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.
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.
The squad returned to training after official confirmation of their reinstatement arrived on Tuesday.
"It gives you perspective of it and some time with my son and thinking about something different.
From that moment to coming home, it's been a lot of information about what may happen, what could happen," Hellberg said.
Middlesbrough enters its sixth Wembley appearance without a win in its final three regular-season games, despite finishing seven points ahead of Hull City.
"There have been a lot of emotions.
It's been a crazy time, back and forth with a lot of emotions from losing the game to being involved, trying to keep your head in the game for what may happen.
I'm very happy to be here," Hellberg said.
Middlesbrough defender Luke Ayling revealed that the squad remained largely in the dark about the behind-the-scenes legal evidence during the initial post-match uncertainty.
"We haven't trained [properly] since the last Southampton game," Hellberg added on Thursday.
The defender noted that the club's staff remained confident and urged the players to stay focused in case an opportunity arose.
"We have been in one day, but if that was our training, we would have big problems," Hellberg added on Thursday.
Ayling stated that the reality of the situation only set in when the official confirmation message came through during his family routine on Tuesday evening.
"But it was important to try and stand up for these things and try to make it possible, and everyone around the club has done absolutely brilliant," Hellberg added on Thursday.
The veteran defender acknowledged the challenge of preparing for the biggest game of their careers with only three proper training days while expressing sympathy for Hull's disrupted preparations.
"It's been a weird time. I'm doing everything I can to prepare my team for the game," Hellberg added on Thursday.
Hull City also faced tactical disruption, having initially prepared to play Southampton before the disciplinary ruling forced an abrupt adjustment to face Middlesbrough.
"We were a bit in the dark as players," said Luke Ayling, Middlesbrough defender.
Supporters expressed a mix of exhaustion and optimism at the airport, with fan Russell Willis noting the team's improbable path to the final.
"But the club was more upbeat about it because we didn't know what was going on behind the scenes and what evidence they had on the spying stuff," Ayling said.
Former Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick, who now manages Manchester United, expressed his support for his former players ahead of the fixture.
"The club was very confident and tried to drill it into us that there might be a chance we were playing, so we had to stay as focused as we could," Ayling said.
The winner of Saturday's match will secure direct promotion to the Premier League.
"It was hard because you lose a game and think the chance is gone, then suddenly you have to switch back on in case you're going to get another opportunity," Ayling said.
"Over the weekend it started to become a bit more apparent that we might have a chance.
We came in on Monday and trained, then we got the good news on Tuesday," Ayling said.
"It's only just starting to become real. It was all a bit of a shock at the time.
I was doing bath time with my little man on Tuesday night and then the message came through that we were going to Wembley," Ayling said.
"It's been tough because we're now building up to the biggest game of our lives with probably only three proper training days," Ayling added.
"But we've had a few tougher sessions over the last few days to get our legs going and the boys will be ready," Ayling added.
"I do feel sorry for Hull as well because they were preparing for Southampton, so you do feel for them on that basis.
But at the same time, they've at least been training knowing there's a game on Saturday," Ayling added.
"It's been hard, but we're so grateful for the opportunity. We know it's a massive chance that's been given back to us, and we believe rightly so.
We're really happy and can't wait to get going," Ayling added.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" said an unnamed fan at the airport.
"The journey that they've been on, and the ups and downs, it's just great for the whole region," the fan added.
"The chances we've had, I feel we've had nine lives and I just think this time, is it meant to be?"
said Russell Willis, a Middlesbrough fan.
"We could win, you know. I think this season, it could be our year," Willis said.
"I lost sleep to be honest with you, I just can't wait to get it all over with," another fan added.
"I just hope they can get the result done," the fan added.
"So to see them have success and end up in the Premier League, I would take a lot of pride in that," said Michael Carrick, Manchester United manager.
