Emotional scenes as Coventry City mark their return to the Premier League

A first glimpse of their heroes and the precious cargo. Manager Frank Lampard and captain Matt Grimes are the trophy that proves how far they've come. Thousands were at the CBS arena long before the one o'clock start time, hoping to get as close as possible. So we got here at eight o'clock. I didn't even want to eat my breakfast. I was so excited, you know, and I know we've been waiting 25 years. We did it, we got it and we're a champion. I feel great. We go to the Premier League and I think we're going to win the league as well then. So many have fallen for this club and over the years some have even found love through it. It's how Audrey Proctor met her husband. On an away game we met, yeah, great. 1958. 63 years we were married. They've been looking down now. And I guess that's the thing, isn't it? You're thinking of those people that are here today and those that aren't. Absolutely. But these little ones, fantastic. But my grandchildren, brilliant. The bus left Coventry City's home shrouded in the flare smoke that would follow the players all day. Some fans did whatever they could to get that dream view and take that photograph to remind them of this special day. The first road the bus went down was named Sir Jimmy Hill Way after the last man to take Coventry up to the top. So what do you want? A statue or a street named after you? No, I don't need a statue. I'm very happy. It was very surreal, emotional, whatever. I don't know what you saw back today. It was amazing to go through the streets and see the amount of fans, the emotions of everybody. Makes you realise what you did a job for, really. I was fortunate enough to be on a bus travelling ahead of the procession full of the nation's media. The route took the bus through many of Coventry's western suburbs before finishing at Hursall Common. It then transported the players to a festival at War Memorial Park. That began at one o'clock too, hundreds skipping the parade to get the best spot here, ready for some headline acts later on where they would be joined by 50,000 others. Oh, it's amazing. It's a long 25 years, but we're back. We've done it. We've been all the way to Northampton, Birmingham City, the highs and the lows. I never thought it would happen. It's fantastic. Feeling good. This is a very special day for me and my family. My dad and my sister are actually up on the stage performing soon, doing some music. My dad's a massive Cobb fan. So yeah, it's a very special day for our family. I'm looking forward to it. The bus was now in Holbrooks. It's estimated up to a quarter of a million people turned out to see this team across the city. So the vast majority weren't going to the festival. Penn Lane Social Club offered one of many alternatives. That's where 95-year-old Deanie Byrne enjoyed the day. She supported Coventry City her entire life and even used to work for the club until she was 85. In those brief seconds the bus went by, like so many, she craved a wave from those on board. It was really magical. I would have crawled here to see it because it was absolutely wonderful. Actually being able to see them all coming by, waving to us. We went round the corner standing at the top of the... So we had a good look and it was absolutely wonderful. Previous parades, the great days in 87, went through the city centre but this one has gone down the western side past people's front doors because they want to reach the communities that have stuck by this football club through its darkest moments. Today they get to enjoy one of its greatest. Fans were out in force on Parkgate Road too and after the bus had passed some enjoyed a procession of their own. On Norman Place, scaffolder Mark Daniels decided he'd give his friends and family a better view from his driveway. They say build it and they will come and the bus actually stopped right in front of them for a sing-along of the club's anthem. I thought well okay I'll knock something together so I put it together and it's escalated and it's gone viral and the response is amazing. The whole of Norman Place really, right up to the top of the street is just fabulous you know. I love it, it's brilliant for the community. They got close and our camera got even closer thanks to the fast hands of goalkeeper Karl Rushworth who briefly took control. Everywhere these players have been this afternoon they've been followed by noise, blue smoke and smiles. They've seen tens of thousands of them. Seven miles of it. Those living on Four Pounds Avenue renamed the last stretch of the parade the Sky Blue Mile and they made it so. After the parade it was on to the festival for the players, Tom Grennan performing and later The Enemy but it was this moment the fans came to see. Then the speeches. Frank Lampard with only a year left on his contract told what to do in no uncertain terms. This could be the last time these players are all together. The realities of the Premier League will ensure that next season and Lampard chose to pay tributes to one of those likely to leave. Unexpected of course but obviously appreciated of everything he's done for me this year. He's been the biggest support for me as well and he's took the club back to where it belongs and obviously everyone's absolutely buzzing. The football club's gone through a lot of years now of difficulties and to see the reaction of people is special. It's so special. I don't know what to say about it. It's really special. We're stepping out on stage. I think that was the pinnacle of today for all of us. Looking out and seeing 50,000 fans there packed into a park and seeing what it means to them. I was saying to someone else about being on the bus and there's people who walked from the opening start of the bus all the way to the end and don't even have tickets to the park to see us on stage. They literally just walked. I don't know how many miles they clocked up but it's crazy. I think today it's hit home what we've done and get the city together and taking us to the Premier League and see what we can do. We've done it properly and for me it's a very proud day. In Coventry this was a bank holiday of pure happiness. How many cities can say they've had that? Dan Salisbury-Jones, ITV News. It really is amazing to be standing on the very bus that the players have just paraded through the city on and there's another bus here which had family, friends and members of the media on. It's been an extraordinary day. It means so much for the fans but what about those who've supported the club all their lives? Well Mark Gough has been with one family who for this today was 25 years in the making. There was only one outfit for the Joe Howell family today. Their sky blew mad, well most of the family and they have been for generations. My dad