Wolves fans invade the pitch

Congratulations to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers on staying up in the Premier League, and commiserations to Birmingham City and Blackpool on getting relegated on a frenetic final day to the 2010-11 Premier League season.

What an incredible day it was for one of the most exciting ends to a Premier League season in history. There were plenty of ups and downs during the day. Here are the five changes that saw teams in the relegation zone flip-flop positions:

  • 40th minute. Charlie Adam scores glorious free kick. Blackpool will stay up if the scores stay the same. Wolves and Wigan going down.
  • 49th minute. Pavlyuchenko scores for Spurs to make it 1-0. Birmingham and Wigan would now be going down. Blackpool and Wolves staying up.
  • 74th minute: Ian Evatt own goal gifts United a 3-2 lead. Blackpool and Birmingham heading down. Wigan fans go nuts.
  • 79th minute. Gardner scores for Birmingham. Brum fans go wild. Wolves and Wigan going down.
  • 79th minute. Rodallega scores for Wigan. The Latics have a lifeline. Wolves and Blackpool are going down.
  • 86th minute. Steven Hunt scores for Wolves to make it Wolves 2-3 Blackburn. Birmingham and Blackpool going down.

When Pavlyuchenko scored for Spurs in the 93rd minute, it confirmed Birmingham going down alongside Blackpool barring an injury time miracle, which sadly for both of these teams never happened.

The bizarre circumstance of Wolves losing 3-2 was enough to keep them up as Birmingham lost against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. What a brilliant end to the season.

Congratulations to Manchester United on lifting the Premier League trophy. Meanwhile, it’s quite possible that Blackpool have qualified for the Europa League via the Fair Play League. We won’t know for sure until tomorrow, but Zoltan Gera’s red card for Fulham today may have ruined their chances of playing in Europe next season. It would be pretty ironic if Blackpool and Birmingham, who both were relegated today, play in the Europa League next season.

Watch for more coverage this afternoon as well as the EPL Talk Podcast later this evening.