Middlesbrough 1 West Ham United 3 Football League Second Division, Ayresome Park, 26 April 1958
A jubilant crowd of 1,000 Hammers fans waited imperiously on the King's Cross railway station platform late on the evening of Saturday 26 April 1958 to greet a West Ham United team that had just steamed back to the First Division for the first time since 1932.
Middlesbrough had been defeated 3-1 at Ayresome Park as Ted Fenton's side secured the Second Division title and promotion after 26 years.
The final game of 1957/58 saw top scorer Johnny Dick set Hammers on their way on 14 minutes with a deft backheel past goalkeeper Peter Taylor to claim his 21st goal of the season.
Irishman Arthur Fitzsimons scored an equaliser for Middlesbrough on 24 minutes when Ernie Gregory parried an initial shot from Brian Clough into his path, but West Ham would not be denied.
Dick, John Smith and Vic Keeble were involved in the move that led to Vic Keeble's 19th of the campaign, before Scotsman Dick played provider again to cross for Malcolm Musgrove to head in the Hammers' third goal a minute before half-time.
With no further goals added in the second half, the champions headed back from Teesside having won 23 and drawn eleven of their 42 Second Division games, scoring 101 goals along the way.
"This is, indeed, a wonderful moment for us," confessed proud Chairman Reg Pratt. "It is said that if you want something badly enough you'll get it in the end. We have waited for this occasion for a very long time, and now regard our present success not so much as an end but as a new beginning, a challenge, a spur to greater efforts."
Pratt praised manager Ted Fenton, the backroom staff and players themselves for the achievement.
"I know it sounds corny and hackneyed, but the basis of our success has been a tremendous team spirit. It's been there all season. Even when we've had to make changes, there has always been this terrific pull-together spirit among the chaps."
Alongside their spirit, West Ham were also known to be a super-fit team, but how had they become so?
"Weight training," Pratt explained. "We started it two years ago. It has now borne fruit. It builds and strengthens the right muscles. We've had hardly any players troubled with muscular or ligament strains this season and, more important, there has been no signs of staleness.
"The result has been very few changes in the side."
Indeed, Andy Malcolm started all 42 Second Division matches, while John Bond, Ken Brown and Dick all started 41, Musgrove 39 and Gregory 37.
Promotion provided the foundation for a sixth-place First Division finish in 1958/59, twin cup triumphs in the mid-1960s and the continued development of a host of outstanding young players at the Club's Academy of Football.
Middlesbrough: Taylor, Robinson, Stonehouse, Birbeck, Dicks, Holliday, Taylor, Clough, Peacock, Fitzsimons, Harris
Goal: Fitzsimons 24
West Ham United: Gregory, Bond, Cantwell, Malcolm, Brown, Nelson, Grice, Smith, Keeble, Dick, Musgrove
Goals: Dick 14, Keeble 40, Musgrove 44
Referee: T.H. Cooper
Attendance: 30,526