Thomas Frank hailed his ‘incredible’ Brentford side as promotion trailblazers after they returned to the top flight for the first time in 74 years.

The Bees beat Swansea 2-0 in the Championship play-off final at Wembley to secure Premier League football at the Brentford Community Stadium next season.

Ivan Toney’s penalty and Emiliano Marcondes’ first-half strike saw Brentford achieve promotion through the EFL play-offs at the tenth time of asking while the Swans had Jay Fulton sent off.

Danish boss Frank said: “This group of players is incredible. Everyone has played a major part in this.

“We are an example to follow for so many clubs around the world.

“I'm so pleased and proud to be part of this journey. There should be a lot of clubs out there dreaming.

“It is up to us to continue the journey next year.”

Frank - who was appointed in 2018 - saw his side triumph a year after a despairing loss to London rivals Fulham in the same fixture. 

The 47-year-old added: “I am so proud of this journey - the way we have built this club, progressed, and stayed calm after an unbelievable setback last year.

“Last year there was no real expectation but this year there was, so we had to handle that on top of everything. There was pressure on us to do well.”

Brentford were playing in the fourth tier of English football as recently as 2009 and were still in League One seven years ago.

Owner Matthew Benham bought the team from the club’s supporters trust Bees United in 2012 and has overseen a meteoric rise backed by a data-driven recruitment strategy.

“The journey the club has been on is remarkable,” added Frank.

“Credit to Matthew Benham. If you work hard, anything is achievable.

“It’s going to be extremely important that we stick to that [strategy] and I’m not in doubt that we will.

“We will be calm with a clear strategy. Going into the Premier League we will see what happens. We will be calm.”

Frank is the first manager from Denmark to steer a side into the Premier League and revelled in his achievement.

He said: “It is an unbelievable feeling to be part of something this special, I’m really humbled about it because I know I played a part.

“To be able to be a part of this and play my role, I’m very proud of that. Because I really, really walked the hard way, coaching from when I was 20 from under-eights to Premier League.

“I hope that I can inspire other coaches out there who have that dream to inspire people to be better people and players.”

After a stunning victory worth £178million, immediately after the match on Saturday, Frank revealed he would not be holding back with the celebrations.

“I just want to get very drunk tonight, and we will think about the Premier League on Monday,” he said.

“If I'm not home in the morning, my wife will have to look for me.”