The city buzzing as Premier League return beckons

Coventry City have not been in English football's top flight since 2001 [Getty Images] Cast your mind back to 2001 - the first iPhone would not be released for six years, Tony Blair was prime minister and the first Harry Potter film was in cinemas. It was also the year that Coventry City, after decades in the top division of English football, were relegated from the Premier League. Many Sky Blues fans hoped they would make a swift return but their journey back has proved tortuous - with the club falling into League Two at one stage and at times also having to play their home games away from Coventry.

But with the club on the verge of being back at the top table of English football, their success is creating a buzz in the city. They include lifelong supporters who, having had a taste of the Premier League a quarter of a century ago, desperately want the club back in it. Michael Cassity, a season ticket holder who has followed Coventry for more than four decades, runs a hats, gloves and scarves stall on Coventry Market.

He said it had been "very tough" seeing his team drop down the leagues. "It's been a lot of dark moments, days but finally nearly there, we're nearly back," he said. "It'd just be a massive lift for the whole of the city.

"[It will] change people's mood, it just will lift everybody. " Michael Cassity (left) and Gil Lewis are lifelong fans [BBC] His friend Gil Lewis, a former professional boxer, said he had been a fan since 1977. He said he was "gutted" when they dropped out of the Premier League in 2001 and felt "200% confident" they were going back up.