Last time Coventry City played in the Premier League — 2000-01 — it was a different world.

Manchester United were bossing over their rivals in England, the world was yet to hear about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and Lamine Yamal was not even born.

And guess who were one of the three teams, along with Coventry and Bradford, to be relegated from the Premier League? Manchester City! Guess who is a present-day top-level striker who wore the Coventry shirt a few years back? Viktor Gyokeres.

After 25 years, Coventry are back in the elite league with a bang. For a quarter of a century, a club waited for its moment. They are the champions of the Championship — second in the English football hierarchy — and have painted the entire city in their colours, sky blue.

Coventry sealed their entry to the Premier League last week and, earlier this week, emerged champions.

After 44 matches, they have 89 points. They also have the best records in terms of goals scored and conceded. Ninety goals netted already and have let in just 44!

“We knew we were nearly there but to get it over the line after 25 years, wow! It’s amazing. What (the fans) have gone through,” Coventry coach Frank Lampard had said after last week’s 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers. “This is a serious football club. These boys have achieved something unique,” Lampard was effusive in his praise.

It was former England and Chelsea midfielder Lampard’s first promotion as a manager. He had suffered a Championship playoff heartbreak with Derby County a few seasons back.

It’s an amazing story for Coventry. In 2017, the year they won the League Cup, they were relegated to the fourth tier of English football. The Premier League was a distant dream. It seemed like a free-fall. The mood was despondent all around. But here they are completing a fairy-tale.

Lampard is at the helm from 2024 and, unless he is lured away by Chelsea — as the buzz is in English football at this point — the former England player will be in the dug-out in Coventry’s first Premier League match in August.

Realistically, not even the most ardent Coventry fan is putting his money on the club beating the drop in the summer of 2027. But they can avoid the ignominy of Derby County. In 2007-08, Derby County had logged just 11 points, an all-time Premier League low.

These things can wait. Coventry right now are in party mode.