...."And when we win promotion, this is what we'll sing, We are Blackpool, We are Blackpool, We are football kings!"....

Hurray - after 29 years of hurt, Blackpool are back in the top two tiers of English football after a 2-0 win in the League One play-off at Wembley.

And what a great feeling it was as Blackpool bossed the final against Yeovil in the rain-soaked showpiece to move into the Championship.

I was too young to remember the last time Blackpool were in such illustrious company and had instead endured watching the Seasiders yo-yoing between the bottom two leagues.

The last time they had been so close to what is now the Championship, was back in 1996, when Sam Allardyce was manager and I was the Blackpool FC reporter for the local evening newspaper, The Gazette.

But that was a totally different season to this.

In 1995-96, Blackpool had been riding high at the top of the league, only to suffer a severe attack of the collywobbles around the same time the then chairman Owen Oyston was jailed for rape, and they missed out on automatic promotion and had to settle for third.

They faced Bradford in the play-off semis and were fantastic at Valley Parade, bringing a 2-0 lead back to Bloomfield Road.

But they bottled it big style as Bradford won 3-0 to make it to Wembley.

Allardyce was sacked (which for him was a blessing in disguise judging by his managerial progression since then) and Blackpool slumped and were relegated before bouncing back.

This season, after a torrid start in which they won only one of their first 12 matches and rookie manager Simon Grayson was in danger of losing his job, they became virtually unstoppable as they stormed up the league in the second half of the season and were perhaps unlucky not to gain an automatic promotion spot.

But they were on a roll and Blackpool rode through the semi-final against Oldham with ease.

So it was a confident 30,000-strong Tangerine Army that made the 250-mile trip from Lancashire to London and to the uninitiated on the trains and Tube, it looked as though they had been seriously Tangoed in their proud but unusual colour choice of kit, complete with orange fright wigs and face paint.

As I headed down Wembley Way, there was friendly banter flying around between the two teams who looked up in awe at the breathtaking, plush new stadium.

I have lived in London for nearly eight years and I was amazed at how many old schoolmates, former work colleagues and acquaintances I recognised and who remembered me as we chatted and sang Blackpool songs as the atmosphere built ahead of kick-off.

So to the match and Blackpool looked well in control although it came as a relief they finally broke the deadlock just before half-time with a perfectly taken free-kick by Robbie Williams - Take that Yeovil!

Keigan Parker wrapped up the tie just seven minutes into the second half with a wonderful curling shot - or so I'm told because I missed the goal as I was in the loo (that's what being eight months pregnant does for you!)

Blackpool fans and the players were in ecstasy at the final whistle as the dream to play in the Championship was finally realised.

And in reaching the upper echelons of football, they broke a club record which had stood since the 1930s by winning 10 consecutive matches.

Grayson has spoken about Blackpool's proud history, winning the 1953 FA Cup final and boasting former players including Stanley Matthews, Jimmy Armfield, Emlyn Hughes and Alan Ball.

But he was also clear about it being time to move on and for fans to stop living on the glories of the past.

He said it was time for Blackpool to start making their own history again - and all Seasiders supporters will drink to that.

The future is bright, the future is Tangerine!