Crystal Palace boss Iain Dowie is already planning for life in Premiership after the Eagles clinched their place in the top flight with a momentous 1-0 play-off final victory over West Ham United at the Millennium Stadium, in Cardiff, on Saturday.

Neil Shipperley scored the most important goal of his career, bundling home the only goal of the game on 62 minutes to send Palace to the Promised Land of the Premiership with £30m windfall, following a six-year absence.

"We showed that we're a footballing side," said Dowie. "Now we've got the worry of dealing with some superpowers in the Premiership, but what a day for our fans.

"You've got to be sensible about it. We've seen the boom and bust and we're not going to do that but clearly we need to invest.

"We're talking about teams like Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. I don't sleep in Division One, so what I'll be like in the Premiership, I don't know!

"You have to start preparing now, because you don't have an infinite amount of time. I do need a vacation, though, because I am exhausted and it has been a long grind.

"It is a huge ask, but one we are all looking forward to. I have always had belief in this team, you just have to trust them. We are going to need that squad to be at their absolute optimum next season."

Palace had the better of the first half exchanges. The first of which came from the Division One's top-scorer Andy Johnson, who diverted Wayne Routledge's cross over the bar.

But five minutes later, West Ham's Michael Carrick sent Bobby Zamora through on goal with a wonderful ball down the middle. The former Spurs striker looked odds-on to score but keeper Nico Vaesen made a super stop with his legs.

Nine minutes before the break, the Eagles nearly snatched the lead. Bywater got down to smother Michael Hughes' shot but the ball squirmed over him and Tomas Repka had to clear off the line.

The Hammers came out stronger in the second half and Vaesen produced a stunning one-handed save to deny a 22-yard Steve Lomas volley.

Then came the hour when Shipperley netted the Eagles' goal after 62 minutes. Johnson went on a decent run down the left and his low strike was pushed out by Bywater into the path of Shipperley. One-Neil to the Palace!

David Connolly and Zamora both had goals ruled out for offside, while West Ham had a penalty appeal for a foul on Carrick turned down.

West Ham boss Alan Pardew sent on Brian Deane and Nigel Reo-Coker for Zamora and Marlon Harewood as they looked to pull the goal back, but Palace defended well and held out for a memorable victory.

Dowie added: "I think we deserved to win it was a very tight game but we defended resolutely.

"People have been saying all season that we can't defend but we showed that we've got heart and soul.

"It's absolutely incredible. Our effort, commitment and desire to win was superb. I thought that our game-plan worked. West Ham are a top quality side and we've come up trumps.

"We showed all aspects of our game, we defended well when we needed to and our attacking flair players showed their worth on the big stage.

"It's not about fate but about the lads writing their own script. They were involved in a tight, edgy game and came through well. It was all about a squad, people like Darren Powell, Shaun Derry and Dougie Freedman have all played a major part in our success."

Club captain Shipperley added: "I've never scored a more important goal what a moment. People doubted us but it shows you how strong we are to come and do this.

"It's unbelievable. The fact that we came from fourth from bottom to here makes this so special."

Centre-half Tony Popovic put Palace's incredible change of fortunes down to Dowie.

"He brought self-belief," said the Australian international. "He also restructured the training program and set the standards in working hard for each other. He was first to the ground and last to leave and suddenly everyone jumped on board.

"It's hard to believe we had relegation worries in December. Two months later I didn't even give the play-offs a thought.

"A month later, I thought we were getting there and come April, when the run kept continuing, I was thinking, yes, we can make it. When we did and drew Sunderland in the semi-final it didn't matter. We had the form on the board, and that's how we felt when we went into the final against West Ham."

Top-scorer Johnson saluted Dowie and assured fans his boss is staying at Selhurst Park, despite getting linked with every vacant manager's job in the country.

"He's a great gaffer and long may that continue," he said. "We all just want to play for him. He's told us he's going to stay here so let's just hope he does.

"He came out at the training ground and said there is speculation and that he doesn't know how much truth there is in it. Hopefully he's here for a long time. We've got to give it our best next season."