Cardiff City clinched promotion back to the Championship on Saturday in surreal circumstances

Brian Barry-Murphy’s wife, TV presenter Sarah Jane Crawford, is overcome by emotion as she learns of Cardiff City’s promotion (Image: Sarah Jane Crawford/Instagram )

Cardiff City are back in the Championship after gaining promotion from League One at the first time of asking – and they ultimately did so in dramatic circumstances.

The Bluebirds had done their part by beating Reading on the road on Saturday afternoon but their promotion fate was intrinsically linked to Stockport County’s result at Exeter City.

Should they drop points against The Grecians at St James Park, Cardiff would join Lincoln City in playing second tier football again next season.

With the game deep into stoppage time, it looked like Brian Barry-Murphy and his charges would have to wait until next week to confirm their ascent, with Stockport holding a 3-2 lead.

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But in the 96th minute, Jack Bycroft – Exeter’s goalkeeper – scored a dramatic equaliser to seal a 3-3 draw. Cue bedlam.

With the game still going on at the Select Car Leasing Stadium and Cardiff leading 3-1, news filtered through of the almost unbelievable events in Devon, with Barry-Murphy’s wife, TV presenter Sarah Jane Crawford, bursting into tears as the realisation hit home.

With Cardiff supporters chanting “We are going, say we are going up” in the background, she turns to friends to seek confirmation of the result elsewhere and is overcome by emotion.

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She said in a caption on the video she posted on Instagram: “Absolute cinema scenes ! We are so proud of you @brianbarrymurphy and the @cardiffcityfc boys ! See you at Spurs next season.”

The manager spoke of his emotions post-match.

“It’s a huge relief, obviously,” he said. “It’s been an incredible day. To see our supporters, the extraordinary scenes towards the end of the game… we tried to stay focused on the game, but it was difficult!

“Probably in the last four or five minutes it was one that we could enjoy.”

“The swell of support we have is incredible for this club,” he added.

“Irrespective of how much you feel you deserve promotion based on how well we’ve played, there’s always an element of wanting to get it done.

“Getting over the line is not easy in professional sport, so to finally do it is incredible for the players and something I’m sure will enable the team and club to grow massively.

“I didn’t have a true appreciation of how big the support was and the nature of the club, but I’ve seen very quickly what it’s like when you get it going.

“You try and give them what they want. There’ll be spells in the season – a couple of weeks back against Blackpool we were booed off – but that can be really beneficial. If they’re not happy, you’re not really doing your job properly.

“It stimulates and motivates me to try and give them what they want.”

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