Norwood: I'll Always Cherish Promotion Experiences

Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Oliver Norwood reflected on an incredible day at Wembley Stadium, as the Northern Irishman sealed back-to-back promotions, following Saturday’s Play-Off Final victory with Fulham.

The Albion loanee was a second-half substitute for the Cottagers against Aston Villa, and after winning promotion to the Premier League the season before with Chris Hughton’s men, the 27-year-old was delighted to do it all over again.

He said, “If you get the chance to get promoted once in your career, you’d be very happy - but it’s surreal to get promoted again with Fulham, at Wembley in front of over 85,000 fans.

“It was an incredible day, and to have experienced both types of promotion in consecutive seasons is a great feeling.

“If you ask any footballer - ‘you can get promoted at Wembley in financially the biggest game in football’ - I think any footballer would choose to do it that way.

“The whole occasion was absolutely incredible. It’s something I’ll always cherish and be very proud of when I look back at the end of my career - the achievements I’ve had with both clubs.”

Norwood made 39 appearances in the Sky Bet Championship - scoring five goals - and the midfielder commented on the similar journeys in which Albion and Fulham have been on.

“Obviously I wasn’t at Brighton at the time, but if you look back at missing out the year before and then going on to win automatic promotion the following season, you could say the stories are quite similar.

“Fulham missed out in the semi-finals the season before, and it shows what characters there are in both squads.

“For the boys to go on and do what they did this year in the Premier League - watching from afar - it’s been incredible.

“I’m really pleased that the club get another crack at the Premier League next season, because everyone deserves it.

“They’ve worked hard for years and can now look forward to doing it all over again next season.”

The Cottagers will join the Seagulls in the Premier League for the 2018/19 campaign, and Norwood highlighted the successful but different styles of football played at both clubs.

“Fulham play a different type of football. The manager really insists on playing out from the back - the two centre-backs are really deep and the midfielders drop in to get the ball.

“It’s two different styles of play, but both are as successful as each other. You’re not always going to have two clubs that play the exact same way.

“At the end of the day, it’s about winning football matches and being successful, and both teams have done that.”