Sheffield Utd and Burnley eye up the Premier League

When Burnley take on Sheffield United in the Championship play-off final on Monday May 25, they will be competing for what is known as the biggest prize in sport. While the losers will have to contend with another season spent taking coaches to Doncaster and Plymouth, the club that triumphs at Wembley will gain entry to the most lucrative league in sport. A place in the Premier League will earn them something in the region of £60 million.

What's more, the clash will have the added spice of a Yorkshire Lancashire derby and pits two clubs with very different backstories against each other. One of the sides believes its rightful place among the elite was illegally taken from it two years ago, while the other is hoping to set foot in the promised land for the first time.

The ramifications of Sheffield United's exit from the Premier League in 2007 are still being felt. They were relegated on a final day of excruciating drama  after Carlos Tevez inspired West Ham to a victory that meant they survived at United's expense. But Tevez, it was later ruled, wasn't legally entitled to be playing for West Ham. So after endless courtroom wrangling, the East London club were ordered to pay up to £20 million in compensation to Sheffield Utd, and the saga still drags on, with 20 or so players and backroom staff considering making claims of their own.

But after Sheffield Utd beat an overachieving Preston side 1-0 on Monday to win the tie 2-1 and book a place at Wembley, BBC writer Paul Fletcher said he was impressed by the attitude of Kevin Blackwell's side. "There has been a lot of talk about righting the wrongs of the Carlos Tevez affair but I get the feeling that this team does not need any extra motivation. Their low-key celebrations after drawing at Deepdale and winning at Bramall Lane suggested another team that fully understands that anything other than a victory at Wembley will be a failure."

"Craig Beattie's finishing against Preston might have been less than convincing", he wrote, "particularly in the first leg, but Blackwell has an astonishing amount of firepower to select from. He had Arturo Lupoli, Billy Sharp and Danny Webber on the bench on Monday, while Darius Henderson and Jamie Ward should be available for the final."

Burnley, on the other hand, are a less fancied side, albeit one that made it to within moments of a Carling Cup final and the fifth round of the FA Cup this season. Those cup runs claimed some major scalps, including those of Chelsea and Arsenal, and gave the team belief in its abilities. Their manager, Owen Coyle, has quietly molded a resolute side, and they beat Reading 3-0 on aggregate during their semi-final, despite being outplayed for long periods.

The Lancashire team haven't played in the top flight of English football since 1976 - long before the Premier League came into existance - and will be hoping that Graham Alexander, their talismanic 37-year-old midfielder, is successful on his seventh appearance in the play-offs. ·