HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
After beating Reading in a penalty shoot-out in the Championship play-off at Wembley, Huddersfield returned to the English top flight for the first time since 1972 – and in doing so will become the 49th different team to compete in the Premier League since its inception in 1992.
The West Yorkshire club have an illustrious history, having won the English championship three times in a row in the 1920s under Herbert Chapman. But their modern messiah is a German: coach David Wagner, who is a friend and former colleague of Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
Wagner’s side have followed Klopp’s heavy-pressing game but he has had to operate within one of the second tier’s smallest budgets. Hence a reliance on loaned players, including classy Australian midfielder Aaron Mooy (Manchester City) and goalkeeper Danny Ward (Liverpool).
A knowledge of the German transfer market also helped, with captain Christopher Schindler arriving from 1860 Munich for a club record £1.8m.
That figure, however, pales into comparison with the riches that the club will now enjoy in the Premier League.