Middlesbrough, Newcastle Added to EPL Relegation Heap

Today, we found out that Middlesbrough and Newcastle have joined West Bromwich in the Championship division as all three of these teams have now been relegated.

The fallen clubs' places in the Premier League will be taken by Wolverhampton, Birmingham City, and the winner of Sheffield United and Burnley in the Championship playoff final.

We also learned today that Sunderland and Hull City will both tightrope their way away from relegation and return to the Premier League next season.

This year has been hard for the defending Championship division winners West Brom, as they had made it back to the Premier League after they fell down to the Coca-Cola Championship the year before. They had hopes to stay up at the top flight of English football, but that wasn't to be.

From the start of the season, West Brom were outmatched by almost every team that they played against in the EPL; by Christmas, it appeared likely they would be back in the Championship division.

This year has also been hard for Middlesbrough, as they have spent the last 11 seasons in the top flight of English football, and were looking to finish in the top half of the table this season.

However, this didn't happen, as after a solid start to the year injuries racked the club. By March, the season was slowly slipping away from them. They were officially relegated with a 2-1 loss at Upton Park to West Ham on the final day of the season.

This season was also especially hard for Newcastle, who were hoping to have a better season than the 12th place finish they had the season before, but that wasn't going to happen as the club quickly became one of the most dysfunctional teams of all time.

Kevin Keegan had just begun his second stint as the manager of the team before he resigned on Sept. 26.

Joe Kinnear took over as owner Mike Ashley made an attempt to sell the club, but it never panned out for him. Then, Kinnear had to go into the hospital in February for heart surgery, and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer took over for the club for the rest of the season.

Newcastle made a decent start to the season but ended up in the relegation zone before long.

Shearer tried to inspire his team to continue their 16-year stay in the Premier League, but after a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa to end the campaign in which Damien Duff scored an own goal, Newcastle's fate was secured.