Blackpool 2-1 Exeter City

Blackpool finished seventh in the League Two table, two places behind Exteter

Mark Cullen and Brad Potts starred to help Blackpool return to League One at the first time of asking with victory over Exeter in the play-off final.

With the game's first attack, Potts found the the bottom corner after Cullen's classy touch and flick.

Ollie Watkins was denied by Sam Slocombe before David Wheeler lobbed the keeper to deservedly put Exeter level.

Blackpool had numerous chances before Cullen prodded in Potts' low cross.

Paul Tisdale's Exeter side dominated possession throughout and almost forced extra time when Watkins headed over in stoppage time.

• Blackpool's play-off final win as it happened

The Tangerines, who only had around 6,000 supporters at Wembley because of an ongoing boycott by fans in protest against the club's owners, lost skipper Tom Aldred to injury before the break but were not deterred.

The margin of victory could have been bigger for Gary Bowyer's men, with substitute Bright Osayi-Samuel shooting wide and Kyle Vassell seeing an effort saved as Exeter left themselves vulnerable to counter-attacks late on.

Blackpool on their way back?

Blackpool's Will Aimson shakes hands with owner Owen Oyston after the final whistle

As recently as 2011 Blackpool were in the Premier League, but their drop to the second tier after just one season in the top flight was compounded by successive relegations in the past two seasons.

There have been well documented off-field problems too, with the Blackpool Supporters' Trust repeatedly calling for much-maligned owners Owen and Karl Oyston to step aside.

One thing the Lancashire club have not lost is their knack of successful play-off campaigns, with this their fifth final victory - more than any other club.

It also adds to the trend of teams finishing seventh, the final play-off spot in League Two, going up - as it has now happened in five of the past eight fourth-tier campaigns.

No double for Exeter

With Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham on Saturday in the Premiership rugby union final, this was a bumper weekend of sport for the south-west city with tens of thousands of fans flocking to the capital.

While Chiefs squeaked past Wasps in extra time to be crowned English champions, City fell agonisingly short in their first EFL play-off final, showing the small margins in these one-off matches.

However, Exeter will undoubtedly look back at their season with pride, having gone from the bottom of League Two in mid-November after 17 games to an unexpected Wembley final.

Manager Tisdale is only outstayed in England's top four leagues by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, so there is continuity at the fan-owned club and he is used to regrouping for season after season.

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Blackpool manager Gary Bowyer with the League Two play-off trophy

Blackpool boss Gary Bowyer told BBC Sport: "It was a massive team effort but Cullen made a massive sacrifice for the team after we scored, as we asked him to play in midfield.

"Exeter, a great footballing team, put us on the back foot and we had to change our shape and then we lost our captain and had to adjust again.

"It was like a scene from A&E at one point because of the changes that we had to keep making."

On fans boycotting the final: "It is a shame because it would have been great to have more here, but the ones that were here made a hell of a noise like they have all season.

"On the first day that I walked into the club I said we couldn't control it - I was used to that situation at Blackburn, where fans weren't happy with their owners, so I was used that experience."

Exeter City boss Paul Tisdale told BBC Sport: "I'm disappointed, clearly. I'm disappointed that we probably didn't do our best in the last half an hour.

"It's a tough environment to play in - the pressure - and the performance doesn't always get the result.

"I'm really proud of the players for the season they've had - we certainly will regret today in terms of the result, but we should be very pleased in terms of what we've done this year.

"We gave ourselves an opportunity, which unfortunately we didn't take, but we'll have to look again for next year."

There was a minute's silence observed at Wembley in memory of the victims of the Manchester attack on Monday

Brad Potts has plenty of Blackpool fans, and that was even before he helped inspire them to play-off glory

Exeter City were full of voice on a rare trip to Wembley

Brad Potts celebrates his third-minute goal for Blackpool

David Wheeler got Exeter's equaliser, but it was not enough as Blackpool went on to win it

Mark Cullen scored a hat-trick in Blackpool's play-off semi-final first leg win over Luton