Bristol City promoted back to the WSL and win Championship title
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Bristol City are back in the Women's Super League after two seasons in the Championship
Bristol City head coach Lauren Smith said she was "excited for what comes next" after her side secured promotion back to the Women's Super League with a 4-0 win over Charlton Athletic.
The club return to the top flight after being relegated in 2021.
Grace Clinton gave the hosts the lead midway through the first half and Abi Harrison doubled the tally.
Brooke Aspin added their third before Ffion Morgan's strike made it 4-0, to clinch the title with one game to go.
"I'm pleased for everybody and I'm just really excited for what comes next," Smith told BBC Radio Bristol.
"I've said all along that this group have got ambition and talent and they could do it, and it was just finding the moments to get it right and I think that we've got it right a lot of times this season. I'm delighted for all of them."
Bristol City dominate after cagey start
Championship table-toppers Bristol City began the game knowing that only three points would seal promotion on Sunday following Birmingham City's 2-1 win over Durham earlier in the afternoon, which moved Blues to within one point of the Robins, with the two sides facing each other on the last day of the season.
It started as a cagey affair, with Bristol City's Rachel Furness seeing a header drift narrowly wide inside the first two minutes and Shania Hayles also having a shot just evade the target.
On-loan Manchester United midfielder Clinton eventually settled Bristol City's nerves after 24 minutes, capitalising on a defensive error from the visitors to steal the ball in the box and strike it beyond Sian Rogers into the far corner.
Freda Ayisi came close to levelling for Athletic 10 minutes before half-time after breaking on her own into the box, but her glancing header went wide.
Harrison then doubled Bristol's City's lead inside the first minute of the second half on her 100th appearance for the club, stepping up to take a corner and sending it sailing straight into the net.
Bristol City celebrate Brooke Aspin's third goal which put the result beyond doubt
Fran Bentley produced a brilliant save to deny Charlton as they looked to instantly retaliate, diving to keep out Melissa Johnson from close range and go on to keep her 11th clean sheet of the season.
Aspin, 17, wrapped up the victory 10 minutes from time, heading in a corner.
There was still time for substitute Morgan to add a fourth two minutes from time, unleashing an impressive strike over the top of the Charlton keeper and into the net to the delight of the club-record 7,045 fans inside Ashton Gate, where the team will play all their league games next season.
"I stood there for a while thinking 'we've got this' and it was great because it meant you could switch off from the little things and just watch them playing and enjoying themselves," Smith added.
"I always say you have to enjoy what you do to do it really well and I think we did that today."
A side steadily rebuilding
The Robins, who finished third in the league last year, have dominated the Championship for large periods of this campaign. A run of six games unbeaten at the start of the season put them at the top of the table and they only dipped down to second for a spell during the winter.
Head coach Smith has steadily been rebuilding the team since taking over in June 2021, with the squad overhauled during her tenure.
Closer integration with the men's Championship team has been forged, with the women's squad moving to the same High Performance Centre training base where the teams now share facilities.
For the past two seasons the club has boasted the league's top scorer in Harrison and this year Hayles.
The impact of former England defender Anita Asante, who was appointed to the club's backroom staff last summer, has also been noticeable, with the club conceding only 10 goals this season - the lowest in the division - compared to 28 last term.