They were replaced by three teams from the Championship, being the champion Wolverhampton Wanderers alongside regular season runner up Birmingham City, and Burnley, which won a four-team playoff for the third promotion spot.

Promoted from League Two were the champions Brentford, runners up Exeter City, third-place finishers Wycombe Wanderers, and playoff winners Scunthorpe United.

9 July 2008 - Journeyman forward Kevin Phillips swaps Midlands sides, joining newly relegated Birmingham City from West Bromwich Albion.

Liverpool kept up the head on Chelsea, staying level on points, but United's title defence took a stuttering start, lying 14th in the Premier League table.

West Ham remained fifth and Hull City, tipped by many to be the leagues whipping boys in their first top flight campaign, sat sixth.

Newcastle United and Stoke City, playing their first top division campaign in 20 years, ended September in the drop zone.

26 October 2008 - Chelsea's historic 86-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge ended, as Xavi Alonso's strike earned Liverpool a 1-0 win in London.

Blackburn, whom were challenging for Europe two months prior, and Sunderland completed the drop zone, with Newcastle ahead of their North East rivals on goal difference.

Doncaster and Nottingham Forest's battle remained gloomy, with Charlton, just two years after Premier League relegation, completing the bottom three.

4 December 2008 - Roy Keane departed his post as Sunderland manager, with the team in the Premier League drop zone.

West Brom remained bottom, with Blackburn and Stoke in the drop zone, although Middlesbrough, Tottenham, Sunderland and Newcastle close by.

Debt-riddled Southampton joined the Addicks below the dreaded line, and Doncaster's fortunes had upturned, now 22nd and in the drop zone on goal difference.

Chelsea broke records for all the wrong reasons as their 86-game unbeaten home record finally came to an end, with several surprise away losses effectively ending their title challenge (as well as resulting in manager Luiz Felipe Scolari being sacked), though they did win the FA Cup under caretaker manager Guus Hiddink.

Fulham were the other team to qualify for Europe, marking a remarkable turnaround since Roy Hodgson had taken over 18 months earlier when relegation from the Premier League looked a certainty.

Joining them on the final day were Middlesbrough and Newcastle United, ending 11 and 16-year spells in the top flight respectively, the latter going through four managers in Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear, Chris Hughton and even former striker Alan Shearer during the campaign.

Sunderland survived relegation, thanks to the efforts of caretaker manager Ricky Sbragia after Roy Keane's surprise resignation in December; meaning next season they would be the only North-East team in top flight football.

Despite a brilliant start to the season (Which included victories at Arsenal and Tottenham, a draw at Liverpool and a narrow 4–3 loss at Manchester United, and climbing as high as third place in October), Hull City won just one league game after the new year, but avoided relegation by a single point.

Preston North End in contrast, took twelve points from their final four league games, including a 6–0 win over Cardiff to finish ahead of them by courtesy of having scored one goal more throughout the season.

Doncaster Rovers who were favourites to go straight back down and in the second tier after half a century out, achieved a respectable mid-table finish ahead of former Premier League teams in Crystal Palace, Coventry City, Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Barnsley.

Southampton also crashed out of the division amid financial worries, which also meant they would be starting the 2009–10 season in League One with a ten-point deduction for entering administration.

Brighton had looked certainties for relegation in the closing weeks, but the appointment of Russell Slade as manager saw them claim 16 points out of a possible 21 to survive.

Exeter won their second successive promotion, and on the final day of the season managed to pip Wycombe Wanderers for the runners-up spot.

Bournemouth also suffered a 17-point deduction pre-season, and halfway through it looked to be enough to cost them their League status; however, a fightback under new manager Eddie Howe saw them climb to safety and secure survival with a game to spare.