Romance, reinvention and riches - Blackpool's promotion to the Premier League is a story that has it all.

Or as Blackpool's matchwinner Brett Ormerod, with a turn of phrase which his manager Ian Holloway would have been proud of, put it: "It feels like we have landed on the moon without a space rocket or a helmet."

Last season Burnley, this year Blackpool - two proud Lancashire clubs who have proved that the mouse can still roar in an age when money is regarded as a pre-requisite for success.

At 8,611, Blackpool had the Championship's second lowest average attendance last season. Bloomfield Road holds in the region of 12,000 and, essentially, has three developed sides, while the pitch, much to Holloway's annoyance, has been heavily criticised.

Their record signing, Charlie Adam, cost £500,000 when he arrived from Rangers last summer and Blackpool's starting XI at Wembley contained a defender bought from Mansfield for £5,000, several players regarded as surplus to requirements at previous clubs and two loan signings.

No wonder I heard one fan remark that his side had won promotion with a team of "misfits".

Holloway was out of work for a year after his sacking at Leicester in May 2008 before Blackpool took a punt on a man who had become known more for his gags and memorable soundbites than his managerial ability. His contract had a clause that contained a bonus for keeping his team in the Championship. Lifting them out of it was not even mentioned.

Yet there was no question that his team deserved their 3-2 win over Cardiff at a sweltering Wembley on Saturday. It was an engrossing final, with all five goals coming during a mesmerising opening 45 minutes.

Holloway sent his team out with their customary 4-3-3 formation and both of his early second-half substitutions saw him replace a striker with a striker as Blackpool chose to try to extend their lead rather than defend it.

Holloway has shown he should be taken seriously as a football manager. Photo: AP

The Seasiders boss must be applauded for the bold and courageous manner in which he has taken a mid-table side with modest aspirations to their first ever season in the Premier League.

"It will change the lives of the people in the area," said Holloway, who hopes that the investment and interest aroused by his team's promotion will resonate for the whole town, not just the football club.

"We have done something that I do not think will be done again given the size of our budget."

The Blackpool manager paid rich tribute to his players after Saturday's victory and explained that persuading them to truly believe that they could achieve great things this season had been the key to success.

Forgive me the cliché, but Blackpool's is a rare footballing fairytale for a club that had not been in the top flight since 1971 and it is a great achievement for Holloway, who will now get the chance to test himself in the top flight for the first time.

"The best players in the world are now going to be coming to Bloomfield Road," added the Tangerines manager as he tried to comprehend the implications of a famous victory.

The match had been estimated as being worth £90m to the winners - and victory will undoubtedly transform Blackpool as a football club.

Chairman Karl Oyston, not always the most popular figure with the club's supporters, told me afterwards that the Seasiders would redevelop their media and medical set-up, rebuild the shambolic East Stand and transform their training facilities.

"It is a new set of problems for me," said Oyston. "It has always been the other way round - we cannot do things at Blackpool that we want to do because we do not have the money. The constraints have been removed and it is new territory."

Oyston would not be drawn on how much money Holloway might have to spend in the transfer market - but the manager himself did acknowledge that the price of promotion was huge.

"I come from a council house and the money is beyond my wildest dreams - and quite obscene," added Holloway.

The 47-year-old knows that he needs to bring in new players, and suggested he might try to sign some younger players on long-term loan deals from other Premier League clubs.

He also admitted that he might have to rethink the 4-3-3 formation that has taken his team to the top flight, while some of the club's Wembley heroes could be surplus to requirements in the top flight.

"I'm proud of the boys but I might have to be ruthless," he said. "And I might have to coach a different system."

Cardiff manager Dave Jones also faces an interesting summer, albeit for different reasons as his club come to terms with a heartbreaking defeat.

The Bluebirds have seen off several High Court winding-up orders during the course of the season and are reported to have debts of £15m.

Defeat was all too much for some of Cardiff's players. Photo: Getty Images

Saturday's match was the final game with Peter Ridsdale as chairman and Jones plans to sit down with the new people in charge on Monday to plan for the future.

"I am hurting but I will have to reflect and look forward to coming back and starting again," said Jones.

The Cardiff boss made it clear that he had no intention of leaving the club and said he had not received a single enquiry from another manager about the availability of his players.

But he made also admitted that he, like Holloway, needs to strengthen over the summer in a variety of positions.

I thought Jones was dignified and gracious in defeat, speaking warmly about his friend Holloway.

Jones's response of "you never know" when asked whether Blackpool could stay up next season suggested he thought the task would be a huge one for the Tangerines, while bookmakers have already made Blackpool odds-on favourites to make a swift return to the Championship.

Holloway was allegedly kept waiting for 45 minutes when he arrived in Blackpool for an interview last May and had to be persuaded not to walk away in disgust before his and the Seasiders' remarkable journey had even begun.

But having taken Blackpool to the moon, the likeable Bristolian now faces the incredible - some might say impossible - challenge of keeping the Seasiders in outer space.