took me to my first game when I was seven years old at Highfield Road. It's a big wall there, we used to have to take a stool in so I could stand up. That's my dad there, that's my granddad. He used to be a reserve season ticket holder and a season ticket holder and that's my dad's brother and that's me. That's you in the dark shoes? It is indeed, yes. Are you as excited as your dad or is that completely impossible to be as excited as your dad? I can't be as excited as him. And then it was showtime. It's just a 20 minute ride down the M69 from Burbage in Leicestershire to the centre of Coventry and an exciting day ahead. And once in the city it was a chance to meet up with family and friends, friends old and new. Describe what you're feeling now around the atmosphere. My heart is really beating fast. It reminds me back on 1987 but to see all these people out here with their kids. I think we've missed a generation of fans coming to CBS and it's great to see this because CBS is packed nowadays. It's great to see all the kids and the parents and the families back together going to see the city in the CBS. It's wonderful. I've also got a tear in my eye. Time for a quick family selfie. And then what the Johals and thousands of other fans had come to see. You can't contain yourself can you? You know what? You get lost in these celebrations but why not? I think the whole of the city of Coventry deserve this and it's long deserved. And you know what? Long may it continue because you know what? This is a special city. It's a special club. It's a special owner. We've got to thank Mark Robbins. We've got to thank Frankie Lampard for what they've done. You know? Doug's brought our home back to us and look at what it means to all the city here. And long may it continue. You sound a bit out of breath. I'm just, you know what? I'm pumping. You know? Pumping it up. The city's going up, I've got to say. But it's absolutely fantastic. This just reminds me of all the special times we've ever had in the city. This is what it's all about. You know? Premier League. We are back. Mark Goff, ITV News with the Johal family in Coventry. Well you can certainly hear the atmosphere here now can't you? One man I mentioned in that look at the history was Doug King. He's been very much a linchpin in getting his team back to the Premier League. So what has all of this meant to him? You've got to celebrate. I mean everybody's saying what you can do in the Premier League. I said I'm not interested. I'm interested in taking these moments, sharing it with the community, with the team, with the players, with everybody associated with the football club and having a bit of a festival, a bit of a party. And then we can go again. Otherwise it's like always in the future. And I don't think you should always be in the future. So I'm excited to be on the bus. I'm excited to hit the park. I'm just excited that the whole city and the football club and everybody gets together on a day to mark something that we haven't done for a lot of years, 25 years. I was listening to something the other day where you were saying about the reasons that you got into football. It must be for days like this. Yeah, I think so. I think that's what I wanted to try and make happen. I obviously didn't think necessarily I could make it happen. But getting the stadium together and having the season of our lives to get back in there and not just come through the playoff slate again, but to dominate the league pretty much and run away with it. I think it's given everybody a moment to say, wow, we're the champions. The season's not over and we're in sort of celebratory mode somewhat and others are scrambling, which is normally our position. So look, community football matters. It just does matter. And it matters more than any sport that you can dream or think of. And if you can get it right, it's your manner. And you want to be in your manner when it's going well. Well, I guess what this has done is shown what can be done from a football club that's obviously been having its moments and everybody feeling a bit down on it and feeling like it isn't really connecting with them. And I feel that hopefully will enlighten to see the youth of today and the young people around Colm Deane say, OK, they did that. And Doug came in and he did that. So why can't I do that? He was at Lowestoft. He was at Comprehensive School. And he got out of it so I can get out of it. Why not? Well, I'm sure Coventry's success will have inspired thousands of young people. One thing that has struck me today about all of this is how football really can bring people together. And that's been happening ever since Coventry secured this promotion to the Premier League, as Rodri Dias has been finding out. From the utter joy on that magical Friday night to the classroom still buzzing days later. When Coventry City sealed promotion, it began to feel like everything had turned distinctly sky blue. Coventry is a one club city. So the football team means so much more to the people that live here. And there's certainly no shortage when it comes to their appetite for celebrating the sky blue success story. At this bakery, they've been turning the city's colours into something a little sweeter. The sky blue theme is hard to miss and even harder to keep on the shelves. Thousands of gingerbread men and shortbread men, thousands of cupcakes and also our sheep sharing cakes have gone wild now. As soon as we've won, it just keeps getting busier and busier because we thought that maybe once we'd done it, it might drop off, but people are just still celebrating, which is nice. Fantastic. I think everybody's getting involved in it. My grandkids have all chosen their favourite gingerbread men with the players' names on. I can't believe how much they've done here. And with all the celebrations coming up, I said, I wonder if they've still got any more biscuits than that done. Over at Coventry Market, they've taken the colour scheme even further. Sky blue sausages. Unusual, yes, but so popular they could become a regular feature. We put a few on the counter and they just went mad. So every day we've been happy to make them. With Coventry doing so well, not so much surprise, but yeah, we've got a few repeat customers. It's been pretty good. It's very important for the city because it's going to bring a lot of income into the city. After 25 years of waiting, this isn't just a promotion being celebrated. It's being lived. Well, what a day this has been. Thank you to everyone who's made us feel welcome. For everyone at the club, this is a real celebration for the coaching staff, the players, those behind the scenes. This is years and years of hard work coming together. And for the fans, wow, with the Premier League beckoning, the sky's the limit for the Sky Blues. Goodbye.