The Championship is about to get even tougher for Albion.

And a lot more colourful on and off the pitch at the Amex.

A Champions League winner and some of the most progressive young managers in the country will oppose Chris Hughton in the technical area.

Up in the main stand, Tony Bloom will be welcoming into the boardroom a well-known politician, a wealthy Chinese businessman and a 25-year-old chairman.

Newcastle United, Norwich City, Aston Villa, Burton Albion and Wigan Athletic are the confirmed newcomers to the second tier next season, either licking their wounds after relegation or relishing the step up.

The Championship line-up for 2016-17 will be completed on Sunday, when Millwall meet Barnsley at Wembley in the League One play-off final.

Hughton will be up against all three of the clubs he has been in charge of previously now that Birmingham have been joined by Newcastle and Norwich.

The headline act, in managerial terms, is undoubtedly Rafa Benitez following the experienced Spaniard's decision to stay with the North-East giants.

Benitez, at 56 a year younger than Hughton, will be expected to deliver an immediate return to the Premier League.

That is exactly what Hughton did for Newcastle in 2009-10, with his Albion assistant Colin Calderwood alongside him.

St James' Park became a fortress following a significant turnover of players. They were promoted by Easter and crowned champions with 102 points.

Benitez, under the terms of his three-year contract, has total control of day-to-day football matters, removing obstacles Alan Pardew and Steve McClaren encountered when trying to recruit players.

Newcastle tasted defeat twice in the FA Cup at the Amex during Pardew's reign. Finishing above them over 46 games will be a tall order for Hughton's team.

The bookies regard it as a one-horse race for the title. Football League sponsors Sky Bet have Newcastle as 5-2 favourites with the other relegated sides, Norwich and Aston Villa, next-best at 9-1.

Hughton's old club Norwich keep on yo-yoing between the Premier League and Championship. Their Scottish manager Alex Neil, 35 next month, will be desperate to take them straight back up after steering them to promotion through the play-offs two seasons ago.

The intrigue at Carrow Road is currently taking place above pitch level. Ed Balls, Secreteray of State for Children, Schools and Families in Gordon Brown's Labour government, became chairman in December.

He has just lost David McNally, who unexpectedly resigned as chief executive after seven years in the job.

Balls, buffered by Premier League revenue of more than £67 million, is determined not to lose as well key players like England under-21 winger Nathan Redmond.

"The combination of losing the chief executive and also of relegation, it's been a double whammy over the last few weeks," Balls admitted.

"I think everybody at the football club wants to keep all of our players – and our best players – with us into the Championship.

"As Alex Neil has said, the reality is there are going to be people looking at what's happening at Norwich. But we have no need to make any short-term, foolish decisions that are bad for the best interests of the football club."

So much for the Canaries, what about the claret and blues? Villa's near 20-year top flight status was surrendered so tamely that talk in the West Midlands centred around the fear of the downward spiral continuing, rather than an instant recovery.

The climate has changed following a £100 million-plus takeover by Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia from loathed American Randy Lerner.

Xia, a Villa fan since his student days at Oxford University, is bullish about restoring Villa to former glories.

"Villa has a very great history, and they should be in the top six of the Premier League," he said.

"I think as long as we can get the right team to work with, we can do it right, go in the right (direction) and I hope we can achieve it (promotion) in one year. Our first priority is to get the right manager in to do the job."

That manager could be Roberto Di Matteo, who Xia has already confirmed as a candidate.

Di Matteo is a big name - but not as big as Clough. The late Brian's son Nigel is back in charge at Burton, promoted for the second year in succession.

There are no inflated expectations at the Pirelli Stadium, scene of a rare highlight for Sami Hyypia in the Capital One Cup during his ill-fated Albion reign.

"It's a different level altogether, a huge step," said Clough. "Your Villas, your Newcastle Uniteds and people like that, never mind the Wolves, the Birminghams, the Leeds, the Sheffield Wednesdays, the Derbys, the Nottingham Forests, the Brightons.

"Then you look at who finished fifth from bottom – Fulham. It is daunting but it's also exciting. Nobody expects us to do anything, like coming into League One.

"So we'll get a team to battle, especially at home. If we are going to do anything at all, I think it will at the Pirelli."

Wigan have bounced straight back into the Championship at the first attempt under ex-Scottish international centre-half Gary Caldwell, at 34 the second youngest manager in the country behind Stevenage's Darren Sarll (33).

Caldwell is working for the youngest chairman, 25-year-old David Sharpe, who took over at the DW Stadium 14 months ago from his controversial grandfather Dave Whelan.

Another rookie will join the party at Wembley on Sunday. Millwall manager Neil Harris and Barnsley counterpart Paul Heckingbottom are both 38.

The Championship is about to deliver an eclectic mix to soften the blow of Albion's Premier League near-miss.