Oli McBurnie's stoppage-time winner sends Hull into Premier League
Boro reinstated despite semi-final loss after Southampton 'Spygate' scandal
Tigers vowed to take legal action over Boro reinstatement if beaten
Hull defeated Millwall over two legs to reach final
Both clubs have not been in top flight since 2016-17
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FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Peter Swan
Former Hull City player on BBC Radio Humberside
Who expected this at the start of the season?
I can't believe how are they've come, everyone associated with the club should be so proud.
That man Oli McBurnie has put a smile on my face all season.
The chairman in tears in the directors' box. It's been an amazing day!
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Ian Woodcock
BBC Sport at Wembley Stadium
Image source, Getty ImagesThe on-pitch celebrations continue here.
We've just had a very well received Caravan of Love by Hull band The Housemartins.
One of the lyrics in the song says "This is a better place for us to be" and I daresay that's a feeling those masses of Tigers fans, still bathed in sunshine, can resonate with right now as they look forward to Premier League football.
This was their chance. They took it.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Hull City
More from Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic on Sky Sports on the support from the owner of the club, Acun Ilicali: "He is 100% supportive and they must believe us and without his trust we cannot do anything. This is crucial for any coach in this league.
"I am happy with where I am (in the leadership team) because they know what I need and our football style. We are on the same page and this is very important."
On the way he adapted to English Football: "I had never been to England before, so it is an amazing experience."
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Hull City
Image source, Getty ImagesHull City boss Sergej Jakirovic speaking to Sky Sports:
"It is an amazing feeling, I can't believe it. We did it because we suffered a lot with the game.
"Like I said before the game, they are really happy with the ball, okay they didn't get great chances and then after 15-minutes we changed our shape. Crooks tried to help Oli [McBurnie].
"It was very good. Oli enjoys to play this type of game. We agreed he would score 15-goals.
"The regular season was the worst and then we started a completely new tournament and it matter how many points you won there.
"It is about pressure because you have time to fix everything. This is very demanding and a very difficult league, this is intensity and it is unbelievable."
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Well done Hull. After Saints were kicked out you deserve to go up not Middlesbrough.
Paul, Dorset
Justice was served today. Middlesbrough shouldn't really have been there anyway.
Pete, Peterborough
Well done Hull City for promotion. Boro fan here. We were shocking!
James, Middlesbrough
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Peter Swan
Former Hull City player on BBC Radio Humberside
Image source, PA MediaThat's how it will feel to these players. It's the biggest achievement for them.
This day will change their lives and the fans lives.
This is a life changing day for a lot of people and a lot of work has gone into this.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Phil Brown
Former Hull City manager at Wembley
I am speechless but it has to be said, it is the right result. Amongst the chaos and the carnage of the last few weeks, it has been brilliant to listen to but horrible to be involved in it.
Middlesbrough had a free pass and a get out of jail free card but Hull City have won it within their own right.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Image source, Opta/Getty ImagesOpta might not have given him credit for his first-half header which deflected off Adilson Malanda and onto the top of the bar, but Oli McBurnie won't care.
His tap-in in the 95th minute following Sol Brynn spilling a low cross from Yu Hirakawa has earned the Tigers the riches of Premier League football.
Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Don't know about anybody else but I'm already looking forward to Southampton-Middlesbrough next season..
Simon, Salisbury
As a neutral, that was an incredible game. Thank you to both teams. Best wishes to Hull for the next season.
Chris, Moreton-in Marsh
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Glenn Speller
BBC Sport England at Wembley
A win for Hull City means we have probably heard the last of Spygate as far as these two sides go.
The Hull City owner, Acun Ilicali told BBC Radio Humberside before the game that if they were to lose today, they had been advised to take legal action over the way the whole affair has been handled by the EFL.
Ilicali described the decision to allow Middlesbrough to re-enter the play-offs as "unbelievable".
He said: "If this action was so big that a team is out of the play-offs, why didn't they let them not play the semi-final, investigate and take Southampton out and put Wrexham in?
"Why is Wrexham out now? Put Wrexham in and continue the competition.
"For me, an eliminated team {being] put back - also our lawyers say this and that's their opinion too - is an incredibly wrong decision."
That is all academic now.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Curtis Davies
Former Hull City defender on Sky Sports
I feel really emotional at the moment. I didn't think I would actually feel like this.
Watching the way the game was panning out, we all thought it wasn't a game of much quality, tired legs out there and tired bodies with the heat.
