Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu said Premier League promotion felt “amazing” and now wants to secure the Sky Bet Championship title.
The Whites thrashed Stoke City 6-0 at Elland Road to remain top of the table.
The players then stayed to watch Burnley’s 2-1 win over Sheffield United at Turf Moor, which confirmed promotion for both Leeds and the Clarets.
Leeds fans gathered outside the ground in their thousands to celebrate their top-flight return.
Excitement
Joel Piroe grabbed four goals for Leeds against hapless Stoke, including the club’s fastest ever league hat-trick with strikes in the sixth, eighth and 20th minutes.
He added his fourth before half-time after Junior Firpo had put Daniel Farke’s side 4-0 up in 26 minutes.
Willy Gnonto headed the hosts’ sixth in the second half to help seal Leeds’ Premier League return after a two-year absence.
Ampadu said: “It’s amazing; if you look at the scenes here, as it was after the final whistle, just pure excitement.
“Within ourselves, we’ve got another target, so we can enjoy this now, but we’ve got another target we want to achieve.
“But right now, it’s very good.”
Fantastic
Leeds came up short during last season’s run-in, dropping out of the top two before losing to Southampton in the play-off final, and Ampadu said that heartache had helped fuel Farke’s side this time round.
“Definitely, the lads that were here last year – we all felt that hurt,” he said.
“After the game at Wembley, we wanted to put it right straightaway, and we’ve had to wait another season.
“The lads who came in have been excellent, joining in with what we wanted to achieve.
“Thankfully, one part is done.
“Everyone knows what the next part is, but it’s fantastic.”
Buzzing
Ampadu’s Wales team-mate Joe Rodon said he was “buzzing” for everyone involved with the Elland Road club.
Rodon said: “For me, it hasn’t sunk in yet.
“I don’t think it will until the end of the season, but I’m just delighted for everyone involved with the club, the fans and what it means to them.
“It’s what everyone has worked for all season and I’m buzzing.
“(Last season) didn’t sit right with me.
“The boys who have come in have been brilliant and we set out to do what we’ve done.
“I’m just delighted for everyone.”
Leeds boss Farke, who won promotion to the Premier League twice with Norwich in 2019 and 2021, said he was “lost for words”.
Unbelievable
Farke, enjoying a celebratory beer, said: “It doesn’t happen that often.
“You can see the atmosphere here, it’s incredible.
“It’s well deserved, 94 points at this stage is unbelievable.
“The lads should celebrate, all our supporters should celebrate.
“We will make sure that this Easter Monday will last for one or two more days.
“It’s difficult on such an emotional day to reflect too much, but it was a long road.
“It’s not easy to stabilise the ship after relegation and to deal with that.
“We played fantastic last season, with 90 minutes, before the heart-breaking game at Wembley, but to show resilience and keep going, we deserve today to celebrate.”
Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe congratulated Farke and his players.
Marathe said on the club website: “To Daniel and the squad – thank you for your relentless pursuit of this achievement.
“You have been exemplary throughout the campaign and have rightly earned your place in Leeds United history.
“You represent everything it means to play for this club and we are all incredibly proud.”
He added: “The Premier League is where Leeds belongs and our goal is to establish a long-term presence there.”
READ MORE: We’ve bored our way to Premier League! – Josh Brownhill hails Burnley promotion
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