Afternoon all! The last day of a long Football League season is here and we're just two hours away from kickoff at Wembley as Middlesbrough and Norwich City do battle for a place in the Premier League.

Here's the scene down Wembley Way as the red-shirted Boro fans mingle with those in yellow and green from Norwich.

As mentioned below, today's game kicks off at 3pm and we'll be getting team news from both clubs an hour before that at 2pm. Between now and then, we'll be building up to the big game in detail. You couldn't be anywhere better, unless maybe you're one of the fortunate 80,000 who'll be sitting in the national stadium this afternoon.

Before we focus all our attention on today's contest, let's look at how the other two playoff finals in the Football League panned out over the last couple of days. Starting in League Two...

Southend United joined Burton Albion, Shrewsbury Town and Bury in being promoted after an amazing finish against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday. The first 90 minutes were very forgettable, but the game came to life in extra time when Wycombe took the lead in the 95th minute. Southend's players looked dead on their feet, but substitute Joe Pigott came up with an equaliser in the 122nd minute to send the match to penalties. In the shootout, Southend edged it 7-6 to reach the third tier and send the Shrimpers fans wild.

In yesterday's League One final, Preston North End climbed up to the Championship with a thumping 4-0 win over Swindon Town. It was the fourth different club that manager Simon Grayson had been promoted with from the third tier and he largely had Jermaine Beckford to thank after the former Everton striker scored a hat-trick to power the Lilywhites to promotion.

By going up, Preston join Bristol City and MK Dons in the Championship and they'll be playing one of these two sides next season. We also now know the three sides who will drop down to the second tier after Hull City's doom was confirmed yesterday. Their two-year stay in the top flight came to an end and they join Queens Park Rangers and Burnley in being relegated.

STAT: Interestingly, this is just the third season on record that the top-two seeds in each of the three divisions has advanced to the playoff final. The last time it happened was back in 2000.

Anyway, enough of Leagues One and Two. Let's switch our focus fully to the Championship and today's game at Wembley.

Here's the match ball that will be booted around the famous grass in North London today.

Just in case you hadn't heard, today's game is estimated to be worth £120M(!) to the winner. The Premier League is quite a step up from the Championship and its global appeal can be a huge, huge boost for whoever gets there.

In terms of recent Premier League history, Boro had their 11-year stay in the Premier League ended in 2009. Since then, they have been in the Championship for six seasons. This year (4th) was their first top-six finish since they went down, with their other end-of-season placings being 11th, 12th, 7th, 16th and 12th.

In total, Boro have had 14 seasons in the top flight since it was renamed the Premier League. Norwich have spent half of that time in the Premier League, but they were there much more recently. The Canaries had a three-year spell ended when they finished 18th a year ago and they'll be hoping for an instant return.

The playoff final trophy currently has both red and yellow decorations, but whose colour will be there later this afternoon.

A reminder that we will have a winner today. If the match is still level after 90 minutes there will be 30 minutes of extra time and then penalties, if needed, to determine the winner.

REFEREE WATCH: The man in charge today will be Mike Dean. The 46-year-old is one of England's premier referees and often takes charge of the country's biggest battles, such as Manchester United versus Arsenal earlier this month. Today's match will be the fourth Championship game of the season that Dean has overseen.

We've been building up to this contest all week on SM and you can find all of the related articles right here on our game hub. Isn't that neat? I'll now go through some of the best quotes from both camps.

Canaries captain Russell Martin believes it is the right playoff final as Norwich and Boro finished with more points than their semi-final opponents Ipswich Town and Brentford. "It just shows that over the course of the season, the league doesn't lie," said the centre-back.

We were at Boro's press conference a few days ago and their left-back George Friend thinks that his side's strong head-to-head record (more on this in a bit) gives them confidence going into the today's match. "We can perhaps take a little bit of confidence and look at what we did to beat them those two times, especially the away game because that was a tight affair," he said.

However, both veteran defender Jonathan Woodgate and Boro boss Karanka believe that Norwich are favourites. Woodgate said: "You look at Norwich and they are going to be the favourites. We have beaten them twice but pretty much every single one of their players is a Premier League player. Apart from one, I think all their team played in the Premier last year."

Karanka adds: "At the beginning of the season, they weren't in a good way and in the game when we played there (at Carrow Road) they had chances and we were practically defending for 60 minutes. So I don't think we're favourites, especially if you look at their squad. They were playing the last three seasons in the Premier League."

Let's be honest, the victor today will be the team that handles the occasion better. Over a 46-game season, these two sides finished just a point apart, so it's extremely tough to call. The bookies echo this and make Norwich just slight favourites to achieve promotion.

