Hull City reach Premier League after Tigers pounce on their promotion chance

Jakirovic said before the game that his side had been “collateral damage” from Southampton’s expulsion from the play-offs, which left them having to pivot from preparing for a game against the Saints to Boro four days before the final.

Despite the pre-match difficulties and being the underdogs, as they had been in the semi-final against third-placed Millwall, they got the job done on a boiling hot day at Wembley.

Promotion capped off a tremendous first season in English football for the former Bosnia international.

Jakirovic had won titles in Bosnia and Croatia before a brief spell in Turkey at the end of last season, but he was perhaps only really known in the UK for being the Dinamo Zagreb boss when they were hammered 9-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League in 2024-25. He was sacked days later.

If he came to England to prove a point, then it is very much a case of mission accomplished.

“When Oli scored the goal I was thinking ‘I am dreaming and this is a movie’,” he said.

“I’m very emotional. A lot of players were crying from happiness.

“It’s an unbelievable journey. I think we are not aware of everything we have achieved today. We had so many problems.

“I’m very proud of everyone, especially the players; they are the main actors.”