Carlisle were guests at a promotion party which ignited after Derby County had beaten the Cumbrians at Pride Park.
It finished 2-0 and that was enough to confirm the Rams as going up, back to the Championship which means they will be two leagues apart next season from Paul Simpson’s side.
All Derby needed was a draw but it was always more likely, given Carlisle’s poor form and rock bottom position, that the win would result.
In fact it took only five minutes for Derby to score when Max Bird’s fierce swerving shot from outside the box found the Carlisle net.
James Collins scored the second after an hour, this one a close range finish but a composed one that still needed to be scored.
County manager Paul Warne now has four promotions to his name from League One with all three previous successes with Rotherham as they were up and down like a yo-yo for years.
Carlisle boss Paul Simpson has strong connections with Derby, as a winger with County when they last won automatic promotion in 1996.
He was also assistant manager at the club in 2014 when they were within a whisker of winning promotion to the Premier League.
Simpson had taken his side to Pride Park intent on spoiling the party, despite their poor record this season, although two of their best performances had brought excellent wins at high-flying Bolton and Peterborough who have both made the play-offs.
But there was never really much chance of an upset here, particularly after Derby scored their early goal, yet to be fair United played particularly well after that set-back and were probably the better side up to half-time.