But I did say there would either be a moment of quality or a mistake. Unfortunately for Sol Brynn, he's the one that makes the mistake but Oli McBurnie makes no mistake in putting it in the back of the net.
The difference maker. Didn't have a lot to do in the game today, was almost marked out of it most the game.
But when his moment came, he was there to do it and he's taken Hull to the Premier League.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Jobi McAnuff
Former Crystal Palace and Reading winger on Sky Sports
It almost typifies Hull's season. Being on the right side of results and finding a way to win.
When you break it down and look at the data, that experience, that knowhow, that's what gets you through the season, that's what gets you through games. And ultimately it gets you through the biggest ones.
I think that's where clearly the game was won today with him [McBurnie] popping up with that moment.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Hull City
Image source, Getty ImagesHull City matchwinner Oli McBurnie told Sky Sports: "I'm speechless for the first time ever.
"That game summed us up, we knew we weren't going to have all the ball. It was tough out there with the heat, Middlesbrough are a top team, we knew we'd be up against it but we felt we'd have one chance and I felt like it was written for me to get it, I didn't think it would be so late on, but what a feeling."
On his winning goal: "Just try and get a good contact on it, I'm knackered. It just popped up to me. It's a blur a bit at the minute.
"I couldn't sleep last night, I was looking forward to this game so much, I am delighted."
On Sergej Jakirovic: "The gaffer is brilliant, he's such a good character, there's been so many tough times this season when he's dragged us through. He deserves this as much as the boys."
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Image source, PA MediaUp goes the Championship play-off trophy from Hull City skipper Lewie Coyle!
Huge cheers from the one end of Wembley which remains packed.
The Tigers players pass the trophy along the line and take it in turns to hold it aloft.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
OH MY DAYS HULL IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE AGAIN!
Ethan, Yeovil
Unless you’re a Hull fan you’ve got to feel for Brynn
Mick, Kent
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Neil Maddison
Former Middlesbrough midfielder on BBC Radio Tees
Image source, Getty ImagesHearbreaking, heartbeaking for the fans that came down.
When you look at it, that was the best chance of getting promoted.
I feel sorry for Sol Brynn. I don't think you can fault the hard work and endeavour, but with all the possession you've got to make it count.
It'll be a tough Championship next season and Kim Hellberg will have learnt a lot in his first season.
Absolutely devastating.
When you look at how we got here, you have to seize that opportunity.
Right now there's a lot of hurt.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Phil Brown
Former Hull City manager at Wembley
Image source, Getty ImagesWhat a job Sergej Jakirović has done in adversity - you have to take your hat off to people in adversity and you have to say he has done that big time.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Adam Lanigan
BBC Sport reporter at Wembley
Hull City survived relegation to League One last year on GOAL DIFFERENCE.
A year later, they are Premier League-bound.
The Championship really does deliver some stories on the pitch, doesn't it?
No matter where you finish in May, there's a clean slate in August to have another crack.
West Ham or Tottenham beware what awaits you!
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Glenn Speller
BBC Sport England at Wembley
Middlesbrough fans are leaving in their droves.
I have just seen one supporter hurl away his scarf.
They travelled with high hopes after being given a second chance.
FT: Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough
Mike White
Commentator on BBC Radio Humberside
The City players dive on each other in celebration. The Boro players collapse onto the pitch.
Sergej Jakirovic has breathed new life into this club. The City supporters in the black and amber have seen their side do something special again.
They're history makers!
Oli McBurnie (second left) pounced after an error by keeper Sol Brynn
Oli McBurnie's stoppage-time goal gave Hull City a dramatic victory in the Championship play-off final over reinstated Middlesbrough and took the Tigers back to the Premier League.
Boro were given a place in the final after Southampton, who beat them over two legs in the semi-final, were expelled on Tuesday for the Spygate scandal.
In sweltering conditions at Wembley, the game looked destined for extra time before goalkeeper Sol Brynn spilt Yu Hirakawa's cross and McBurnie buried the loose ball from six yards out.
It ended Hull's nine-year wait for top-flight football - a year after they avoided relegation to League One on goal difference.
Former Bosnia international Sergej Jakirović, who took over as head coach last summer, has taken the East Yorkshire side up in his first season in English football despite having to operate under a transfer embargo, which was imposed last year as a sanction for making late payments to other clubs.
McBurnie, meanwhile, was this week left out of Scotland's World Cup squad despite scoring 18 goals this season before his Wembley winner. He will spend the summer at home - but as a Premier League player.
