Congratulations Wolves, Birmingham City and Burnley: Welcome to The EPL!

For the 2009-2010 season, there will be three new teams in the English Premier League: Wolverhampton, Birmingham City, and Burnley. These three teams will replace West Bromwich, Middlesborough, and Newcastle; all of which have been relegated to the Coca Cola Championship.

It has been a special year for all three teams as Wolverhampton and Burnley are both going to the top flight of English football for the first time ever this year, and Birmingham City will be returning to the Premier League after being relegated two years ago. Here is a look back at their seasons.

Wolverhampton

To start the 2008-2009 Championship season, the Wolves got off to a great start as they had two separate seven game winning streaks, and held first place in the table until Christmas, when they relinquished the lead to Birmingham City.

To start 2009, they once in eleven league fixtures, but didn't lose their spot as promotion rivals Birmingham City and Reading weren't able to take advantage of this bad streak.

They got out of their losing streak by reinventing their game from the free-flowing, free-scoring football of the first third of the season and by gaining 13 out of a possible 15 points in March. The Wolves regained first in the Championship league table, and were in control of the league.

On April 18, their spot in the Premier League was confirmed as they beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0, and won the league seven days later as they had a one all draw with Barnsley, giving Wolves their Championship/Second Division level since 1976–77, and their first league title since the 1988–89 season with the draw.

Birmingham City

After falling out of the Premier League the season before, Birmingham City had a goal of getting back into the Premier League the next season, but they had to go through the Coca Cola Championship season.

However, Birmingham started playing strong football, which translated into them getting up into the top of the Championship division by Christmas, as they overtook the struggling Wolves by Christmas.

But they started to struggle at the start of 2009, as they lost several matches, but they recovered in March, and reclaimed their spot in the Premier League in April.

Burnley

Burnley got off to a terrible start to the season with several loses, but after a great run in the Carling Cup, in which they went to the semifinals after they beat Chelsea and Arsenal, the team's fortune started to turn around.

Early in 2009, they beat Wolverhampton and drew with Birmingham City, which got them into position for the Coca Cola Championship playoff, and after a 4-0 win over Bristol City, they secured a fifth place finish and a place in the Coca Cola Championship playoff.

While in the playoff, Burnley got paired with Reading, who were in the Premier League the year before. However, this didn't matter to Burnley as they won 3-0 on aggregate, and advanced to the Coca Cola Championship where they faced Sheffield United.

In the final at Wembley Stadium, Midfielder Wade Elliott scored in the 13th minute for Burnley, giving them a 1-0 lead, which is the score that they won the game by. With the win, Burnley won the Coca Cola Championship Playoff, and are in the Premier League for the first time in club history.