The final day of the 2016-17 Championship season provided twists and turns until the very last minute as the title and relegation was decided on a dramatic afternoon in the second tier.
Blackburn Rovers were relegated into League One despite a 3-1 victory over Brentford, with wins for Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest - the latter of whom only stayed up on goal difference - enough to keep them safe from the drop.
At the other end of the table Newcastle were crowned champions courtesy of a 3-0 win over Barnsley as Brighton & Hove Albion conceded a 90th-minute equaliser against Aston Villa to throw the title away.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of Sports Mole's minute-by-minute updates below.
Aston Villa vs. Brighton
Brentford vs. Blackburn
Bristol City vs. Birmingham
Burton Albion vs. Reading
Huddersfield vs. Cardiff
Newcastle vs. Barnsley
Norwich vs. QPR
Nottingham Forest vs. Ipswich
Rotherham vs. Derby
Sheffield Wednesday vs. Fulham
Wigan vs. Leeds
Wolves vs. Preston
BRIGHTON STARTING XI: Stockdale; Bruno, Dunk, Tomori, Pocognoli; Knockaert, Sidwell, Stephens, Murphy; Baldock, Murray
BLACKBURN STARTING XI: Raya; Williams, Lowe, Graham, Mulgrew, Ward, Gallagher, Guthrie, Nyambe, Lenihan, Bennett
BIRMINGHAM STARTING XI: Kuszczak; Nsue, Morrison, Shotton, Grounds, Kieftenbeld, Gardner, Davis, Maghoma, Adams, Jutkiewicz
READING STARTING XI: Al-Habsi, Gunter, Obita, McShane, Ilori, Moore, Evans, Kelly, Beerens, Mendes, Kermorgant
CARDIFF STARTING XI: Murphy; Peltier, Bennett, Morrison, Richards, Ralls, Pilkington, Connolly, Gunnarsson, Zohore, Hoilett
BARNSLEY STARTING XI: Davies, Janko, Elder, Jackson, MacDonald, Scowen, Moncur, James, Kent, Hedges, Bradshaw
QPR STARTING XI: Smithies; Onuoha, Lynch, Washington, Wszolek, Doughty, Smith, Robinson, Luongo, Perch, Manning
IPSWICH STARTING XI: Bialkowski, Spence, Chambers, Berra, Kenlock, Ward, Skuse, Huws, Rowe, Samuel, Sears
DERBY STARTING XI: Carson, Baird, Keogh, Pearce, Olsson; Butterfield, Bryson, Johnson; Ince, Russell, Nugent
FULHAM STARTING XI: Bettinelli; Odoi, Kalas, Ream, Malone; McDonald, Cairney, Aluko, Piazon, Kebano; Martin
LEEDS STARTING XI: Green; Coyle, Bartley, Ayling, Berardi; Roofe, Vieira, O'Kane, Dallas, Hernandez; Wood
PRESTON STARTING XI: Maxwell, Browning, Baptiste, Boyle, Spurr, Barkhuizen, Gallagher, Pearson, McGeady, Hugill, May
For Birmingham the task is clear today - win and they stay in the division. Harry Redknapp's side will also stay up if either of the teams below them fail to win, but they will want to do their job themselves and arguably have the easiest season-ending match of the three in danger of relegation. Birmingham ended a 10-game winless streak with a timely victory over Huddersfield last weekend and are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since November.
Birmingham will be coming up against a Bristol City side in decent form, though, having won four and lost none of their last five outings. The hosts can still finish as high as 15th if they string together a third consecutive win and a fifth on the bounce at home, where they are unbeaten in six games. Birmingham, by contrast, have only won on of their last 14 away games since November and have not kept a clean sheet on the road since September.
Nottingham Forest are in the strange position of starting the day in a position of safety but knowing that even a win may not be good enough due to goal difference. If they match the scoreline from Blackburn's match then Forest stay up, but they have only won three of their last 15 games and lost last weekend to set up this nervy finale. They have only failed to score in one of their last 10 home games, though, and if only home form counted this season then they would be sitting safely in 13th place.
Ipswich, meanwhile, have suffered from inconsistency this season and come into this match off the back of two consecutive losses. They have not lost three on the bounce since February 2016, but they have also only won one of their last seven away outings. It certainly isn't the toughest game Forest could have had to secure their Championship status for another season, although Ipswich will be keen to avoid the possibility of finishing as low as 19th.
