi-finals for the right to play in the Premier League.

This time there were no equal to Leeds. The team demonstrated beautiful combination football and for most of the season was in the top two of the tournament table.

The main creator of this success was Marcelo Bielsa. The eccentric coach was remembered in England for a number of unusual actions. For example, he sent a spy to Derby training, for which the club was fined £ 200,000, and ordered his charges to concede the ball in a game with Aston Villa, because his team scored when an opposing player needed medical help.

But the main thing Bielsa managed to return a team with a great history to the elite in two years. At the same time, in the past season, the club did not spend a single pound on transfers, limiting itself to leases and the arrival of free agents.

But it took West Brom just two seasons to return to the Premier League. The former Lokomotiv coach Slaven Bilic raised the team to the elite. Horvath took over the "thrush" last summer and put attacking football as a new team.

As a result, West Brom with 77 goals became one of the most productive teams in the Championship (the second most powerful in the English league). Leeds scored the same amount, Brentford (80) scored more. Mateus Pereira, rented from Sporting, took first place in the assistants' race of the tournament with 16 assists.

Moreover, after the first round, West Brom were in the lead, having suffered only one defeat, to Leeds. But in the period from December 21 to January 28, the team did not win a single victory and allowed the competitor to break away.

Fulham managed to return to the elite even faster. In 2019, the summer residents flew out of the Premier League, and a year later they celebrated their return. A different result would be a big surprise, since Londoners were the most valuable team in the Championship according to Transfermarkt.

True, in the standings, the capital's team took only third place and was forced to participate in the playoffs for a ticket to the Premier League. Fulham managed to win it for the second time in three years.

The greatest contribution to the success at the end of the season was made by Aleksandar Mitrovic. The Serb with 26 goals became the tournament's top scorer alongside Brentford striker Ollie Watkins. And right-back Joe Brian unexpectedly scored a double in extra time in the final match with Brentford, who had not scored for almost a year before.

Also worth mentioning is the 39-year-old Fulham mentor Scott Parker. For the coach, this season was the first full-fledged one in his career. He is the youngest in the Championship of the past season after Preston North End's Alex Neil.

Return of Cadiz to Example after 14 years and veteran of Elche

In Spain, Cadiz managed to take first place at the end of the Segunda season. The Andalusian club returned to Example after 14 years. At the same time, in the 21st century, the team only once performed in the elite, but, having taken 19th place, immediately flew back. Moreover, like Leeds, Cadiz had to spend several years in the third most powerful division. The renaissance began with the arrival of coach Alvaro Cervera. He returned the team to Segunda, and then on the fourth attempt brought it to the Example.

As part of the yellow, attacking midfielder Alex Fernandez stood out. Last season, the Real Madrid graduate was the main organizer of the team's attacks, as evidenced by 19 points for performance (13 + 6).

In the new season, the main star of the team should be Alvaro Negredo, who played for Real Madrid and Manchester City. The management has already agreed on the transfer of the 34-year-old striker from Al-Nasr. The Honduran striker Choco Lozano, who previously defended the colors of the Barcelona farm club, will also be able to say a weighty word.

In turn, Huesca managed to return to Primera, and the club did it quickly. In 2019, the team dropped out of the elite division, and a year later snatched the championship in the Segunda in the last round. True, the next season in La Liga will be only the second in history for the team.

And fans will almost certainly discover a few new names. Huesca actively rents young players from the largest clubs in Europe and provides them with playing practice. So, the midfielder of Borussia Dortmund Sergio Gomez, who is a graduate of Barcelona, ​​helped the team return to Example. And 21-year-old midfielder Jordi Mboula was loaned from Monaco.

But the real leaders of Huesca are veterans - 35-year-old Mikel Rico, defining the game in midfield, and 34-year-old Japanese Shinji Okazaki, who became the team's top scorer with 12 goals.

Girona was supposed to go third for promotion. The Reds and Whites were relegated from the elite division last year and have set themselves the task of returning immediately.

However, in the final of the playoffs for reaching the Example, Girona sensationally lost on aggregate to Elche (0: 0, 0: 1). And the decisive goal was scored by Pere Miglia in the 96th minute.

A team from the province of Alicante played in Example back in 2015, but was transferred to Segunda due to large debts. Later, the club was completely relegated to the third-strongest league. But five years later, "Elche" sensationally returned to the elite.

The 40-year-old striker Nino is worth mentioning in the team. The first match as part of the green-striped pupil of "Real" played back in 2000. In the last season of Segunda, he took part in 44 meetings and scored eight goals. Nino spent 12 seasons in Elche. In 2016, he was not afraid to return to the club in distress and went with him from falling into the lower leagues to returning to the elite.  

And the Russian fans are well acquainted with the ex-forward of Rubin Jonatas. After leaving Hannover, the Brazilian was left without a team for six months, and in the spring he managed to get sick with coronavirus. However, seven of his goals helped Elche break into Primera.

Arminia captain's unusual path and Gomez's last performance at Stuttgart

Until the start of the season, no one bet that Arminia from Bielefeld two rounds before the end of the championship in the second Bundesliga guarantees themselves the first place. According to forecasts, “Stuttgart”, “Hamburg” and “Hannover-96” were to compete for the promotion in the class.  

However, Arminia, which has a modest line-up even by the standards of a subleite division, took the lead from the first rounds and demonstrated amazing stability. Uwe Neuhaus's players have suffered only two defeats and will play in the Bundesliga for the first time in 11 years.  

