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Portsmouth and Sunderland both lose their penultimate matches to seal Luton and Barnsley’s automatic promotion
Last Updated: 30/04/19 10:37pm
Luton and Barnsley have won promotion to the Sky Bet Championship after Portsmouth and Sunderland both lost on Tuesday night.
The Hatters and the Tykes were not in action but Portsmouth and Sunderland needed positive results to keep the automatic promotion race alive going into the final day of the season.
However, Pompey lost 3-2 at home to Peterborough, while the Black Cats were beaten 2-1 at Fleetwood.
Luton will be returning to the second tier of English football for the first time in 12 years, having last played in the Championship in 2007, while Barnsley are back in the Championship at the first time of asking, having been relegated at the end of last season.
The destination of the title is still undecided, with both sides level on 91 points, although Luton have a better goal difference. They host Oxford on Saturday, while Barnsley head to Bristol Rovers.
It is back-to-back promotions for Luton, whose manager Nathan Jones departed for Stoke in January before his replacement, Mick Harford, continued their challenge at the top of the table.
Following news of their promotion, Harford said in a video on Twitter: “This is a message to all the fans who have travelled for miles throughout the season and got their just reward. Your support has been immense and without it we wouldn’t have got over the line.
“The players this season have been absolutely magnificent from the first game to the last which will be on Saturday [against Oxford United] where Kenilworth Road will be rocking.”
Luton went on a club-record 28-game unbeaten run during the campaign, a streak which ended on April 6.
Barnsley have sealed promotion after a campaign in which they have remained unbeaten at home.
It marks a memorable debut campaign in English football for their boss Daniel Stendel as he guided the Tykes to promotion after taking charge last June.
