Article: Mark Denham

Congratulations go out this Bank Holiday afternoon to Owen Coyle's Burnley who secured promotion to the Premier League with a 1-0 Championship Play-Off Final win over Sheffield United at Wembley.

Burnley's passport to the big time means that there will be no league visit for Cardiff City to Turf Moor next season - neither will we travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers' Molineux nor Birmingham City's St. Andrew's as Wolves and the Blues secured automatic promotion to the Premier League earlier this month. Cardiff drew at each of those venues in the 2008/09 campaign of course, 2-2 at Burnley and Wolves and 1-1 at Birmingham.

At the other end of the division, Charlton Athletic, Southampton and Norwich City bid farewell to England's second tier as they suffered relegation to League One. That of course means we won't be on league duty at The Valley in East London, St. Mary's on the South Coast nor Carrow Road in East Anglia in 2008/09 - a blessing perhaps seeing as the Bluebirds failed to win at any of those grounds in the 2008/09 campaign.

So with six teams departing the Championship, six other teams will join the Bluebirds next year. Most high profile perhaps will be the arrival of Alan Shearer's Newcastle United after the Magpies succumbed to a final day 1-0 defeat at Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa. City last faced Newcastle in 1984 (in a 3-1 defeat at St. James' Park) and haven't won on Tyneside since securing a 4-0 victory in 1963.

Teeside neighbours Middlesbrough will join Newcastle in the Championship next season after Gareth Southgate's side lost to West Ham United on Survival Sunday. The Bluebirds haven't faced 'Boro in the league since the 1984/85 campaign and by virtue of this have never played a league fixture at the Riverside Stadium ('Boro moved from Ayresome Park in 1995). City did of course face Gareth Southgate's team at the Riverside in 2008 in the quarter-final of the F.A. Cup - a game the Bluebirds won 2-0 thanks to goals from Peter Whittingham and Roger Johnson.

Finishing bottom of the Premier League this year, albeit with their best ever points tally of 32 were Tony Mowbray's West Bromwich Albion. City and West Brom avoided each other for over twenty-five years before meeting in the 2003/04 campaign - a season in which the Albion drew with City at Ninian Park before coming out 2-1 winners at the Hawthorns. City lost in the Black Country again in February 2007, though drew 3-3 at the Hawthorns in 2007/08 league campaign after winning 4-2 in the League Cup tie earlier in the season. It's back to the Black Country for us travelling Bluebirds next term.

Whilst Newcastle, Middlesborough and West Bromwich Albion will be bitterly disappointed to be playing their football in the Championship next season, Leicester City, Peterborough United and Scunthorpe United will be delighted. The Bluebirds will be heading to Leicester City's Walkers Stadium after a year's absence as a result of the Foxes' immediate return from League One. Cardiff drew 1-1 with Leicester in their first visit to the Walkers Stadium in April 2005 (the two sides hadn't met since playing in the same division at Filbert Street in the1981/82 campaign) and remained unbeaten in the three seasons that preceded Leicester's 2008 relegation. Goals from Cameron Jerome and Jason Koumas helped Cardiff to a 2-1 win in 2006 before 0-0 draws in 2007 and 2008.

Peterborough United are the other side that have been automatically promoted from League One this season. Darren Ferguson's men achieved back to back promotions by finishing as runners-up to Leicester City this season after finishing second in League Two the previous year to MK Dons. The Posh's London Road Stadium is a less welcoming ground for Cardiff City though; the Bluebirds have failed to win at Peterborough since October 1986, losing six out of the following seven meetings with the last being a 2-0 defeat in April 2003.

Nigel Adkins' Scunthorpe United defeated Millwall in the League One Play-Off Final over the Bank Holiday weekend to secure their Championship place for next year. The Bluebirds lost 3-2 at Glanford Park in 2008, though prior to that hadn't lost at Scunthorpe in the previous seven encounters. It's back to North Lincolnshire for a clash with the Irons next season for City!