Newcastle United, who won their first 10 league games, clinched the Division One title with an impressive 96 points to end a four-year exile from the top flight of English football.
West Ham United sealed an instant return to the top flight a year after relegation, edging ahead of Portsmouth on goal difference to finished second.
Portsmouth's promotion bid, dominated by the form of 42-goal striker Guy Whittingham, ended in the playoff semi-finals when they were beaten by Leicester City, who prevailed thanks to an offside goal by Ian Ormondroyd but went on to lose the final 4-3 to Swindon Town after clawing back from 3-0 down before a late penalty from Paul Bodin saw Swindon clinch victory and a place in the top flight for the first time ever.
The other losing semi-finalists in the playoffs were Tranmere Rovers, playing only their second season at this level in the postwar era.
Unfancied Grimsby Town and Peterborough United finished in the top half of the table, comfortably above bigger clubs like Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City.
Chester City's first season at the new Deva Stadium saw them relegated in bottom place and also spelled the end of Harry McNally's seven-year reign as manager in October, with his successor Mike Pejic being unable to steer the club to safety.
Barnet, who had spent much of the season under threat of going the same way as Maidstone due to mounting debts, being banned from the transfer market for failing to pay staff wages, and being threatened with expulsion from the Football League over an unpaid fine, clinched the final automatic promotion place in only their second season in the Football League.