The build-up to the game was totally dominated by the fallout from Saints being kicked out of the competition.
English Football League chairman Rick Parry admitted in his notes in the match programme that the game had been "overshadowed", while Tigers boss Jakirovic said pre-game that his side had been the "collateral damage" from the affair,
The Spygate story was initially reported two days before Boro's first-leg against the Saints after a junior member of manager Tonda Eckert's staff was spotted secretly watching Middlesbrough at their training ground.
The all-important goal came in the fifth minute of stoppage time
Eckert's side beat the Teessiders 2-1 on aggregate, but an investigation into the spying was immediately launched and, four days before the final, Southampton were removed from the play-offs and Boro reinstated after it emerged the south-coast club had also spied on two other teams.
Since then, the Saints have appealed unsuccessfully against the punishment, which also saw them deducted four points for next season, with an independent commission ruling Eckert had "specifically authorised the observations".
There was more drama pre-match when Hull chairman Acun Ilicali said his club would take legal action if they lost to Boro, calling the decision to put them in the final "unbelievable".
Hull City, who claimed the final play-off place on the last day in part thanks to Middlesbrough drawing with Wrexham, built their success this season on massively outperforming the metrics on both their expected goals for and against.
Jakirovic's side have not sought to dominate matches but have excelled in taking their chances when they come and so it proved in difficult conditions at the national stadium.
Boro had almost two thirds of the possession but did not force Tigers keeper Ivor Pandur into a single save.
It was the East Yorkshire side who came closest to breaking the deadlock before half-time when McBurnie's header deflected on to the crossbar.
Middlesbrough continued to have more of the ball after the break but Dael Fry's header over from Matt Targett's back post corner was about as close as they came.
Hull had the first shot on target just after the hour-mark when Mo Belloumi cut in off the right and hit a shot that deflected harmlessly into Brynn's arms.
There seemed little chance of late drama when eight minutes of stoppage time were signalled with both teams clearly drained by the heat.
However, McBurnie held the ball up for his side just over halfway and then got into the box and when Brynn fumbled Hirakawa's cross the striker was in the right place to convert.
There was still time left for Boro to try and find an equaliser but it was the Tigers who came closest to the next goal when Matt Crooks had a shot blocked in the final seconds.
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Manager:Sergej Jakirovic
Formation:3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager:Kim Hellberg
Formation:3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager:Sergej Jakirovic
Formation:3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager:Kim Hellberg
Formation:3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Championship
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Hull are looking to reach the Premier League for the first time since 2016-17 – they’ve won both of their Championship play-off finals, beating Bristol City in 2008 and Sheffield Wednesday in 2016.
Southampton are looking to bounce straight back to the Premier League for the second consecutive Championship campaign. They won the play-off final against Leeds in 2024 – the only sides to win two second tier play-off finals in three years are Leicester (1993-94, 1995-96) and Fulham (2017-18, 2019-20).
Hull City have won their last three games against Southampton (including both Championship meetings this term), as many as they had in their previous 26 against Saints (D9 L14). The last time they beat a side three times in the same campaign as a second tier side was 2007-08 (Watford), when they were promoted to the top-flight for the first time in their history.
Southampton come into this game unbeaten in 21 league and play-off games (W15 D6). However, the last side to beat Saints was Hull City in January.
Hull are looking to become the first team to finish 6th and win promotion to the Premier League since Blackpool in 2009-10. The Tigers have won three of their four matches at Wembley Stadium, losing the other to Arsenal in the 2014 FA Cup final.
Southampton have lost six of their last seven games at Wembley Stadium, though the exception was a 1-0 win against Leeds in the 2024 Championship play-off final. They lost against Man City in the FA Cup semi-final this term, with this just the second season they’ve played twice at the national stadium after 2017-18.
The team finishing 4th (Southampton in this case) has won the Championship play-off final in three of the last four seasons, with the exception being 3rd-place Luton Town in 2022-23.
Southampton’s Tonda Eckert facing Hull’s Sergej Jakirović is the first time ever the second tier play-off final will be contested by two managers in their first season in English football.
Oliver McBurnie has been involved in four goals in his last three appearances against Southampton (2 goals, 2 assists), having a hand in three of Hull’s five strikes against Saints in the Championship this term.
Finn Azaz scored Southampton’s goal in their 2-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat against Man City this season. The only Saints player to score more than once for the club at Wembley is Manolo Gabbiadini, who netted twice in the 2017 EFL Cup final.
