Middlesbrough's Play-Off Heartbreak: Hull City Secures Premier League Promotion

Middlesbrough's two Socceroos, Riley McGree and Sammy Silvera, have been left shattered after all the drama surrounding the Championship play-offs ended with a deflating, last-gasp 1-0 defeat to Premier League-bound Hull City at Wembley.

Key midfielder McGree played for 76 minutes of Saturday's final while Silvera watched on powerless from the bench as Middlesbrough controlled most of the possession but could not find the cutting edge they needed in a game of fairly dismal quality on a sweltering London afternoon.

Middlesbrough had been given a second chance to go for glory after being reinstated into the final following the expulsion of Southampton, who had beaten them 2-1 on aggregate over two legs in the semi-final but were found guilty of spying on a Boro training session before the tie.

In the end, Middlesbrough paid for looking clueless in front of goal despite having the lion's share of the ball as Hull's hero Oli McBurnie scored late in stoppage time to send the Tigers into the top flight for the first time in nine years, joining automatically promoted champions Coventry and Ipswich in the EPL.

"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."

But for Middlesbrough, it was the end of what coach Kim Hellberg called the "toughest two weeks I have had in terms of emotions".

"Tough and draining, but it is not an excuse — we were ready to play the game, Hull scored the goal and we have to congratulate them," Hellberg said.

The match was once again hailed as the football world's most lucrative one-off contest, because a windfall of at least $380 million in future earnings was at stake for the winners.

And it was decided in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Yu Hirakawa crossed from the left and Middlesbrough goalkeeper Sol Brynn could only push it into the path of McBurnie, who hammered home into the empty net from close range.

Middlesbrough's Wembley curse continued as they have now lost at the national stadium for the sixth time in as many appearances, leaving plenty of frustration for McGree, in particular, who has suffered play-off heartbreak before with Boro, having lost out to Coventry in the semifinals in 2023.