Not only is today's game massive for the clubs, it's also the chance for their supporters to experience a grand day out at the superb Wembley stadium.

HOW DID THEY GET HERE? With team news fast approaching, there's just enough time to tell you how the two teams made it to the final today...

By picking up just one point from their final two games, Boro fell away from the top two to finish fourth and that meant a playoff semi-final against surprise package Brentford. The first leg at Griffin Park was dominated by the Bees, but Boro scored a crucial injury-time winner to give them the advantage going back to the Riverside. Karanka's men had the strongest home record of anyone this season, so it wasn't all that surprising to see them claim a 3-0 win in the second leg to advance 5-1 on aggregate.

As for Norwich, they came up against bitter rivals Ipswich in the semi-finals. It was billed as the biggest East Anglian derby ever and Norwich came through thanks to a 3-1 win in the second leg after a tense 1-1 draw at Portman Road. The tie was in the balance three-quarters of the way through, but it swung in Norwich's favour when Ipswich's Christophe Berra was sent off not long into the second half at Carrow Road.

BREAKING TEAM NEWS! The Norwich XI is with us and Neil has gone for an unchanged XI.

NORWICH XI: Ruddy; Whittaker, Martin, Bassong, Olsson; Redmond, Howson, Tettey, Johnson; Hoolahan; Jerome
Subs: Rudd, Grabban, Hooper, E. Bennett, R. Bennett, O'Neil, Dorrans

So, Neil goes with the same XI that started the second leg against Ipswich. The toughest decision he would have had to make would have been up front and he sticks with Cameron Jerome ahead of Lewis Grabban and Gary Hooper. Grabban was unavailable in the semi-finals because of a red card on the penultimate weekend of the season.

BORO XI: Konstantopoulos; Whitehead, Ayala, Gibson, Friend; Clayton, Leadbetter; Adomah, Vossen, Tomlin; Bamford

The big news there is that on-loan Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford does return to the starting lineup. The striker, named the Championship Player of the Year, missed the second leg against Brentford but returns after overcoming an ankle problem.

Bamford scored 17 goals for Boro this season and edged out Ipswich's Daryl Murphy (27 goals) and Watford's Troy Deeney (21 goals) for the Player of the Year award. However, he was not included in the PFA Championship Team of the Year.

BORO SUBS: Ripley, Kike, Forshaw, Reach, Amorebieta, Nsue, Woodgate

With Bamford back, Spanish striker Kike drops back to the bench, despite scoring in the 3-0 second-leg win over Brentford. It would have been a tough decision for Karanka as Bamford looked out of sorts in the first leg at Griffin Park. He must be confident that the England Under-21 international is back to full fitness.

For our full article on both teams by my colleague Daniel Lewis, click here.

STAT: A good sign for Norwich - Since the current play-off format was introduced in 1988/89, the team finishing third in the Championship has been promoted most often (nine times), while the team finish fourth has been promoted on the joint-fewest occasions (five times).

Despite that, Boro have certainly had the better of Norwich recently and won both meetings with the Canaries this season...

H2H: Up at the Riverside in November, Norwich were blown away 4-0, while at Carrow Road last month, Boro defended well for the majority to mean that Alexander Tettey's early own goal was enough for an away win.

In fact, Norwich have won only one of their last 12 matches against Middlesbrough in all competitions. This will be the 51st encounter between the two teams, with Boro claiming victory on 21 occasions, while Norwich have come out on top 16 times and there have been 14 draws.

Brentford boss Mark Warburton is one of the pundits on Sky Sports this afternoon and he's said: "You need to try and impose yourself on the game, relish it, enjoy the occasion and rise to the challenge." Read more on what the outgoing Brentford boss had to say here.

SM reporter Dan Lewis on the team news: "So an unchanged starting lineup named by Norwich City, then, with manager Alex Neil showing faith in the players who got the job done against Ipswich Town last week. A settled team will certainly help the Canaries, who possess plenty of attacking threat, but their forward players will have to be on top of their game to get the better of a Boro side who conceded just 37 goals during the regular season. Meanwhile, Aitor Karanka has made just the one change, bringing Patrick Bamford in from the start. The Chelsea loanee's fitness has been touch-and-go for a while now, but there is no doubt that he provides Boro with something different up top and he could very well prove to be the key man this afternoon."

If Norwich prevail today, they'll become the 18th side to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt after relegation last season.

