Fulham captain Tom Cairney scored the only goal of the game as the Cottagers returned to the Premier League with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final.
The midfielder struck with 20 minutes on the clock, to the delight of the white half of Wembley stadium.
Villa had chances to get back in the game, particularly in the second half when Fulham were reduced to 10 men, and will be left to rue missed opportunities as they prepare for a third consecutive season in England’s second tier.
Fulham instead return to the Premier League for the first time since their relegation in the spring of 2014.
It was Cairney who struck to give Fulham the lead, in what was the first real chance of the game.
A perfectly-weighted pass from Ryan Sessegnon found the midfielder’s run behind the defence, and the Scottish international made no mistake as he slotted the ball under Tom Johnstone into the bottom corner of the net.
Sessegnon came close to doubling the lead on the half-hour mark. Aboubakar Kamara’s cross from the right deflected off John Terry into the path of the youngster, but he could only direct his header into the arms of the Villa goalkeeper.
The first-half was a worrying one for Villa, who failed to register a shot on target for the first 40 minutes of the contest.
They had their chances though, and their first real opportunity came through Jack Grealish. Robert Snodgrass dinked a free-kick into the path of the midfielder, who fired over the crossbar when he ought to have done better.
Fulham ended the first half on the front foot and star forward Aleksandar Mitrovic almost continued his fine goal-scoring form with minutes of the first 45 remaining. A slick passing move from the Cottagers ended with the ball at the feet of the Serbian, who was denied by a last-ditch block from James Chester.
The second-half saw increased urgency from Steve Bruce’s side – but it was Fulham who continued to look more dangerous as Stefan Johansen curled a shot from the edge of the area into the arms of Johnstone.
Once again, it was Grealish who appeared to be the chief threat for Villa. With five minutes of the second-half played, the youngster connected with Albert Adomah’s cross but could only guide his close-range header over.
Soon after, Grealish nearly put Villa back on level terms with what could have been one of the finest EFL play-off goals ever scored.
Having picked up the ball on halfway before driving forward, he beat multiple Fulham players only for his shot from the edge of the six-yard box to be denied by Marcus Bettinelli in the Fulham goal.
Again at the centre of the action, Grealish's reckless lunge on Cairney caused uproar among the Fulham side, although referee Anthony Taylor deemed it a yellow card offence.
Taylor was left no option but to show Denis Odoi a second yellow for a challenge on Grealish, however, and that allowed Villa a final chance to force extra-time.
Villa wasted a golden opportunity when they were awarded a dangerous free-kick in the 90th minute, as Snodgrass curled his effort wide of goal.
The final whistle then came to spark wild celebrations from the Fulham fans, with Villa hearts broken as they await a return to the promised land of the Premier League.
Attendance: 85,243
Sporting Life man of the match: Tom Cairney