AFTER 2,541 days of Championship football, Middlesbrough are back in the big time. There were twists, turns and a few scares, but Premier League football will be back on the agenda at the Riverside Stadium in August after a seven-year wait.

The promotion parties have continued all weekend and rather than prepare for another gruelling play-off battle, the only planning taking place this week will be what route the players will take on the open-top bus parade before it hits Linthorpe Road.

Supporters from Saltburn to South Bank and Whitby to Whinney Banks have got under the skin of the promotion-winners and they all played their part in pushing the players over the line when it mattered.

Middlesbrough needed a point and got it, the fact Burnley pipped them to the league title is immaterial; Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Premier League champions Leicester City will be back at the Riverside next season.

Under the excellent leadership of chairman Steve Gibson, Middlesbrough as a club has always been at the heart of the community and Aitor Karanka, his backroom team and all of the players have all bought into the ethos and desire to deliver for the area.

Teesside has its problems – none more so than the closure of the Redcar steel plant earlier in the season – and promotion has given everyone a lift; it has provided hope for a brighter future, on and off the pitch.

Karanka said: “For the club it's good because to be in the Premier League is important but for me it means more to the people, because this area deserves to enjoy.

“There's not been many good moments for them so to have a team and a club like this back in the best league in the world, it is amazing, and for that reason I'm really pleased. To be in this position is really nice, it can help them forget their problems.”

Ben Gibson, the homegrown Middlesbrough defender, suggested afterwards the ‘forgotten town was back on the map’ and that was how it felt when thousands of the sell-out crowd invaded the pitch after the final whistle. The class of 2016 had created their own little bit of history.

Karanka said: “My next aim, I said when I came here Middlesbrough is a Premier League team, and now we are in the Premier League we are going to work harder to stay there. I would like to go to my bed and cry for 24 hours in a row because I can't explain the emotions I have inside.”

He was not the only one with tears rolling down his face. As Karanka and his loyal captain, Grant Leadbitter, walked out together to lift the runners-up trophy to mark the promotion, they were in a tight embrace.

That had followed an iconic sight of Leadbitter singing the ‘86, we nearly died … the mighty Boro are going up’ chant while being held aloft by fans carrying him around the pitch.

Karanka, referring to a hernia operation his skipper is due to undergo this week, said: “Grant is the character of this team, he's the captain and nobody knows how much he's suffered to play the last three, four, five games.”

It would be wrong to just single out Leadbitter. Middlesbrough might not have hit top gear on a regular basis this season, but they have found consistency and do not boast the best defensive record in the Championship for nothing.

They might not have scored as many goals (63) as the rest of the top six but Karanka tends to have his players adopting the more patient approach and that has, ultimately, got the job done.

Together they have all shown tremendous character and resilience to recover from that March blip, when it seemed for 72 hours that Karanka would leave, and end the season with a ten-game unbeaten run.

Karanka, who took over in November 2013 when Middlesbrough were closer to League One than the Premier League, said: “I don't believe how quickly it's gone. I came here two and a half years ago and the group was not in a good situation, and that season we finished really well.

“Last season was the same, we played in the final but everyone said the following season after losing the final would be a difficult one. Some people said I was crazy when I said I would like to play in the Premier League with this club, and I have. Next season we are going to play in the Premier League.

“The last four games we couldn't win one of them, but I said to them they will really count. It is a good day to enjoy it and say once again how proud I am of being here with these players.”

Middlesbrough - backed by incredible noise from the stands where fans were given jester hats, scarves flags to create incredible colour - looked hungry from the first whistle, much to the relief of the supporters.

Karanka’s controversial decision to pick Cristhian Stuani and David Nugent ahead of Stewart Downing and Jordan Rhodes could have backfired; instead it paid off with Nugent laying on the opener for Stuani in the 19th minute.

Brighton did battle back after the restart and increased the nerves when Dale Stephens headed Anthony Knockaert’s delivery inside Dimi Konstantopoulos’ far post. The goalscorer’s red card minutes later for a studs first challenge on Gaston Ramirez, however, made it more difficult.

Karanka explained: “I thought to start with the pressure of David was better because he's more experienced to play these kinds of games – so I thought he was better than Jordan.

“With Stuani I know how much of a winner and how hungry the Uruguayan players are. I knew he wasn't having a good season and he had something to show.”

In the end it was not the team selection what mattered, just the result and where Middlesbrough will be playing in August.

Karanka said: “I want to say thank you to the chairman for giving me the opportunity to come here when I didn't have experience. I said this group deserves to be in the Premier League and that's where we will be next season.”