Norwich didn't score in either game against Boro this season, but they netted 20 more goals than the Teesside outfit overall this term. Despite that, Boro will feel confident as they possess by far the best defence in the league. The clean sheet kept against Brentford 11 days ago was their 22nd this season,

Boro will hope that they can keep Norwich at bay and bag the first goal today. History suggests that breaking the deadlock is a good omen as 19 of the 25 Championship playoff final winners have gone on to be promoted.

How about the two teams' records in playoff finals? Boro have only appeared once in the Championship playoff final and they came through 2-1 over two legs against Chelsea in what was the last year of the old two-legged format in 1988. However, they have failed to win in four appearances at Wembley.

Like their opponents, Norwich have been in just one second-tier playoff final and they suffered a cruel defeat on penalties to Birmingham City 13 years ago at the Millennium Stadium while Wembley was being redeveloped.

If you missed it earlier this week - shame on you! - then here is my Championship Team of the Season. I named a first, second and third XI for the season and in the first XI there are two Boro players - defenders Daniel Ayala and George Friend - and one Norwich player - centre-midfielder Bradley Johnson.

STAT: Johnson had never scored more than seven goals in a season, but this year netted an impressive 15 goals. No midfielder had more than that, with Bournemouth's Matt Ritchie and Bakary Sako of Wolverhampton Wanderers also on 15.

Right, with kickoff fast approaching it's time you watched this preview video where I joined Matt Law on the Sports Mole Sofa:

Boro were late releasing their teamsheet and appearing on the field for the warm-up because they were held up in traffic in the capital. More on that here.

PREDICTION: Okey doke, just 10 minutes until kickoff now at Wembley. As you'll see in the video below, I just feel that Norwich will handle the occasion better today. They picked up more of their points this season on the road and the pressure of playing away could compare well to this afternoon's huge game. Norwich to win 2-1 in normal time.

SM reporter Dan Lewis: "It is hard to put into words just how big this occasion is for both of these sides. The £120m at stake, the culmination of an entire season's hard work, and the expectation of thousands of supporters camped inside Wembley. For Norwich, they are aiming to earn promotion back to the big time at the first attempt - an achievement which only 22 previous sides have pulled off. Boro, on the other hand, are looking to continue this upwards trajectory under boss Aitor Karanka, which has seen them rise up the table and come within just 90 minutes of the Premier League."

Here's how the voting finished on our pre-match readers' poll. Boro edging it.

This is Norwich's first appearance at the new Wembley. They only appeared once at the old stadium, but it was a successful trip as they won the 1985 League Cup with a 1-0 win over Sunderland. It remains their only major trophy.

Right, the build-up is done. Kickoff now just seconds away in North London, where it's a nice spring day. Top conditions for a game of footy (that's worth £120m).

Karanka has kept his suit on, while Neil strips down to his club tracksuit. At just 33, he probably wants to be out there playing!

KICKOFF! Norwich, in their traditional colours of yellow and green, get us underway.

Tettey is Norwich's enforcer in midfield and he goes in firmly on Bamford in the opening minute. Referee Dean looks up for a feisty affair as he waves away Boro's claims for a free kick.

Norwich winger Redmond is one of the most exciting players on the field today and he beats Friend in their first one-on-one duel before dinking a cross to the back post which is just too high for Johnson.

Redmond's opposite number Adomah has seen plenty of the ball down the Boro right early on. The two wingers could certainly play a big part today.

There's a fantastic atmosphere at Wembley and that's because the majority of the tickets were given to supporters. Next weekend in the FA Cup final the fans have far less seats at the national stadium.

And here you can see just how well Wembley has been packed out:

Norwich are keen to press Boro high up the pitch and Howson has just forced Friend into a mistake on the left. The Canaries have edged the early stages.

OFF THE BAR! So close the opener as Johnson rattles a superb volley against the frame of the goal. Seconds earlier Jerome could have put Boro ahead but somehow missed the ball from Whittaker's cross.

OFF THE BAR! Incredible! Boro go down the other end and it's Vossen whose volley pings back off the crossbar. So unlucky for both teams!

Just 32 seconds separated Johnson and Vossen's volleys. What a half a minute!

First blood to Norwich as Jerome wins the ball back off Ayala before surging into the box and beating Konstantopoulos at his near post. Really poor from both Ayala and the keeper - the duo should have done much better.

Well, well, well. What a start it's been at Wembley. The first few minutes went by with little goalmouth action, but then two stunning volleys off the bar were followed by Jerome pouncing on some lacklustre Boro defending to put the Canaries in front. That's the first goal Norwich have scored against Boro this season.

