London: Preston North End were promoted to the Championship on Sunday as Jermaine Beckford’s hat-trick inspired a 4-0 rout of Swindon in the League One play-off final at Wembley.
After failing to win promotion in any of their nine previous play-off campaigns, the Lancashire club finally ended the curse and returned to English football’s second tier for the first time since 2011 thanks to Beckford’s treble.
The 31-year-old former Everton and Leeds striker opened the scoring in the third minute with a close-range effort from Paul Gallagher’s free-kick.
Paul Huntington guided the ball home from close-range to double Preston’s lead in the 13th minute.
Beckford struck again in the 44th minute with a fine curling effort from the edge of the penalty area and completed his treble in clinical fashion in the 57th minute.
Preston manager Simon Grayson has now won promotion from League One four times, having previously guided Blackpool, Leeds and Huddersfield out of the third tier.
