Neil Warnock reflected on the "best job" of his career as he celebrated Cardiff City's return to the Premier League.
Cardiff's goalless home draw with Reading -- who survived in the Championship as a result -- was enough to confirm promotion as third-placed Fulham crashed to a 3-1 defeat at Birmingham.
The Bluebirds edged Fulham by two points and finish as runners-up to already-promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers to return to the top flight after four seasons.
It was Warnock's eighth promotion as a manager -- a new record for English football as he eclipsed the marks of Dave Bassett, Jim Smith and the late Graham Taylor.
"Given the state of this club when I came in, and what had gone on, this has to be the best job I've ever done in my life in football," said Warnock, who began his management career at Gainsborough Trinity in 1980.
"This is the best achievement because if you only knew what I have to deal with off the field. We will get one or two things thrown at us, but hey-ho, it will be better than being in the Championship."
Cardiff's previous season in the Premier League -- a one-season stop in 2013-14 -- was a torturous affair.
Manager Malky Mackay was sacked just after Christmas after falling out with owner Vincent Tan, and his successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer failed to galvanise a squad which finished bottom of the league.
Tan and the fan base were also at odds over the Malaysian businessman's insistence to change Cardiff's colours from blue to red, a decision which was reversed in January 2015.
Warnock says those divisions have now been healed and he is relishing managing in the Premier League again.
"When you see things happening like with Sir Alex [Ferguson] -- and we wish him well -- you just have to grab every minute at my age," Warnock said. "If it goes pear-shaped, I'll just leave so there's nothing to worry about.
"Next season will be fine. It's not rocket science, although I'm sure we will be odds-on favourites to be relegated as far as the bookies are concerned.
"We'll got out and four, five or six players to complement the squad, but we won't be going silly and going to go into markets we don't need to. We won't be doing anything to wreck what we have here."
Fulham will settle for a spot in the playoffs against Derby County, while Aston Villa take on Middlesbrough.
At the bottom of the table, Barnsley and Burton Albion joined Sunderland in being relegated to League One after Bolton Wanderers rallied to beat Nottingham Forest with two late goals to ensure survival.