Goodness me, make that two for the Canaries as Redmond finishes off a fine passing move with a pinpoint low finish across goal into the far corner. "Yellow, yellow, yellow!" bellow the Norwich fans at the other end of the stadium.

Remember, Boro conceded just 38 goals in 48 league games this season (including playoffs), but they've not been at their best so far. The first goal was very avoidable, while Karanka will be angry at how much space Redmond found himself in for the second.

The Canaries want a third and it looks like it will come soon. Redmond is now out on the left and he sends over a couple of teasing balls that Boro just about get away with.

England manager Roy Hodgson is in attendance at Wembley and he'll be impressed by England Under-21 international Redmond so far. The former Birmingham City man didn't have the best of years in 2013-14 when Norwich went down, but he's thrived in the Championship and has brought his A-game today.

Corner for Boro. You feel that a goal for them before half time is crucial...

Captain Leadbitter swings it over but it's a poor delivery that Whittaker easily clears at the near post. No excuses for that, beat the first man at the very least.

SM reporter Dan Lewis: "Well I'm not sure anyone could have predicted this start to the contest. This was expected to be a tight and cagey affair between two sides separated by just one point at the end of the regular league season. Credit to Norwich, though, because they have come out with just one thing on their mind - attacking the opposition. A third goal would surely kill off Boro."

I said before the game that I thought Norwich would handle the occasion better and that's proven to be the case so far. Norwich's second goal was excellent, but what on earth were Ayala and Konstantopoulos doing for the first?

Better delivery from Leadbitter this time as he swings over a free kick into a dangerous area. No-one's really attacking it, though, and Norwich keeper Ruddy is able to usher the ball wide.

Decent from Boro as the ball is clipped into Adomah down the right. His volleyed cross is headed up, rather than away, by Bassong and Ruddy just about collects the ball under pressure from Bamford. Boro have slowed Norwich down in the last few moments, but they need to do more going forward.

Here's a great picture of Norwich celebrating Redmond's fine finish:

A stat from @OptaJoe on Twitter: "Middlesbrough last overturned a two-goal deficit to win in the 2006 UEFA Cup semi-final against Steaua Bucharest. Task."

Boro win a free kick and a couple of corners. Leadbitter's delivery is better, but Norwich are defending well and not giving Boro a sniff of a chance.

Both sides have had three shots at goal, with both of Norwich's on-target efforts finding the net while Boro are yet to test Ruddy.

It's very early for the "Oles", but Norwich's fans are certainly enjoying themselves and the calm passing football of their team.

Half an hour has passed since this man opened the scoring with a sneaky near-post finish.

Norwich skipper Martin is lucky to escape a booking after wiping out Tomlin, who stole the ball from him in a threatening area. Dean tells Martin that the only reason he wasn't cautioned was because it was his first foul.

TWO minutes added on at the end of the first half. Can Boro grab a goal?

Neat turn from Vossen down the right, but his floated cross is too strong for Bamford, who was the only red shirt in the box.

A near-perfect half of football from the Canaries and they're now just 45 minutes from a return to the Premier League.

If you're only just joining us and want a quick recap on the opening half, then our half-time report from Dan is just what you need.

Boro have edged the possession with 52% of the ball, but they've been on the back-foot for most of the half as you can see on this graphic:

Looking back at Norwich's second goal it really was a fine team move full of excellent touches and quick passing. To cap it all off, it was a sumptuous finish by Redmond.

SM reporter Dan Lewis: "Boro have had an equal share of possession in the opening 45 minutes, but they have not done a great deal with the ball in the attacking third. Jelle Vossen's early strike which crashed back off the bar is the only time they have truly troubled their opponents, and in truth their performance simply has not been good enough. Aitor Karanka's men now face an almighty task, which is likely to prove too much to overcome in this second half."

One area Boro really have to improve in is midfield. They've lost out in the middle of the park and are being overrun by Tettey, Howson and Hoolahan.

BORO SUB: Karanka makes a half-time change, sending on Emilio Nsue for Dean Whitehead at right-back. The former should offer Boro a bit more going forward.

KICKOFF! We're back underway at Wembley. Can Boro pull off a famous comeback, or will it be Norwich advancing to the top flight?

Early break in play at the start of the second half as Johnson receives treatment for a clash of heads with Nsue. The Norwich Player of the Season is back on his feet quickly and will be OK to continue.

A big roar from the Boro end as they win a corner after doing well to dispossess Norwich in midfield...

Ayala gets up well to meet Leadbitter's delivery but he can't keep his header down. The Smoggies are still yet to have a shot on target.

Neat play between Hoolahan and Howson in the middle as they play a one-two to send the latter away. He looks for Jerome over the top, but the striker had dropped short for a pass to feet.

