Aston Villa is back in the English Premier League after a three-year absence — and will be at least 170 million pounds ($215 million) richer — after beating Derby 2-1 in the League Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium on Monday.
Anwar El Ghazi put Villa ahead in the 44th minute, and John McGinn got in front of Derby goalkeeper Kelle Roos to nod in a second goal in the 59th.
Substitute Jack Marriott pulled a goal back for Derby in the 81st to set up a tense finish but Villa held on to join Norwich and Sheffield United in going up from the second tier.
Prince William, watching nervously in a corporate box, was among the Villa fans celebrating inside Wembley when the final whistle went.
The playoff final is the most lucrative one-off match in world soccer, with accounting firm Deloitte valuing promotion at $215 million because of prize money as well as broadcast and commercial revenue from being in the Premier League.
The loss denied former Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard, who is in his first year in charge of Derby, a return to the Premier League as a manager. Instead it was his long-time teammate John Terry, who is assistant coach at Villa, who was all smiles in the technical area with the club's manager, Dean Smith.
