Hull City have been promoted to the English Premier League following their 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the Championship playoff final on Saturday.
The Tigers had finished sixth in the regular season, but will now join Coventry City and Ipswich Town in sealing promotion to the Premier League next season.
The buildup to the final had been marred by the ‘spygate’ row, which had seen Southampton thrown out of the final and replaced by Middlesbrough after they were found guilty of spying ahead of the playoff semifinal clash.
Hull City, on the other hand, had seen off Millwall in their own semifinal encounter to book their spot in the Wembley finale.
Middlesbrough started on top and had chances to break the deadlock in the first half, but the Tigers started to grow into the game and Oliver McBurnie had a header come back off the crossbar.
Both sides continued to trade goalscoring chances in the affair, but there was no breakthrough with nothing to separate both sides heading into the final whistle.
The game looked like it would require an additional time to determine the winner until Hull City struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time to break Middlesbrough hearts.
Middlesbrough goalkeeper Sol Brynn fumbled a ball, which allowed McBurnie the opportunity to stab home from close range and spark wild celebrations from the Hull City players.
The Tigers held on despite the extended stoppage time to seal a narrow 1-0 win and seal their promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
It also continued their 100% record in the playoff final, following previous successes in 2008 and 2016, when they last sealed promotion to the top-flight.
Wolves and Burnley have already been confirmed to play in the Championship next season, while Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United battle it out for the final spot on Sunday.
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