Dougall double helps Blackpool back into Championship
Kenny Dougall sent Blackpool back to the Sky Bet Championship for the first time since 2015 with both goals in a 2-1 win over Lincoln in the League One play-off final at Wembley.
The Australian scored either side of half-time as the Seasiders recovered from conceding the earliest ever goal in the third-tier play-off final when Ollie Turton put through his own net after 48 seconds.
Neil Critchley's men were worthy of their win and are back in the second tier after a six-year absence, where they also fell into League Two.
It comes after a strong end to the regular campaign, finishing third after being in the bottomfourfollowingadisappointing start to the season.
Lincoln, whose manager Michael Appleton used to manage Blackpool, were dreaming of a third promotion in six seasons but they could not build on their excellent start.
They could not have dreamed for a better helping hand, going ahead with less
than a minute on the clock as Turton had a moment he will not want to remember.
Brennan Johnson made headway down the right and fizzed in a dangerous ball across goal that made it through to the back post, where Turton got his feet in a muddle and sliced into his own net from a yard out.
The early lead gave the Imps a platform to control the game and they could have been further in front seven minutes later but Joe Walsh put a free header over from eight yards. Top scorer Jorge Grant also came within inches of doubling the lead in the 24th minute as his curling shot clipped the top of the bar.
That acted as a wake-up call to Blackpool, who began to take a foothold in the game. Demetri Mitchell tested Alex Palmer's handling with a stinging drive soon before the equaliser came 11 minutes before the break.
Grant was dispossessed in a dangerous area by Jerry Yates and the ball ended up with Dougall, who struck a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Blackpool turned it around eight minutes after the restart as Dougall stepped up again. Yates controled a ball in the box and rolled it to the Australian, who again found the bottom corner from 20 yards.