AN emotional and extremely proud Grant Leadbitter thinks Middlesbrough’s return to the Premier League is exactly what Steve Gibson deserves for decades of highs and lows during his time in the boardroom.

Gibson was a satisfied figure in the directors’ box at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday afternoon, when thousands of Boro fans invaded the pitch to celebrate promotion back to the top-flight.

The parties have continued, with players mixing with the club’s supporters in the town centre on Sunday to create long-lasting memories.

Promotion is the result of years of hard work to try to get Boro back on the right track following a costly relegation from the top tier seven years ago.

And top-flight status has propelled the club into the world’s top 30 richest clubs because of the guaranteed cash bonus of £170m – made up of a minimum prize pot of £95m and then parachute payments - just for playing in the Premier League next season.

It is a far cry from Gibson’s younger days when he formed a consortium which helped save the club in 1986 before taking control in his own right in 1994; the year when Bryan Robson was appointed and he delivered promotion before a move to the Riverside the following year.

Leadbitter, a former Sunderland midfielder who has bought into the Boro story, feels promotion is the perfect present for what Gibson has put into the club over the years – particularly after suffering disappointment at Wembley in the play-off final 12 months ago.

The captain, who was videoed being held aloft by fans and leading an iconic promotion chant describing how the club "nearly died in 1986", said: “Credit to the players and, most of all, credit to the chairman, who has put an awful lot of money into this football club.

“As much as the manager and the players all deserve promotion, he deserves it more than anyone. If it wasn't for him, there wouldn't even be a Middlesbrough Football Club because he saved it 30 years ago.

“I remember after the play-off final, when we went back to the hotel and had a few drinks, the chairman was brilliant. He said, 'Don't worry, we'll do it next year' – and he put his hand in his pocket again to make sure we got the extra points we needed.”

Gibson gave Aitor Karanka the go-ahead to invest significantly in a squad which already had a core of strong players the Spaniard inherited from the Tony Mowbray era, such as Leadbitter, George Friend, Daniel Ayala and Albert Adomah.

But there were still no guarantees that the arrivals of Stewart Downing, Cristhian Stuani and David Nugent would lead to a top two spot – and it went right down to the wire.

Leadbitter, in tears at Wembley last year when Norwich City pipped them to the post, and the rest of his team-mates celebrated all weekend after earning the point that sealed it against Brighton.

The 30-year-old said: “It took me a long time to get over losing at Wembley, but now it feels as if we can finally breathe, enjoy the moment and leave the sleepless nights behind.

“When (referee) Mike Dean blew the final whistle in the play-off final last year, the only emotion was of total desolation, but when he blew the final whistle this time we went to the other end of the spectrum.

“Of course there were tears again this time, but they were tears that told a different story. The atmosphere in that dressing room was absolutely fantastic.”

Leadbitter was in an embrace with Karanka as they walked up to lift the runners-up trophy at the Riverside, but a return to the Premier League does not feel too much like second best.

Leadbitter, who targeted promotion when he left Ipswich four years ago, said: “The pressure was on us this season because of all the money we had spent, and we are a bit disappointed not to win the title, but fair play to Burnley and we are happy to achieve our No 1 target, which was always promotion.

“When I walked back out on the pitch with the manager, my mind went back to the play-off final, how much it hurt, and I wanted to savour every moment of how good this felt.

“I said, it took me a long time to get over Wembley because I had sleepless nights about it. Early in the season, I said we had to forget all about it and look forward but, trust me, you don't forget about days like that easily.

“What we went through 12 months ago hurt a lot, but we knew what we had to do to put it right and the club deserves it.”