Nottingham Forest were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United at St James' Park on Saturday afternoon as The Reds returned to the top-flight for the first time in 23 years.
Steve Cooper handed first Forest starts to Dean Henderson, Moussa Niakhaté, Neco Williams, Harry Toffolo, Lewis O'Brien and Jesse Lingard as Joe Worrall captained the side.
Backed by a vocal away end of over 2,900, Forest were called into defensive action early as Joe Willock's dangerous strike was blocked behind by Scott McKenna as The Magpies started quickly on home turf.
The hosts forced a number of early corners within the opening 10 minutes, Kieran Trippier crossing the ball onto the head of Dan Burn whose header dropped wide of Henderson's far-post.
On 12 minutes, Lingard showed great awareness midway inside the Newcastle half to turn and find Sam Surridge with a dangerous pass but the forward couldn't quite get a strike away on the edge of the area before being challenged by Burn.
The lively Allan Saint-Maximin picked the ball up on the left-hand side before being fouled by Worrall 25 yards from goal, a foul which cost Worrall the game's first booking before Trippier's resulting free-kick was blocked by the wall.
Henderson was called into action minutes later as Brazilian midfielder Joelinton powered forward for the hosts before forcing our number 1 into a low save to parry the ball to safety.
Wing-back Williams was shown The Reds' second yellow card of the afternoon by referee following a challenge on Joelinton midway through the first half.
Newcastle continued to pile on the pressure with Saint-Maximin and Joelinton both coming close before Callum Wilson's header when well placed inside the area was comfortable for Henderson.
Forest responded by carving out their best opportunity of the opening 45 minutes, strong work by O'Brien to win possession in from Saint-Maximin before driving forward and finding Lingard but the attacking midfielder saw an effort blocked by Fabian Schär before Williams fired the rebound wide on the volley.
Half time: Newcastle United 0-0 Nottingham Forest
Both sides emerged unchanged for the second half in the North East, with Lewis O'Brien picking up a booking 10 minutes into the half following a shirt pull on Paraguayan international forward Miguel Almíron.
The hosts made the breakthrough following a spell of pressure towards the hour mark, firstly Saint-Maximin was denied by a fantastic Scott McKenna block, only for Schär to open the scoring on 58 minutes with a long-range strike.
On 63 minutes, club-record signing Taiwo Awoniyi was introduced for his competitive Forest debut, replacing Surridge moments after the forward looked to level with a header inside the penalty area.
With quarter of an hour remaining, Steve Cooper introduced latest signing Orel Mangala in the place of O'Brien as The Reds looked to find a leveller.
However, the pendulum swung back into The Magpies' favour as Wilson added a second for the hosts, a low ball coming into the penalty area was turned towards goal by the forward who saw his deft touch beat Henderson and find the back of the net.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe introduced Ryan Fraser and Sean Longstaff with 10 minutes remaining, replacing Willock and Almíron whilst Alex Mighten replaced Niakhaté for The Reds' third change.
Wilson came close to adding a third for the hosts after Saint-Maximin and Longstaff combined to find the forward inside the area but he could only find the side netting.
Three more late changes followed for Newcastle as Chris Wood, Jacob Murphy and Sven Botman were all introduced as the home side saw out the closing stages to claim an opening day victory at St James' Park.
Full time: Newcastle United 2-0 Nottingham Forest
Forest: Dean Henderson; Joe Worrall (C), Moussa Niakhaté (83' Alex Mighten), Scott McKenna, Neco Williams, Jack Colback, Lewis O'Brien (75' Orel Mangala), Harry Toffolo; Jesse Lingard, Brennan Johnson, Sam Surridge (63' Taiwo Awoniyi).
Substitutes: Wayne Hennessey, Löic Mbe Soh, Giulian Biancone, Cafú, Oliver Hammond, Lyle Taylor.
Newcastle United: Nick Pope; Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schär, Dan Burn, Matt Targett; Bruno Guimarães (90' Sven Botman), Joe Willock (80' Sean Longstaff), Joelinton; Miguel Almíron (80' Ryan Fraser), Callum Wilson (89' Chris Wood), Allan Saint-Maximin (89' Jacob Murphy).
Substitutes: Martin Dubravka, Jamal Lascelles, Matt Ritchie, Elliot Anderson.
Goals: Fabian Schär (58'), Callum Wilson (78').
Attendance: 52,245