Wolverhampton Wanderers have received plenty of deserved plaudits on their return to the top flight, with some going as far as to call them the best newly promoted side in Premier League history.
However, there have been plenty of excellent campaigns by clubs just after being promoted from the second tier, often surpassing all expectations and upsetting the more established names.
Here, Sportsmail ranks the top 10 seasons by newly promoted clubs since the Premier League began in 1992. They are ordered by average points per games played that campaign...
10=. Middlesbrough – 1998/99
Points total: 51
Points per game: 1.34
Manager: Bryan Robson
Star player: Hamilton Ricard
This was the Premier League's seventh season, and Boro had already been relegated twice. However 1998/99 saw a settled squad with Robson having gained more experience as a coach. Ricard scored 15 league goals as Boro were fourth at Christmas, however too many draws prevented a push for Europe as they finished ninth. This was the first of 11 successive seasons in the top flight for the Teessiders.
10=. Manchester City - 2002/03
Points total: 51
Points per game: 1.34
Manager: Kevin Keegan
Star player: Nicolas Anelka
After their ignominious drop into the third tier and before they became the super-rich titans of today, City came back into the Premier League under Kevin Keegan in 2002 having been relegated the year before - and have never left the top table since. While £13m might be spare change for the club these days, it was a club record signing for Nicolas Anelka - and his 14 goals were key in their ninth place finish.
10=. Wigan - 2005/06
Points total: 51
Points per game: 1.34
Manager: Paul Jewell
Star player: Pascal Chimbonda
Less than 30 years after being elected to the Football League, Wigan made it to the top tier - but were universally expected to exit immediately. However, after losing their first two games, their next nine yielded eight wins and a draw to move them into second, before balancing out for a highly respectable 10th. They also reached the League Cup final but were heavily beaten by Manchester United.
7. Charlton - 2000/01
Points total: 52
Points per game: 1.37
Manager: Alan Curbishley
Star player: Richard Rufus
Having been relegated in 1999, Curbishley brought his Addicks back to the Premier League stronger than ever, and defied expectations of an immediate return to the first division with an impressive ninth place. Had the defence been stronger - they conceded more goals than any other side in the top 15 - then Europe would have been on. One-club man Rufus was named player of the season.
6=. West Ham - 2005/06 – 55, 1.45
Points total: 55
Points per game: 1.45
Manager: Alan Pardew
Star player: Yossi Benayoun
Having scraped their way to promotion via sixth place and the play-offs, few expected West Ham to survive. Yet by the end of October they were fourth, and would go on to be the last side to beat Arsenal at Highbury before eventually finishing ninth above many established top flight sides. If it were not for Steven Gerrard, they would have won the FA Cup too.
6=. Reading - 2006/07
Points total: 55
Points per game: 1.45
Manager: Steve Coppell
Star player: Steve Sidwell
Reading have had three top flight seasons in their history, and have been relegated in two of them. 2006/07, their Premier League debut, was something very different. Having broken the second division points record the season before, they carried on the momentum to reach an final position of eighth. They drew 3-3 at Blackburn on the final day, when a win would have earned a UEFA Cup place.
5. Sunderland - 1999/00
Points total: 58
Points per game: 1.53
Manager: Peter Reid
Star player: Kevin Phillips
There could only be one pick for star man here - Phillips scored 30 goals in his first top flight season to win the European Golden Shoe, the award for top scorer across the continent. He remains the only Englishman to do so. Sunderland meanwhile came seventh, missing out on European football on goal difference. An added bonus was a 2-1 win away to Newcastle which brought about the sacking of Ruud Gullit.
4. Blackburn - 1992/93
Points total: 71
Points per game: 1.69
Manager: Kevin Dalglish
Star player: Alan Shearer
The final side to take their place in the inaugural Premier League after winning the Division Two play-offs, Blackburn owner Jack Walker splashed the cash on Shearer, a British record £3.5m. He scored 16 goals in 21 appearances before a knee injury ended his season, and a burgeoning title challenge. Blackburn eventually finished fourth - and won the league two seasons later.
3. Ipswich - 2000/01
Points total: 66
Points per game: 1.74
Manager: George Burley
Star player: Marcus Stewart
Tipped for the drop after coming up via the play-offs, Ipswich's season was an extraordinary anomaly - they were relegated the campaign after and although many of the squad moved on to other top flight sides, they could not replicate the same success. It was fun while it lasted though, as Ipswich finished fifth having looked destined for the Champions League for much of the year.
1=. Nottingham Forest - 1994/95
Points total: 77
Points per game: 1.83
Manager: Frank Clark
Star player: Stan Collymore
The joint-best ever Premier League season by a newly promoted side marks a standard that has not been matched in 23 years. Collymore scored 22 goals as Forest qualified for the UEFA Cup, as Clark continued the recovery following relegation and the retirement of Brian Clough. Collymore's sale to Liverpool in the summer meant the club never managed to reclaim those heights again.
1=. Newcastle - 1993/94
Points total: 77
Points per game: 1.83
Manager: Kevin Keegan
Star player: Andrew Cole
Amid the lauding of Wolves, the most common counter-argument is that they have not yet matched the skill, success and entertainment factor of Kevin Keegan's Newcastle. Nicknamed 'The Entertainers', the Magpies became a major force in the Premier League's early years on the back of this season, while Cole's 34 goals in 40 league matches s\w him named Young Player of the Year.
