Mowbray proud of his entertainers
TONY Mowbray hailed his troops for entertaining their way to the Championship crown and insisted: "We did it in style."
The Baggies rubber-stamped their return to the Premier League with a 2-0 win at QPR thanks to Do-heon Kim's first-ever goal for the club in the 53rd minute and Chris Brunt's 77th-minute thunderbolt.
The Loftus Road double took Albion's goal tally to 109 for the campaign - the second successive season they have scored a ton.
And the victory ensured they finished two points ahead of second-placed Stoke on 81.
"It's a proud moment," said Mowbray.
"It's been a long, long season.
"We've come a long, long way from losing at Burnley on the opening day and have made a lot of progress.
"Great credit to this group of players who have come through a season winning more games and scoring more goals than anyone else in the league.
"They rightly find themselves champions of the division.
"The supporters have also been wonderful all season.
"They backed the team even when we were losing a few games.
"Generally, the supporters have enjoyed watching the team.
"There is this great debate going on in English football at the moment about whether it's all about winning or entertaining.
"You've got to get a balance and hopefully we have had a balance this year.
"We've probably lost too many games and have gone up with 81 points.
"People might argue that shouldn't be enough to win a Championship.
"But I think we've done it in style.
"We've scored a lot of goals and entertained our supporters.
"That's the business we should be in and I think that's why our supporters have stuck with us.
"I'm proud once again that we've scored 100 goals and entertained along the way."
Mowbray also admitted he was relieved to escape the Championship this term with teams like moneybags QPR set to make next season's division even more competitive.
"Rangers gave us a good game today," he added.
"They are an emerging team and it was a difficult game for us.
"I'm delighted to get out of this division because teams like QPR will make it an extremely competitive league next season along with the teams coming down and the teams coming up.
"Nottingham Forest and Swansea will be very competitive in this league.
"There's also the likes of Charlton and Wolves who will be very competitive.
"Investment in a team like QPR will make them very competitive.
"The Championship will be a very tight division again.
"We're delighted to go and ply our trade in the one above it."
PIC: JUST CHAMPION...Mowbray lifts the coveted Championship trophy at QPR