Excellent block by Howson to prevent Friend's low cross reaching the danger zone. From the resulting corner, Ayala's header clearly cannons up and away off Bassong, but Dean points for a goal kick.

BOOKING! First yellow card of the game is shown to Vossen for diving. The Belgian appeared to be slightly clipped as he tried to burst into the box, but he threw himself to the floor and Dean wasn't impressed.

Speaking of Vossen, here is the impressive technique that he used to crash the ball against the crossbar in the early stages. What would the scoreline be now had it gone an inch lower?

SAVE! Much better from Boro and it's a first shot on target from the Teesside outfit as Tomlin prods it on to Bamford and his snapshot is kept out in the left corner by Ruddy.

BOOKING! 1-1 on the yellow-card count as Howson comes through the back of Tomlin when trying to nick the ball on the edge of the Boro box.

Leadbitter does well to win the ball off Hoolahan, but he is forced to play the ball back to centre-back Gibson and the momentum fizzles out of Boro's latest attack. They've got about half an hour left to salvage this match.

West Bromwich Albion loanee Graham Dorrans is stripped and ready on the sideline, while it looks like Kike will be coming on for Boro.

BORO SUB: Kike is the first to be introduced and he takes Vossen's place. It's been a frustrating game for the Belgian after that early cracker against the crossbar.

MISS! It should be 3-0 to Norwich as Martin attacks a corner but can only head over from about five yards. Howson was impeding Konstantopoulos, but Dean didn't see the infringement.

Kike into the action quickly as he combines with fellow substitute Nsue before having his cross deflected. The ball is loose in the six-yard box, but there's Ruddy to jump on the ball and smother the danger.

SM reporter Dan Lewis: "This second half has been far more balanced so far, but Boro are still looking that extra bit of quality needed in the final third. A goal now really will change everything, although it is tough to envisage them truly recovering from that poor start they made."

NORWICH SUBS: Neil makes his first two changes, taking off Jerome and Hoolahan for Grabban and Dorrans.

The yellow half are certainly much happier at the moment!

You feel that the life is being sucked out of Middlesbrough with each passing moment. There's now just 15 minutes or so remaining.

The official attendance at Wembley is confirmed as 85,636.

Free kick to Norwich in a good position about 25 yards out as Ayala brings down Dorrans. It looks like the latter will be taking it as well.

CLOSE! It's Redmond actually who lines it up and his curler gets over the wall but is about a yard or so wide of the mark.

Boro pressing for a goal which would give them hope here. A couple of dangerous low crosses aren't dealt with all that convincingly by Norwich, but the ball doesn't drop to a red shirt.

OFF THE LINE! Big chance for Boro as Leadbitter's corner is met by Ayala, but he can only head against Grabban on the line. What were Norwich doing leaving the Spaniard all alone 10 yards out?

Boro are seeing loads of the ball now, but Norwich are sitting so deep and not giving their opponents any free space in the final third.

NORWICH SUB: Both of Norwich's goalscorers have now left the field as Redmond is replaced by Gary O'Neil.

What a turnaround it's been on a personal level for Norwich boss Neil. His first match of the season was in front of 730 people against Arbroath when he was in charge of Hamilton, but now he's about to lead Norwich to the top flight in front of 85,000.

FOUR minutes of added time.

The yellow and green end of Wembley is rocking as the Norwich fans begin to go into party mode. Surely there's no way back for Boro from here.

Boro have nothing left in reserve. The whole ground knows it, we're just waiting for the final whistle.

Congratulations to Norwich, who were deserved winners on the day. As predicted, they handled the occasion better and were faultless after scoring the two early goals. They return to the top flight after just one year away.

Huge credit must go to Neil. It's some achievement for the manager, who is just 33 years old remember!

SM reporter Dan Lewis: "So there we have it - Norwich City are back in the Premier League after just a 12-month absence. It is well deserved, too, having only narrowly missed out on automatic promotion. For Boro, another gruelling Championship season awaits. Will they rue this missed chance in years to come?

It will be Boro's seventh season in the second tier next season. A tough loss for them and Vossen is in tears as Norwich players make their way up to collect the trophy.

Martin hoists aloft the Championship playoff trophy in front of the 40,000 Canaries supporters. They will join Bournemouth and Watford in the top flight next term.

Anyway, that's all we've got time for here on this commentary this afternoon. Thanks for joining SM. Keep your eyes peeled for plenty of reaction, as well as analysis and ratings, on the way this evening. Enjoy the last few hours of the Bank Holiday!