Norwich City, Watford (who both return to the top division after a year away), and Brentford are the promoted clubs (who return to the top flight after a seventy-four year absence). Brentford will also be playing in their debut season in the Premier League.
Wolves are the only club to be relegated from the Premier League this year. They will be replaced by Southampton, who earned promotion via the play-offs. This is the first time since 1992 that England's top flight has had five new teams since its creation for the 1992-93 season. The other new teams are Boston United, who were awarded a place in the league due to Chelsea's expulsion; Huddersfield Town, who won the Championship play-off; Newcastle United, who returned to the top flight after eight years out; and Sheffield United, who returned to the top flight after two years out.
In May 2017, it was announced that Chinese football billionaire owner of Guangzhou Evergrande Li Dongfang had acquired a 50% stake in Norwich City with the intention of taking the club global. If successful, his plan would have seen him create a string of English Premier League clubs in different cities around the world.
He lost his bid to bring an English team into the lucrative Chinese market in January 2018 when he failed with his attempt to buy West Bromwich Albion.
Leeds United, West Bromwich Albion, and Fulham were promoted after sixteen, two, and one year absences from the Premier League, respectively. They took the place of Bournemouth, Watford (both demoted after five years in the Premier League), and Norwich City (relegated after only a year back in the top flight).
Hull City, who finished seventeenth the previous season, replaced them in the Championship. They will be joined by Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Rotherham United, Stoke City, and Swansea City.
The four lowest-placed teams in the Premier League - Bournemouth, Hull City, Norwich City, and West Ham United - were all relegated into the EFL Championship. The fifth-place team, Brighton & Hove Albion, was promoted into the Premier League as England's representative in Europe.
A new club called "New York City" will join the Premier League when it starts next season after their owner Malcolm Glazer bought out Manchester United's share of the franchise. New York City will play its home games at Yankee Stadium and they will be able to use Manchester United's logo during their first season in the league.
In May 2019, it was announced that Chelsea would be moving to a new stadium called "Stamford Bridge". The new ground will have 24,000 seats and will be able to hold more than 50,000 people including 12,500 for soccer matches.
City of Norwich Watford F.C. F.C. Brentford F.C. EFL Championship/Promoted 2020-21 Norwich City and Watford won automatic promotion to the Premier League as the top two teams in the 2020-21 EFL Championship, while the clubs finishing third to sixth in the league competed in the 2021 English Football League play-offs. Norwich City will play Liverpool in the Championship season opener on Sunday, 11 August at Carrow Road.
City finished the season with 100 points, which is 12 clear of second-placed Derby County. They were crowned champions on May 24 when they defeated Millwall 3-1 at Carrow Road. It was their first championship title in 80 years and their first in the Premier League or English football's highest division since 93/94.
Watford finished just one point above City but had a superior goal difference - plus or minus three goals. The Hornets played host to Brighton & Hove Albion in the playoff final at Vicarage Road on May 26. With the game going into extra time, manager Jose Manuel Jurado Casemiro substituted off all his players except goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. This meant that Gomes would be the only player used from start to finish in this match. He kept his side in the competition until the last minute when he made an incredible save from Jonathan Afolabi to preserve his team's unbeaten home record in the playoffs.
Brentford finished third in the table with 76 points.
Surprisingly, only two clubs have ever been promoted to the Premier League without being demoted (so far), and both have played quite different styles. Stoke City and Swansea City are the clubs in question.
Stoke City were founded in 1878 and have always been located in the English city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club has reached the FA Cup final twice but lost on both occasions. They also had some success in the European competitions by reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 2005-06. In addition, the club has won the Football League Championship a record five times.
Swansea City were formed in 1980 and are based in South Wales. The club has never won any major international tournaments but they have managed to reach the FA Cup semi-final three times. In addition, Swansea has won the League Championship twice.
Both Stoke and Swansea have been relegated from the Premier League several times but always regained their place when it was re-formed in 1992. Currently, Stoke is playing in the English second division while Swansea is in the third.
Stoke has always been known for its powerful attack while Swansea prefers a more defensive style of play. However, both clubs have talented managers who have helped them achieve much success.
The three lowest placed teams in the Premier League are relegated to the Championship, and the top two teams from the Championship are promoted to the Premier League, with an additional team promoted after a series of play-offs involving the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth placed clubs. If any club finishes below 18th place, then that club is automatically relegated.
Relegation to the Championship is determined by comparing the final league position of the season with the total points accumulated during the course of the campaign. The team that is ranked lower is automatically relegated.
If two or more teams are equal on points at the end of the season, the following criteria will be used to determine the order of relegation: 3 points for a win; 1 point for a draw; 0 points for a loss.
Any team that drops down a level has one year to recover its status as a professional club. If it fails to do so, it will be declared bankrupt and dissolved.
In England, the lowest placed team in the Premier League is usually relegated despite having played in the Football League the previous season. This system was introduced in the 1995–96 season when Blackburn Rovers were relegated despite having finished seventh the previous season.
Blackburn Rovers went into the 1995–96 season still smarting from being denied entry to Division One due to financial problems.
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