Blackburn have the most to do of the trio facing the drop today, knowing that they must keep one eye firmly on events at Forest. They have arguably the toughest of the final-day fixtures but know that even a defeat could be enough to see them safe, so long as they lose by less than Nottingham Forest against Ipswich. Blackburn's whole game plan today could well depend on how Forest are getting on, which should make for a fascinating spectacle.
Blackburn's form has improved just at the right time, going four unbeaten and only losing three of their last 14 games to keep their survival hopes alive until the final day. Rovers have also only conceded one goal in that four-match unbeaten streak, which could be crucial if it comes down to goal difference. They take on a Brentford side who have been very impressive this season, though, and they are also unbeaten in four ahead of this one. The hosts have won their last four home league games too and are bidding for five in a row for the first time in the Championship, whereas Blackburn have only won once again from home since November.
Brighton's season will go down as a success whatever happens today, but if they don't win the title to go with their automatic promotion then they will be kicking themselves. They have lost both of their matches since securing promotion to allow Newcastle back into the race, and another defeat today would make it their worst run since January 2016. They will win the title if they match or better Newcastle's result, so they are still in the driving seat, but in truth it probably shouldn't have gone down to the wire like this.
While Brighton's season has been an unmitigated success, Villa's has been very disappointing and they have never looked like threatening for an immediate return to the Premier League. They have only won one of their last five games and their highest possible finish is 11th place, while they could finish in the bottom half still too. They have won six of their last seven home games, though, keeping clean sheets in all of those wins, so this is not likely to be an easy game for the Seagulls.
Newcastle go into today's match knowing that victory may still not be enough for the title should Brighton also beat Aston Villa, but any slip-up from the Seagulls opens the door for the Magpies. Their superior goal difference means that they will win the title if they better Brighton's result, and they go into the match having not lost against Barnsley since September 1982. They have won back-to-back games to close the gap from seven points to just one, and another victory today would make it three on the bounce for the first time since December.
Barnsley have only won one of their last 13 outings since February and are without a victory in their last four, but they could still finish in the top half of the table should Villa lose to Brighton. The visitors have lost five of their last six away games but have actually been better on the road than they have at home this season, which is something which can also be said about Newcastle, although the Magpies have only lost one of their last 12 outings at St James' Park.
Aston Villa 0-0 Brighton
Brentford 0-2 Blackburn
Bristol City 0-1 Birmingham
Burton Albion 0-2 Reading
Huddersfield 0-2 Cardiff
Newcastle 1-0 Barnsley
Norwich 1-0 QPR
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Ipswich
Rotherham 0-0 Derby
Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Fulham
Wigan 1-0 Leeds
Wolves 1-0 Preston
Aston Villa 1-1 Brighton
Brentford 1-3 Blackburn
Bristol City 0-1 Birmingham
Burton Albion 2-4 Reading
Huddersfield 0-3 Cardiff
Newcastle 3-0 Barnsley
Norwich 4-0 QPR
Nottingham Forest 3-0 Ipswich
Rotherham 1-1 Derby
Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Fulham
Wigan 1-1 Leeds
Wolves 1-0 Preston
"We gave it everything we had today. It is a really disappointed day because we gave it absolutely everything. We knew if we won today we still didn't know what it would mean," he told Sky Sports News.
🏆⚫⚪🏆
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) May 7, 2017
Devastated for @rovers and for the fans. The owners deserve it.
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) May 7, 2017
3 – Newcastle are the 3rd second tier team to lose their opening 2 games & win the division (also Boro 1926/27 & Sunderland 2006/07). Title.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 7, 2017
🔊- "Let's hear it for... Newcastle United!"
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) May 7, 2017
Celebrations begin at @NUFC 🎉 pic.twitter.com/ti6RmZI1CR
"Everyone is devastated. We've let those fans down this season. We've under-performed as a group over 46 games. We have to go again in pre-season now," he told Sky Sports News.
"When you heard the early goals elsewhere, you could hear the nerves around the ground, but the boys stuck to their task," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"We came in at 1-0 and it was in our control. It was about being positive. I'm delighted with the work ethic they showed. It's great for the club and supporters and we have to build from here."