Middlesbrough players departed Teesside International Airport on Friday to face Hull City in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
The match follows a chaotic week that saw Southampton expelled from the promotion decider due to a disciplinary investigation surrounding a 'Spygate' scandal.
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Thousands of fans gathered at the airport to wave off the unexpected finalists for the high-stakes match, which is described as the richest game in football.
Middlesbrough secured its reinstatement after an appeal by Southampton was dismissed, leaving head coach Kim Hellberg and his squad only a few days to mentally and tactically reset after their initial semi-final elimination.
The club announced all 35,984 of its allocated tickets had sold out, with the match scheduled to kick off at 15:30 BST on Saturday.
Hellberg's Emotional Rollercoaster
"I had to do something because we were waiting for [the verdict] and trying to put belief into people," said Kim Hellberg, Middlesbrough manager.
Hellberg traveled to Sweden with his son over the weekend to gain perspective following the emotional rollercoaster of losing the second leg 2-1 and subsequently being reinstated.
"You couldn't go in to try to prepare for a game," Hellberg said.
The manager explained that the team had not held a proper training session since the final Southampton match until the middle of the week.
"I took my son to Sweden; that was very nice for me. Drinking beer, watching a game, shouting at the referee from the stands," Hellberg said.
