Relief as much as euphoria was the emotion that greeted the final whistle as West Ham secured a return to the Premier League at the first attempt. Big players, big money and a big manager had seen the Hammers installed as pre-season favourites for promotion, yet their own inconsistencies, coupled with the form of Southampton and Reading, left them to settle for third.
Blackpool, their Wembley opposition, have made a name for themselves as play-off specialists - they are the only side to have won promotion via the knockout lottery in all three Football League divisions - and they didn’t make it easy for the Hammers, who had put eight goals past them in the league season.
It was they who created the opening opportunity, Stephen Dobbie running onto a pass chipped in behind. The angle was against him, though Robert Green’s touch was only slight, the ball ricocheting into the ground and off of the near post.
That provided impetus for the Lancastrians to push forward and threaten the West Ham defence throughout the opening fifteen minutes. Twice Matt Phillips wasted clear chances, the first was weak and directed straight at Green following some incisive passing in the Irons' half.
The winger passed up another golden opportunity moments later; his skill to open up space for a shot after Guy Demel misjudged the flight of the ball was superb, the placement on his finish not so, as it flew wide of the goal.
Although they had been on the back foot in the opening exchanges, the Hammers were refusing to let Blackpool run the tempo. Ricardo Vaz Te had their first shot at goal after a neat interchange in the final third but could only hit the side netting, his strike partner Carlton Cole off target with a header shortly afterwards.
A flurry of corners had Ian Holloway’s side rattled, but the breakthrough came when the pressure was in their opponents half. Thomas Ince lost the ball on the right-hand touchline and West Ham broke, Matt Taylor pushed forward and clipped a diagonal ball into the path of Cole. The 28-year-old plucked the pass out of the air and thumped his shot past Matt Gilks to give the Londoners the advantage.
Vaz Te missed one further opening, though there was no reply before the break as the Irons had already taken a stranglehold over Blackpool, who struggled to find their rhythm and were lacklustre on the flanks. However, 128 seconds was all it took for them to rediscover their tempo after the restart.
It was a matter of both déjà vu and role reversals from West Ham’s goal. Cole, the scorer then, lost possession and Matt Phillips swept another fine diagonal ball into the box for Ince, the man who had given the ball to the Hammers in the build-up to the first, to slip a first-time shot across Green.
Once again the white-shirted Tangerines were on top. Central defender Alex Baptiste burst forward from his usual post, laying off for Kevin Phillips and continuing towards the penalty area. He was picked out with an intelligent scoop by the veteran and dinked over the oncoming Green, but left frustrated by the presence of Taylor on the line.
Despite having watched the net bulge behind him, Gilks had had little work by the hour mark; Cole swiftly changed that, however. He spun and shot, and the Blackpool keeper fell sharply to his right to maintain the equality on the scoreboard.
The first period may have seen the Seasiders’ bright start fall away, but the second was a different story. The Hammers found themselves penned in by their opponent’s neat passing. Dobbie had three chances, but a combination of his own poor connection and Green’s goalkeeping prevented the Scot from scoring.
With the quality available to West Ham, discounting them is a major error of judgement. Indeed, they showed their prowess by countering down the left; substitute George McCartney crossing from the byline for Kevin Nolan to volley onto the crossbar and over.
As Blackpool tired with full-time in sight, Sam Allardyce’s side retook their advantage. Nolan was again involved, crossing low from the left flank to Cole, who bundled his way into the centre before prodding across to Vaz Te to emphatically hit the ceiling of the net and hand West Ham instant redemption with a return to the top flight.