And so it's come to this, after 370 matches and approximately 33300 minutes of football played in the English Premiership this season, the dramatic last round. Three weeks ago it seemed this Sunday would see the final blows traded in a heavyweight title bout between Manchester United and Chelsea, but now that Sir Alex Ferguson's mob have run away with the cup, all the interest shifts down the other end of the table where three sides will find themselves plying their trade in the Championship by the end of the afternoon.
Two of those sides we already know. Last-placed Watford has been out of its depth in this competition since August last year. Adrian Boothroyd may be a quality young manager, who got the best out of his Hornets in the Championship last season, but aside from stand-out young goalkeeper Ben Foster (who was on loan from Manchester United), he has not had the cattle on the park to make a serious bid for EPL survival.
Nineteenth-placed Charlton is another side that has already been relegated. Seven rounds into last season, the Addicks were sitting in second on the Premiership table, but their form trailed off dramatically that year and long-time manager Alan Curbishley resigned from his position leaving former Crystal Palace boss Iain Dowie to take over during the summer. However, Dowie's poor summer acquisitions and a defence that regularly leaked goals will see the East London club in the lower division next season.
The day's real drama revolves around which team will join Watford and Charlton in the Championship next season as Wigan, West Ham and even Sheffield United can still be relegated.
West Ham United should be in a position of power as it currently sits in 17th, outside of the drop zone and three points ahead of 18th-placed Wigan. The problem for the in-form Hammers, though, is that they face Premiership leader Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon. Now United has already won the title and does not have to field its strongest line-up, as Sir Alex Ferguson will be hoping to conserve his players ahead of an FA Cup final with Chelsea. But the United manager has also said he plans to field a strong line-up for the final match, presumably because it is at Old Trafford and he is hoping to showcase his Premiership winning players at home. West Ham has beaten United before this season and it goes into this match having won six of its last eight matches, but the London club is not in the same class as Manchester United and a loss to the Red Devils in this match could open the door for Wigan to make a last-ditch attempt to stay in the top flight.
If West Ham happens to draw or defeat United, then it stays in the competition but a loss will lead to the most exciting finish to a Premiership season since West Bromwich Albion famously managed to survive the last day of 2004/05. This is because relegation rivals Wigan and Sheffield United have a few beefs with the Hammers and they also happen to be playing each other in the final round.
At the core of Wigan and Sheffield United's dispute with the Hammers is Argentine Carlos Tevez, who was signed by the club along with compatriot Javier Mascherano on the final day of the August 2006 transfer period. The Tevez and Mascherano deal is one of the most contentious transfers in Premiership history though, as both players were owned by a shady consortium called Media Sports Investment. At the time, this deal meant that the Hammers had secured two members of Argentina's World Cup squad for free as MSI (a company linked with Brazilian money laundering, whose committee included Russian Oil magnate Boris Berezovsky who is reported to be on a Russian security hit list for apparently attempting a coup against Vladimir Putin) owned both players and paid their salaries direct from a bank somewhere in the Caribbean. Under Premiership regulations though, this deal was subsequently found to be illegal, as the fact that both players were paid by a third party meant that results could potentially be influenced by a group not connected with the Premier League or a specific club.
Since then, West Ham has been fined quite considerably for the transfer deal while Mascherano left the club for Liverpool during winter. Tevez, on the other hand, after a slow start at Upton Park, has lifted his game to the extent that he won the Hammers' player of the year award. Last round, the Argentine also put Bolton to the sword by scoring two goals and setting up a third as West Ham won comfortably to move out of the relegation zone.
Sheffield United and Wigan, though, are just two of four clubs that have threatened legal action against the Premiership to ensure that West Ham is penalised with a points deduction as well as the fine. Wigan has gone further, with club chairman Dave Whelan writing to authorities and questioning whether Tevez, who is rumoured to be still connected with MSI, can even legally even play for West Ham. At any rate, as West Ham is only three points ahead of Wigan, any points deduction would mean relegation for the Upton Park side. However, as that deduction seems increasingly unlikely, then Sheffield United and Wigan could take matters into their own hands, for a West Ham loss coupled with a Wigan win, would see the Latics stay in the competition on goal difference. West Ham manager Eggert Magnusson has declared that he does not believe Sheffield would throw the game against Wigan in order to ensure the Latics' survival at the Hammers' expense, but be prepared for a whole heap of controversy if that happens to occur.