GB’s Barmy Army fans chanted ‘We are going up! We are going up!’ at the World Championships in Budapest.
Britain won the Division One gold medal and promotion to the top tier alongside the likes of Canada, America and Sweden.
Head coach Pete Russell, said: “We dared to dream and we did it. I just cannot believe it.
“This team is very special and what we have pulled off is absolutely unbelievable.
“We did not give up and showed true British spirit to pull that one out of the bag.
“I am so proud of every single one of them and we will now play the best teams in the world next year.
“Our team work rate was immense every single night and they dug need to provide GB with one of our greatest-ever moments.”
Cardiff Devils goalie Ben Bowns produced another astonishing personal performance, while Robert Farmer scored the crucial goal 15.8 seconds from the end of regulation time.
GB fought back from 2-0 down to earn a tie with Farmer’s goal forced home just as it seemed the dream of promotion was over for coach Peter Russell and his team.
A sell-out attendance of 8,500 packed the arena for this final day of the tournament and a Hungarian win would have led to the hosts and Kazakhstan going up.
The point earned by Britain meant they were certain to win the gold medal and go up with Italy. Kazakhstan finished third, but stay in Division One along with Hungary.
Overtime still had to be played and when that was goalless the match was decided by a penalty shootout with GB coming out on top.
Ben O’Connor was voted top defenceman of the tournament, while Hungary’s Adam Vay was named best goaltender ahead of Bowns.
Cardiff-born Jonathan Phillips, GB’s captain, was first up to collect his gold medal and lift the trophy.
The success comes a year after Phillips and his team won gold in Belfast and earned promotion to the second tier.
Phillips was one of three Welshmen in Britain’s team along with Ben Davies and Matthew Myers, while kit manager Jason ‘Taffy’ Ellery was a big part of the GB party.
Bowns, Thomas Murdy, Mark Richardson and Myers were the four Cardiff Devils players involved.
It is an incredible achieve by Britain, who return to the top division after 25 years away. They were last among the World’s best nations in the 1990s when, just like this time, they gained that status after back-to-back promotions.
For a long time it looked like host Hungary would win the game in regulation time and be promoted together with Kazakhstan in a four-team tie at nine points. But that last-minute Farmer goal made GB tournament winners.
Hungary had an excellent start when they scored on the powerplay after a tripping call against Bowns. At three minutes 31 seconds Christopher Bodo eventually scored.
succeeded and beat Bowns for the 1-0 goal. The British had their chances too but didn’t manage to create enough danger to tie the game.
A lucky bounce gave Hungary the 2-0 lead at 41-53 Janos Hari shot and the puck flew upwards off a stick and hit Csanad Erdely’s shoulder before going in.
Robert Dowd scored for GB to make it 2-1 with nine minutes left, while Hungary missed a big chance when Hari’s penalty shot was saved by Bowns and they were punished.
The British players pushed hard, called a time-out and pulled their goalie for a sixth skater.
Farmer brought the puck from a sharp angle to the goal and surprised Vay. It slid over the line and the score was 2-2.
GB went on to win the penalty shootout 2-1 with goals from Farmer and Ben O’Connor to crown a memorable night.
Now suddenly Great Britain are tournament winners and take Italy as second-place team to the top division. They will be playing on Slovakia next May.
Final Standings
| R | Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF:GA | PTS |
| 1 | GBR | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16:15 | 11 |
| 2 | ITA | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15:11 | 9 |
| 3 | KAZ | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18:10 | 9 |
| 4 | HUN | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9:14 | 7 |
| 5 | SLO | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15:15 | 6 |
| 6 | POL | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11:19 | 3 |