The main character in the Bielefeld team was the old-timer and team captain Fabian Clos, who until the age of 24 was not a professional footballer and worked as a car mechanic at the Volkswagen plant. The striker scored 21 goals, became the top scorer of the tournament and at the age of 32 will have the opportunity to prove himself in the Bundesliga for the first time.

But the entrance to the Bundesliga "Stuttgart" did not come as a surprise. Having flown out of the elite, the Swabians retained many leaders and were initially considered the main favorites of the tournament. As a result, only Arminia was ahead of them in the table.

Many newcomers of the Stuttgart team have shown themselves. For example, 20-year-old striker Silas Wamangituka, acquired from Paris for € 8 million, scored 15 points for performance (7 + 8). And the Moroccan midfielder Hamadi Al-Gaddioui scored eight goals and gave four assists.

Stuttgart also made a kind of transfer at the coaching post. In December Timo Valiera was replaced by a young American specialist Pellegrino Matarazzo, who had previously worked as an assistant to Julian Nagelsmann at Hoffenheim.

Veteran Mario Gomez made his contribution to the return of the team to the Bundesliga, seven times hitting the gates of rivals in the second Bundesliga. After the end of the season, the 35-year-old striker announced his retirement.

Creative "Lorient" and the long-awaited success of "Lance"

For ten years Lorient was a solid middle peasant in the French championship, but in 2017 it flew to Ligue 2. It took three years to return to the elite. The team finished the 2019/20 season ahead of schedule in first place.

At the same time, the president of the semi-finalist of the Champions League "Lyon" Jean-Michel Olyas accused the head of "Lorient" Loic Feri in collusion with "Saint-Etienne" and "Rennes". According to him, these clubs allegedly pushed through the decision to end the season early in France.

In the offseason, the Merluses signed several newcomers. Social networks "Loriana" presented them in the most unusual way. Adrian Grbic flew to Lorient by plane and jumped out of it with a parachute. Quentin Boisgard - sailed to the city underwater with scuba diving. And Stefan Diarra was watched by a club spy. It is worth noting that Lorient paid € 9 million for the Austrian Grbic, who scored 17 goals in the finished Ligue 2 season with Clermont Foot. This is a new transfer record for the club.

🪂 Nouveau joueur en approche: opération aéroportée en cours pic.twitter.com/Tg32LXbgbm

Lance's path to second place in League 2 is reminiscent of Leeds' history. At the turn of the century, the team achieved serious success and even became the champion of France in 1998. And in 2000, the blood-golds reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals, where they lost to Arsenal. In the second pair of that stage, Galatasaray beat Leeds.

The fall of Lance was not as deep as that of the English team, but the team had to spend five seasons in Ligue 2.

Following the results of the current draw, the ex-French champion, which included enough players who played a lot in Ligue 1, returned to the elite. The team showed a fast attacking game and at the same time conceded little (24 goals in 28 matches).

It is not surprising that Lance's Serbian central defender Aleksandr Radovanovic, according to media reports, attracted the attention of Lokomotiv and Rostov.

Records of Benevento with Filippo Inzaghi and 20 goals of Nwankwo for Crotone

But Italian “Benevento” to return to Serie A, it took only two seasons. Last year, the team was close to a promotion, but unexpectedly lost to Cittadella in the playoffs.

After that, the team was headed by Filippo Inzaghi, who had already worked with Milan, Venice and Bologna.

In addition, the club has signed contracts with a number of experienced performers. The team was also joined by the younger brother of Napoli midfielder Lorenzo Insigne - Roberto.

As a result, Benevento did not leave Serie B rivals a single chance and secured a promotion in the class seven rounds before the end. Inzaghi's wards broke the tournament record for the number of points scored in the first round (46). Even Juventus could not take so much.

And already next season, Inzaghi will face a confrontation with his younger brother Simone, who heads Lazio. In March, they became the first brothers in history, whose teams simultaneously led both Serie A and Serie B.

In 2018, Crotone left the elite division along with Benevento. Both teams are now returning to Serie A.

Moreover, the "Pythagoreans", in contrast to the main competitor, quite modestly conducted a transfer campaign and practically did not spend money on newcomers.

There are no stars in the "Crotone". However, the Nigerian striker Simeon Nwankwo had a great season. He also showed himself quite brightly in Serie A, for example, he scored over himself to Juventus, and this time with 20 goals he became the top scorer in Serie B.

Former Moscow striker Maxi Lopez also contributed to the success. True, the 36-year-old striker was content mainly with substitutions and distinguished himself only once.

If Benevento and Crotone recently played in the elite division, La Spezia will play in Serie A for the first time in their 114-year history. At the same time, in 1944, the team won the unofficial Italian championship with the participation of teams from the north of the country. The club is still proud of this title.

Until recently, the fans simply had no other reasons. However, in 2008, the distressed "Spice" was acquired by billionaire Gabriele Volpi.

Soon, the Eaglets were promoted to Serie B, and over the past eight seasons they have played seven playoffs for the right to play in the elite division. Finally, in 2020, they were lucky, despite the defeat in the first semifinal match against Chievo with a score of 0: 2.

La Spezia achieved their historic success under the guidance of a young 42-year-old coach Vincenzo Italiano, who previously worked exclusively in the lower leagues.

As for the composition of the team, there are no stars in it, but there are many talented young players. Among them is the 22-year-old son of former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, Swainn.