Fulham will be playing Premier League football next season after beating Aston Villa 1-0 in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final.

Tom Cairney's left-footed strike into the bottom corner at 23 minutes was enough to secure victory in "the richest game in football".

A place in the Premier League brings potential earnings of £280m if Fulham can stay in the top division, but the south west London side will earn at least £160m after their success at Wembley.

Denis Odoi's sending off 20 minutes from time led to a jittery end for Slavisa Jokanovic's Whites, but they dug deep to secure the biggest financial prize in world football.

🏅@ThomasCairney’s contribution for @FulhamFC in the @SkyBetChamp Play-Off Final

84 touches (most in match)

Completed 62/68 passes

10 x possession gained

1 shot, 1 on target

Scored the 1-0 winner to earn promotion pic.twitter.com/NLN93Z2KnF — Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) May 26, 2018

The Cottagers are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2014, having been the favourites with bookmakers before the tie.


The pattern of the game was set from the off as Fulham dominated possession and Aston Villa sat deep to absorb pressure, but the decisive blow for Steve Bruce's Villa came after just 23 minutes.

Ryan Sessegnon left his left flank to come inside and cause some problems, and he slipped a fine ball between Alan Hutton and John Terry to find the run in behind Cairney, who showed superb composure as he rolled the ball past Sam Johnstone.

Image: Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic celebrates promotion to the Premier League

Fulham had the lead but were maybe a little lucky not to be down to 10 men six minutes later.

As Ryan Fredericks and Jack Grealish tussled for the ball, the Villa man went to ground and Fredericks appeared to stamp on his opponent.

Nothing, however, was given by the referee.

Bruce, who was chasing his fifth promotion as a club manager, managed to fire his team up for the second half.

Image: Aston Villa player Mile Jedinak consoles Jonathan Kodija after their side's defeat

A red card seemed inevitable with so many rough challenges in the game, and it finally came with 20 minutes to go.

Odoi, the hero who scored the winner in the semi-final against Derby, was the guilty party as his rash high boot caught Grealish.

The referee had no choice but to show him a second yellow card.

For Villa, 26 years to the day since their European Cup triumph, there would be no promotion to celebrate.

They will play in the Championship next season for the third-consecutive campaign.