The masterstroke behind Coventry City and Frank Lampard’s stunning Premier League return

There was sky blue smoke coming from the Darwen End. After 25 years, Coventry City ’s exile was over. There have been times in the past quarter of a century when it has felt never-ending, and on Friday evening it looked like it would be extended for a little longer.

Then Bobby Thomas headed in Victor Torp’s free kick, his name echoed around Blackburn – the town, it seemed, and not merely the football club – and confirmation came that Coventry ’s stay in the EFL will end. They needed a point and got precisely that. The messages on the scarves and banners the enterprising traders were hawking outside Ewood Park – reading “we are Premier League ” – will become fact.

Frank Lampard has an achievement that brooks no dissent, which cannot be caveated with asterisks. There was an invasion from the midlanders, 7,000 fans in the stand behind the goal where Thomas scored, a few more who had bought tickets among the Blackburn supporters. No wonder.

Coventry may have stumbled over the line, their performance had been largely mediocre, but there is a case for calling this their greatest day since the 1987 FA Cup final. Go back a decade and it could be argued the Coventry fanbase were starved of joy more than any other. While it did span their 1987 glory, they went 47 years without finishing in the top six in any division.