The word "fairytale" has been working overtime this week in references to AFC Bournemouth's remarkable achievement on reaching the Premier League. OK, it won't be official until today's final matches but Middlesbrough require a cricket score to overhaul the goal difference between the two sides.
As a London journalist pointed out earlier this week, "fairytale" is not really an accurate characterisation. Bournemouth are much better than fairytales, which are simply fanciful fiction. What the club has achieved is very real.
Just seven years ago Bournemouth began the 2008-09 season in the basement of League Two with minus 17 points, on the brink of liquidation and seemingly destined for the Conference. The club's very existence was under threat.
But they miraculously managed to avoid relegation to the Conference with a goal 10 minutes from time in their last game of the season, in what was not surprisingly dubbed "The Great Escape". Their recovery was helped by the injection of much-need funds by Russian owner Maxim Demin.
Guiding them through all this, interrupted by one break at Burnley, was the young manager Eddie Howe, who has now won three promotions with Bournemouth, which won't do any harm to his CV. It is a little bit annoying that the media are already linking Howe to assorted top Premier League clubs. They should leave him alone and let him and his club savour their success.
Howe, 37, has been overwhelmed by the club's achievement. "I never thought this would be possible, if I'm honest," he admitted this week. "The Championship is such a tough league, and people were waiting for us to slip away."
It will be a brave new world for the Cherries, with the games beamed on television to 200 countries and millions of fans who probably have never even heard of AFC Bournemouth .
Ironically, Bournemouth are already favourites for relegation next season. However they have been playing quality football and if they can hang on to their players and inject a couple of experienced Premier League footballers they should be able to hold their own.
What makes Bournemouth's promotion such a good story is that they have always been one of the most ordinary clubs in the league, although teams like Rochdale or Hartlepool might dispute that title.
With a ground capacity of just 11,700, Bournemouth are by far the smallest club to reach the lofty heights of the Premier League. Among their plans for the coming season is expanding the capacity at Goldsands to 15,000, but it would still be the smallest stadium.
When it comes to history, Bournemouth are about as ordinary as you can get. For an incredible 47 years, from 1923-70, Bournemouth and Boscombe remained stuck in the old Third Division, a record. When they finally moved it was in the wrong direction, down into the Fourth Division.
Since 1971, after being renamed AFC Bournemouth, they have been primarily in the third tier of the Football League. They experienced three years in the second tier from 1987-90, but that was it.
Among those who congratulated Bournemouth on their promotion was Rio Ferdinand, who put in 11 appearances for the Cherries as a youngster in the 1996-67 season. Ferdinand added: "Bet the players aren't washing their own kit like they were when I was loaned there."
Harry Redknapp, who played for Bournemouth in the 1970s, said the Cherries had been playing "breathtaking" football. "Eddie and his team will be a pleasure to watch next season," he said.
Also enjoying automatic promotion along with Bournemouth are Watford, who have also experienced quite a remarkable season. The Hornets began their campaign in bizarre fashion, featuring four different managers in less than two months.
After a successful start, Guiseppe Sannino was fired following dressing room unrest. His replacement, Oscar Garcia, lasted less than a month, resigning due to ill health. Watford then signed Billy McKinlay, but he was sacked after only eight days.
By this time the players could be forgiven for wondering who was the next gaffer to walk in the door. Fortunately it was Slasiva Jokanovic from Serbia, who proceeded to lead the Hornets to the top of the table.
Club owner, Gina Pozzo, also owns Udinese in Italy and Spain's Granada and it will be intriguing to see which team he will prioritise in the coming season.
The first to congratulate Watford on their promotion was their most famous supporter and one-time chairman, Elton John. The pop star, who was instrumental in Watford's rise to the top tier in 1982 claimed the club is now "in the best shape ever".
The Championship play-off spots are also nearly done and dusted with Middlesbrough and Norwich City having already clinched their places. They are most likely to be joined by Ipswich and Derby.
Derby have such a superior goal average to Brentford and Wolves in the chasing pack that they only need a draw today at home to a Reading side that should not pose any threat. Apart from a spirited display against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final, Reading's league form has been quite woeful with manager Steve Clarke even called them "a team in decay".
It is always good to see a new club in the Premier League, but the big question is can Bournemouth stay there? It is a huge task. Simply throwing money around is not the answer, as QPR discovered. But as Burnley experienced, spending nothing doesn't work either. They must spend wisely.
But for the moment, life has never been sweeter for the Cherries.