Leeds United's Wilfried Gnonto, right, and Southampton's Flynn Downes battle for the ball during the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton at Wembley Stadium, London, Sunday May 26, 2024. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Southampton's Kyle Walker-Peters, left, and Leeds United's Crysencio Summerville battle for the ball during the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton at Wembley Stadium, London, Sunday May 26, 2024. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Leeds United's Wilfried Gnonto, right, and Southampton's Flynn Downes battle for the ball during the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton at Wembley Stadium, London, Sunday May 26, 2024. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Southampton's Kyle Walker-Peters, left, and Leeds United's Crysencio Summerville battle for the ball during the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton at Wembley Stadium, London, Sunday May 26, 2024. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — Southampton secured an immediate return to the Premier League on Sunday by beating Leeds 1-0 at Wembley Stadium in the Championship playoff final, the richest one-off match in world soccer.
An uplift of 140 million pounds ($180 million) in future earnings from broadcast revenue and prize money is guaranteed for the south-coast club thanks to Adam Armstrong’s 24th-minute winner at England’s national stadium.
Southampton is heading back up to the lucrative Premier League alongside Leicester and Ipswich, which took the automatic promotion spots in the Championship.
As for Leeds, whose U.S. ownership group contains major-winning golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, the club’s playoff woes continued.
This was the sixth time Leeds has failed to go up via the post-season series. Making it even more painful is the fact that Leeds finished third in the regular season — three points above fourth-place Southampton — and missed out on automatic promotion after winning only one of its last six games.
