Former European champions Nottingham Forest clinched promotion back to the second tier of English football yesterday with a tense 3-2 home win over Yeovil Town.

Forest, European champions under Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980 but playing in League One since 2005, secured second place behind champions Swansea City who were already assured of going up to the Championship next season.

Forest started the day in third place, a point behind Doncaster Rovers, but swapped positions with the Yorkshire club who lost 2-1 at Cheltenham Town.

Carlisle United, who were also a point behind Doncaster at the start of play and could have finished second, were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Bournemouth, whose failure to win sent them down.

Doncaster, who last played in the second tier in 1958, will now play Southend United in the play-off semi-finals while former English champions Leeds United will play Carlisle.

Bournemouth, Gillingham, Port Vale and Luton Town were relegated from League One to League Two.

Milton Keynes Dons, Peterborough United and Hereford United will go up from League Two together with the winner of the play-off matches between Rochdale, Stockport County, Darlington and Wycombe Wanderers.

While the League One and Two programmes ended yesterday, a thrilling Championship race ends today with eight teams looking to join West Brom in the Premier League next season.

Stoke City, who last played in the top flight in 1985, and Hull City, who have never been in the top division, are both vying for the one remaining automatic promotion place.

Bristol City, Watford, Crystal Palace, Wolves, Ipswich Town and Sheffield United are also looking to gain promotion through the play-offs depending on their results today.

While Scunthorpe United and Colchester United are already down, five teams are involved in the scrap to avoid joining them: Blackpool, Coventry City, Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester City and Southampton.