It was a season that began with much hope and ended with their ultimate aim of promotion, but it was not always plain sailing for Norwich City.
For a while they were left battling for a playoff spot under former boss Neil Adams, who eventually departed with the club down in seventh place.
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Adams actually made a promising start to the campaign, losing just one of his first eight league games at the helm - a 1-0 reverse to Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening day.
Things soon turned sour, though, and after a disappointing FA Cup third-round exit against lower league opposition, it was decided that change would be needed.
In came near namesake Alex Neil, and the rest, as they say, is history. A left-field appointment in many ways, the Scot galvanised his group of players and led them to the playoffs, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion on the way, before getting the job done in style at Wembley.
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Five key results
Blackpool 1-3 Norwich City, September 27, 2014: Norwich found themselves as early pacesetters in the Championship at the end of September, having recovered from a surprise opening-day defeat to Wolves and taking 20 points from the next 24 on offer. Everything was looking rosy at this stage, with a well-balanced squad on course for an instant top-flight return.
Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Norwich City, October 25, 2014: Then the cracks began to appear, as Norwich struggled over the next month. Five games, zero victories, and a poor defeat at strugglers Fulham later, and City were now left holding on to a top-six spot rather than leading the way.
Reading 2-1 Norwich City, December 28, 2014: An inconsistent run of form continued up until the turn of the year, which eventually led to the East Anglian outfit deciding that change was needed. This reverse at Reading would prove to be Adams's last league game in charge, paving the way for eventual hero Neil to walk into Carrow Road a couple of weeks later.
Norwich City 2-0 Ipswich Town, March 1, 2015:
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Life was good under the former Hamilton Academical boss, who kicked off his tenure with impressive back-to-back wins over Bournemouth and Cardiff City. A perfect February followed soon after, while March started in a similar fashion as Norwich claimed bragging rights against their local rivals for the second time this season.
Middlesbrough 0-2 Norwich City, May 25, 2015: Another five-match winning run was to come at the business end of the season, leaving the Canaries looking real favourites to go up via the top two. A 1-0 home reverse against Middlesbrough - a side they would get to know well - put paid to their hopes of ousting Watford and Bournemouth, however, with their misery compounded at Rotherham a week later. The season would ultimately end in joy, though, as Neil's men overcome an underwhelming Boro side at Wembley to secure a spot back in the big time.
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Best Player - Bradley Johnson
The Championship's top-scoring midfielder, Johnson was a key component in this promotion-winning side throughout the campaign. Having scored the Canaries' first goal of the season, the former Leeds United man notched up another 14 to win his side numerous points.
Johnson also chipped in with a couple of assists, but it was his all-round ability to harass opponents and push his teammates on to success which lands him this accolade.
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Most Improved Player - Wes Hoolahan
A whole host of players who remained from the 2013-14 season certainly upped their game, including Hoolahan who was on the fringe of things in that relegation campaign. Having struggled to hold down a regular spot at Carrow Road, making just six starts last term, he has come to the forefront of things this time around.
His 10 assists have gone a long way to highlighting City's creativity from midfield, while a further five goals - three of which came at the business end of the term - go a long way to showing his renewed confidence in East Anglia.
Best Signing - Cameron Jerome
After scoring just two goals in 30 appearances in the Premier League for Crystal Palace last season, there were suggestions that the signing of Jerome was unneeded alongside the captures of Lewis Grabban and Kyle Lafferty.
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The 28-year-old has played a vital part for the Canaries this term, however, bagging 21 goals in all to propel his side to the top flight. His goal in the Wembley final against Boro helped settle the nerves early on, with his superb leading of the line seeing him crowned as man of the match.
Best Goal - Nathan Redmond vs. Middlesbrough
Aesthetically speaking, Norwich have scored better goals than this across the course of the season. However, in terms of importance and all-round team play, nothing quite comes close to Redmond's playoff final strike.
A superb team move was rounded off by the England Under-21s international, who picked up the ball inside the box, took one touch to get it under control, before firing beyond the reach of Dimi Konstantopoulos with the second. Special shouts to Hooper and Russell Martin for superb individual strikes of their own, too.
Must Do Better - Gary Hooper
His return of 12 goals in 34 games is certainly not a terrible record by any means, but Hooper has had to make do with playing backup for large parts. A loan move is on the cards for the former Celtic man, who may be interested in linking up with former manager Neil Lennon at Bolton Wanderers. If he does remain at Carrow Road, then he will need to work hard this summer to oust Jerome as the first-choice marksman.
End-of-season grade: A
A dismal autumn aside, which saw City win just one of 10 games between late September and November, it has been a season to remember in terms of the end result. There is no better way to go up than via the playoffs, we are often told, and while supporters may have been put through the wringer slightly, they will be confident of top-flight survival next term should Neil plug certain gaps in the transfer market.
Daniel Lewis
