Match report: Elliott takes Burnley back to the promised land

Burnley celebrated a £60 million windfall last night after winning promotion to the Barclays Premier League and their supporters’ joy increased when Owen Coyle promised to lead them into the top flight next season.

Almost immediately after his side’s 1-0 win over Sheffield United in the Coca-Cola Championship play-off final at Wembley the 42-year-old Scot was installed as favourite to manage Celtic in the wake of Gordon Strachan’s resignation earlier in the day. Coyle is understood to figure prominently in the thoughts of the Celtic board, which is aware that he is a lifelong supporter of the club, but the highly rated Burnley manager indicated that he will not walk away from the exciting challenge at Turf Moor.

“I didn’t know there was a vacancy at Celtic,” Coyle said after the victory. “It’s flattering that people mention your name, but I’m with Burnley. I’ll concentrate my job on what I’m doing here and long may that continue.”

Burnley’s promotion means that the town, with a population of about 88,000, will be the smallest to have played in the Premier League since the division was rebranded 17 years ago. It will be their first taste of top-flight football since 1976 and Barry Kilby, the chairman, suggested that the club will be rich beyond their wildest dreams as they prepare for a minimum £30 million in TV revenue next season as well as the promise of two £15 million “parachute payments” even if they went straight back down.

Far less upbeat about the future was Kevin Blackwell, the beaten Sheffield United manager, who suggested that he would resign. The South Yorkshire club had been banking on promotion as their parachute payments cease two years after their relegation. They are due £25 million in compensation from West Ham United over the Carlos Tévez affair, but that figure is payable over six years, meaning that it barely softens the immediate drop in revenue.

“Our turnover will drop considerably now, there is a rebuilding job at the club and it might need someone different to do it,” Blackwell said. “I’ll go away and reflect on it. I know the ramifications and I’m thinking I might have taken the club as far as it can go.”

Burnley won thanks to a spectacular thirteenth-minute goal from Wade Elliott. However, Blackwell was frustrated by the performance of Mike Dean, the referee, who turned down two penalty appeals and sent off two of United’s substitutes, Jamie Ward and Lee Hendrie. The latter was dismissed for foul and abusive language after the final whistle. Coyle, though, believed that his side had been “worthy winners”.

He insists that his team, assembled on a shoestring budget, will attempt to play attractive football in the Premier League, even though West Bromwich Albion were relegated this season after adopting a similar approach.

“We’re under no illusions,” Coyle said. “But we will remain true to our principles and we will play the right way.”