The wait is over: Benevento promoted to Serie A for 1st time

Benevento will play in Serie A for the first time in 88 years of existence after defeating Carpi 1-0 on aggregate in the promotion play-off final.

Thursday's achievement is the latest in a flurry of success for the town of 60,000 to the northeast of Naples.

Benevento, which had never played in Serie B before this season, began its ascent two years ago from the third tier, earning back-to-back promotions to reach the Italian top flight.

The Witches, as the team is nicknamed, are the third and final second-division side to make the leap after SPAL and Hellas Verona.

The hero of the night was George Puscas, the on-loan Inter forward who smashed home the lone goal of the two-legged play-off. Benevento had held Carpi to a scoreless draw in the first leg, and by virtue of being the higher-seeded team in the Serie B standings, needed to only avoid a loss Thursday at home to clinch promotion.

Benevento qualified for the promotion play-offs as the fifth-placed finisher, and defeated Spezia and Perugia before taking down seventh-placed Capri.

(Courtesy: @Lega_B)

Party scenes erupted in the sold-out Stadio Ciro Vigorito, which required a 2,877-seat extension just to accommodate the demand. Local law enforcement employed around 350 people to ensure the match went without a hitch, according to news agency ANSA.

And it did. Supporters cracked red flares during the match and slowly spilled onto the pitch afterward. Sky Sport Italia showed cars driving around town with yellow-and-red chequered flags hanging out of their windows.

Interest not only came from the town itself, but from neighbouring villages. Big screens were set up in plazas across municipalities in the province, according to Corriere dello Sport, as Benevento bade to become the fourth team from the southern region of Campania to secure Serie A status.

With the likes of AC Milan, Juventus, Inter, and even nearby Napoli expected to ascend the hill town next season, residents in Benevento can look forward to cheering one of their own in the top flight.

People in the area have also rooted for Napoli as their second team. Now they will face each other.

"It will be a derby without tension. Half of our heart is blue," the mayor of Benevento, Clemente Mastella, told La Repubblica.

Like many other clubs in Italy, Benevento encountered bankruptcy in 2005, and start anew at the bottom of the third division.

It was stuck there for nearly a decade - until last year's historic promotion to Serie B.

If that was a milestone, Thursday is a dream.