Sky Blues' promotion 'a memory for life' - Eccles

Josh Eccless has spent his entire career with hometown club Coventry barring a brief loan spell at Gillingham [Getty Images] Coventry City midfielder Josh Eccles says "this season is a memory for life" after helping his boyhood club return to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years. The 26-year-old, who joined the club aged seven, has experienced many highs and lows during his 195 appearances for the Sky Blues in all competitions. Eccles was part of the team that helped Coventry win the League One title in 2020 and took Manchester United to penalties in the 2024 FA Cup semi-final, but he also featured in both the Championship play-off defeats by Luton Town and Sunderland in recent years.

"In recent seasons I've created core memories, but they haven't ended in the way I wanted them to end," he told BBC Sport. "I'm glad we can look back on this year and say we achieved a lot. "When you lose the way we lost in the play-offs [last-minute extra-time play-off defeat at Sunderland], it can go one of two ways.

You can come back fighting, or you can let it play on your mind over the summer. "Clearly the boys didn't let it get to them too much. " Sky Blues parade route confirmed for celebrations Coventry owner not worried by Lampard links with Chelsea Coventry thrash Portsmouth to secure Championship title Eccles acknowledged Coventry have historically had a habit of "starting the seasons slow" before picking up form in the second half of the campaign to "sneak" into the top six at the conclusion.

"We knew if we could get a better start than usual that would give us a right chance at the end of the season - not just for play-offs but for automatics," he added. "And it has, so I'm buzzing with that. "We started this season really well, had a little blip in the middle, but we kept our heads and our cool, and now we've managed to get over the line with some games to spare.