his club Manchester City won 4-1 at Blackburn to confirm their place among England's elite next season.

Needing only a draw to secure automatic promotion from Division One, City trailed 1-0 with nearly an hour gone, but it was then that Goater poached an equaliser to spark a remarkable City revival.

The 30-year-old striker peeled off his marker and got on the end of a left-wing cross by Kevin Horlock to side-foot home his crucial 59th minute strike -- his 29th goal of a remarkable season.

A Blues' blitz followed as a Christian Dailly own goal put City in front and further goals from Mark Kennedy and Paul Dickov put City's travelling army of more than 15,000 fans in party mood.

When the final whistle sounded, the long-suffering City faithful, who have spent recent years living in the shadow of illustrious city neighbours United, invaded the pitch in jubilation as one of England's best-supported clubs ended their four-year top-flight exile.

Goater will become the fourth Bermudian to play top-flight soccer in England, following in the footsteps of Arthur Woollard, who played for Newcastle in the 1950s, Clyde Best, who made his name with West Ham United, and Kyle Lightbourne, who had a brief spell with Coventry.

Earning his chance to play in one of the world's top leagues is undoubtedly the pinnacle of Goater's career after 12 years of being one of the most consistent goalscorers in the lower divisions.

In scenes of delirious dressing room celebration at Ewood Park, top marksman Goater had beer poured over his head.

"We deserve it,'' said Goater, sporting a huge grin. "I have had a lot of years in the lower divisions and now this is what I have been working for -- to have a taste of the Premier League.'' Lightbourne could give Bermuda a promotion double, after his club Stoke City qualified for the Second Division play-offs, despite losing 1-0 to a late Darren Caskey penalty at Reading on Saturday.

Stoke finished sixth in the table and now meet Gillingham -- ironically the club which Manchester City defeated in a dramatic play-off final at Wembley a year ago to reach the First Division.

The winner of the two-leg tie, with the first leg at Stoke's Britannia Stadium on Saturday, will meet either Millwall or Wigan in the play-off final at Wembley in three weeks' time.

Goater's club needed a few slices of luck yesterday to secure runners-up spot in the First Division and avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

A Matt Jansen goal gave Rovers a deserved 1-0 lead at the interval. The home side were completely in control and incredibly hit the woodwork four times.

With rivals Ipswich on their way to a 2-0 victory over Walsall at Portman Road, it looked like the East Anglian club were set to leapfrog City in the standings.

But then Goater struck out of the blue to give City the edge once more, as a dramatic final day of the regular season unfolded.

Rovers defender Dailly steered Richard Edghill's right-wing cross past his own goalkeeper in the 66th minute and nine minutes later Kennedy tapped home City's third at the far post.

Dickov forced his way past two defenders and steered wide of Rovers goalkeeper Alan Kelly to round off the scoring in the 81st minute and seal City's second successive promotion.

City manager Joe Royle admitted after the match: "I thought Blackburn really got about us, in fact at times they nearly kicked us off the park. I thought we were very fortunate to be only one down and we were playing like pigs in labour in the first half. But if you can't be good, be lucky -- and we were lucky today.'' But the fightback produced emotional scenes which moved Royle. "I have never seen so many smiling people. It is fantastic for the fans who were brilliant throughout the afternoon. There were a lot of tears this afternoon.'' With the influx of millions of pounds in television cash that comes with a place in the Premier League, Royle will have the means to go on a summer spending spree to strengthen his squad.

As top scorer, Goater's place should be safe and Royle's comments suggested that the nucleus of the team would remain the same.

"There won't be wholesale changes, instead there will be a gradual improvement,'' said the manager.

"I've already spoken to the chairman on a preliminary basis with regards to funding for new signings and he will find it easier to raise the money than I will to spend it.

"It won't be a case of `thanks for getting us up, good night and God bless', but we will continue to try and improve.

"I know what I've got here and that's reliability, spirit and togetherness and that's good enough for starters.'' Goater's long road to the top started with North Village and he also had a brief spell at Boulevard, before his English career began in 1988 at Manchester United, who invited him over after their tour of Bermuda a year earlier.

In his two seasons at Old Trafford, Goater never broke into the first team despite scoring regularly for the reserves.

He then moved to Rotherham, where he played six seasons, five of them in the Third Division. Goater won a Fourth Division championship medal with the South Yorkshire club.

Second Division Bristol City bought Goater for 175,000 in 1996 and he bagged 25 goals in his first season. After netting another 19 in his second campaign at Ashton Gate, Manchester City swooped to sign him for 400,000 ahead of the transfer deadline. City were relegated to Division Two in 1998, but Goater helped them go straight back up again with a 21-goal haul.

Goater sends City fans wild Photos by Ross Kinnaird, AllSport Feed the Goat and he will score: Shaun Goater (centre) proves the point of the Manchester City fans' chant by pouncing to net the vital equaliser in City's 4-1 win at Blackburn, which earned the Blues promotion to the English Premier League and ended their four-year exile from the top flight.

Popular guy: Shaun Goater disappears under a cluster of Manchester City team-mates after his goal set his side on the way to victory at Ewood Park yesterday.