You can follow me throughout the season at twitter.com/Paul__Fletcher

Wednesday occupy the third and final relegation slot in English football's second tier and need to defeat Palace at a sold-out Hillsborough to guarantee their survival.

Relegation would be an unpleasant step in the wrong direction for the Owls and their chairman Lee Strafford, who took over at the club he has supported since childhood on 7 January, 2009, but the club would survive.

For Palace, the future is far less certain - regardless of whether they win, lose or draw.

Flamboyant chairman Simon Jordan has faded from view and the play-off push that looked possible under manager Neil Warnock disappeared with the 10-point penalty meted out after the club entered administration in January with debts of more than £30m.

Star man Victor Moses was then sold to Wigan in the transfer window and the funds generated used to paper over the financial cracks, leaving Palace increasingly exposed at a time when finding seven players to fill the bench was proving hard.

Worse still, Warnock departed for Queens Park Rangers at the start of March.

Successor Paul Hart has been unable to pull his team away from the mire in the weeks since, with Monday's match against West Brom typifying the agony and frustration that has been the story of the season for the club's supporters.

A win would have guaranteed safety for the Eagles but, after surviving wave after wave of attacks, they were denied victory deep into injury time when Marek Cech pulled off an improbable goal-line clearance.

Yet it could get a whole lot worse for Palace and their suffering fans.

Not only do they face the prospect of relegation to League One, the money that is currently keeping the club's head above water finally runs out on Monday.

CPFC 2010, a consortium led by local businessman Steve Parish, appears to be Palace's best hope of salvation.

It has been given preferred bidder status by administrator Brendan Guilfoyle, who has admitted that he will have to start selling off the club's players if there is no new investment by the start of next week.

But the situation is complicated.

Palace do not own Selhurst Park. In fact, it seems, nobody does because the company that owns the ground, like Palace, is in administration.

It has been widely reported that CPFC 2010 will only take over at Palace if it can arrange a deal to buy the ground as well. But - and stay with me here - the publicly owned Lloyds Banking Group, the major creditors on the stadium, may not sell it to CPFC 2010, whose bid is apparently not the biggest anyway. And if the ground is sold to a developer, then who knows what the future holds for the club.

I have been told by one Palace insider that relegation on Sunday is not a factor in whether a takeover materialises.

But if, as has been reported, CPFC 2010 is a reluctant buyer of the club then it hardly stands to reason that its enthusiasm will be enhanced by the prospect of third-tier football.

As for immediate funding to keep the club afloat, It may well be that, on Monday, the Eagles will ask the Football League if they can receive their "solidarity payment" early.

The exact figures of the payments will be discussed at a Football League meeting on Thursday but the amount will certainly be much greater if Palace remain a Championship club - a reported £2.2m against £325,000.

Manager Hart is not immune to the uncertainty engulfing the club. Appointed on a short-term deal at the start of March, the 56-year-old is at his third club this season after spells at Portsmouth and QPR. Whether he is at Palace next season is anyone's guess.

There are no such worries for Wednesday boss Alan Irvine, who will be in charge in August regardless of Sunday's outcome.

Irvine, surprisingly sacked by Preston in late December, was put in charge at Hillsborough in January, and four wins from his first five games suggested the club would climb out of trouble.

The revival was short-lived but Strafford remains convinced he appointed the right man to direct the club's long-term revival on the field.

Off the field, Strafford is committed to the two-fold plan that he announced upon his takeover. He wanted to "fix the Sheffield Wednesday family" after a period when the relationship between the supporters and the previous owners had become fractured as well as unearth much-needed new investment for the club.

In choosing the well-respected Children's Hospital as shirt sponsor as well as reducing ticket prices for Sunday's game, he has at least shown a grasp of how to connect with the local community.

Wednesday will be cheered on by a full house on Sunday

I would be very interested to hear what fans make of Strafford's tenure so far - but I suspect his reputation will be enhanced if he manages to make good on his pledge to bring in new funds to strengthen the playing squad.

American syndicate CLUB 9 SPORTS announced their interest last November. They believe the Owls can become one of England's top 20 clubs and have already made it clear that relegation would not affect their plans to invest. There are also several other potential investors.

The Owls claim they are confident of an injection of cash whether they are a Championship or League One side next season. Furthermore, they are adamant that, despite debts of more than £25m, their finances are under control and there is no possibility that relegation leads to administration.

Wednesday might be in better shape than Palace but there is no question that the prospect of relegation is a stressful issue for both clubs.

Strafford has spiced up the encounter by suggesting that Palace should have been relegated as a consequence of entering administration for a second time.

The gist of his argument is that the strength of Wednesday's playing squad has suffered as a result of belt tightening at the club, yet Palace have escaped with a 10-point penalty after failing to control their finances.

All the ingredients are in place for an afternoon of high drama, tension and excitement in front of more than 37,000 supporters at Hillsborough and countless others watching the match live on BBC television.

Relegation will be a blow to supporters of either side but if Wednesday go down their fans can at least take solace in the knowledge that they will definitely have a club to support next season.

You can follow me throughout the season at twitter.com/Paul__Fletcher