Hull City are back in the Premier League after nine years away following a dramatic 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough in the Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, with Oli McBurnie scoring a stoppage-time winner in sweltering conditions.
The Scottish striker struck in the fifth minute of added time to seal promotion and spark wild celebrations among Hull supporters, capping a remarkable turnaround for a club that narrowly avoided relegation to League One last season only on goal difference.
McBurnie, who endured a tense night before the match, admitted afterward that he sensed the decisive moment would eventually come.
“We felt we’d have one chance and I felt like it was written for me to get it,” McBurnie told Sky Sports. “I didn’t think it would be so late on, but what a feeling.”
“I couldn’t sleep last night, I was looking forward to this game so much, I am delighted,” he added.
The victory secures Hull a return to English football’s top flight for the first time since their relegation at the end of the 2016-17 campaign. Hull and Middlesbrough had both earned promotion together during the 2015-16 season before suffering relegation from the Premier League a year later.
Saturday’s playoff final, often described as the richest one-off match in world football because of the huge financial rewards attached to promotion, carried an estimated value of at least $270 million in future revenue for the winning side.
The match itself was a tense and cagey affair for long stretches, with both sides struggling to carve out clear-cut opportunities in the scorching Wembley heat. Hull came closest before halftime when McBurnie’s glancing header took a deflection off a Middlesbrough defender and clipped the top of the crossbar.
The game opened up after the break, but neither goalkeeper was seriously troubled as fatigue appeared to set in, raising expectations of extra time and penalties.
However, Hull delivered the decisive blow deep into stoppage time. Yu Hirakawa whipped a dangerous cross into the box from the left flank, and Middlesbrough goalkeeper Sol Brynn could only parry the ball into the path of McBurnie, who smashed home from close range into an empty net.
The defeat extended Middlesbrough’s miserable record at Wembley, with the club now having lost all six of its appearances at the national stadium.
Middlesbrough’s presence in the playoff final had already generated controversy following the dramatic semifinal against Southampton. Boro had initially been eliminated before being reinstated after Southampton were expelled for spying on Middlesbrough training sessions. Southampton’s appeal against the punishment was dismissed last week, clearing the way for Middlesbrough’s place in the final.
