Derby County's fate was sealed on Easter Monday, with relegation from the Championship finally confirmed.
It came after a long battle against the odds for the stricken Rams, who have had to contend with a myriad of off-field issues this term. The biggest hurdle to overcome was a 21-point deduction, which proved too much in the end. Wayne Rooney's side won plenty of plaudits for their fight against the odds, but ultimately they fell short.
The former England and Manchester United star admitted to feeling a range of emotions in the aftermath of relegation being confirmed. "I'm sad, disappointed, upset, frustrated, but proud," said the 36-year-old.
"I think the effort the lads and the staff have put in to try and galvanise the squad and the club, it's been a lot of work put in. I've been in football a long time as a player and now in management and to see that reaction when a club's been relegated, I've never seen it.
"So the fans know what everyone's trying to do here and it's a weird feeling. I've never seen a team be relegated and get a reaction from fans like that. I thought it was incredible."
Rooney's post-match comments also saw him touch on his own future when he repeated his stance that he wants to stay at Pride Park and "rebuild" the club - but only if a takeover gets done. American Chris Kirchner is looking to get a deal completed and he has repeatedly stated he wants Rooney to lead the revolution next term.
Within Rooney's comments was a mention of needing to get plans laid out as soon as possible so they can aim to achieve an immediate promotion back. Whilst that will be the obvious aim, Derby are entering a division that has a habit of being tough to escape.
You only have to cast your eye on the current League One table. Names such as Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland are likely to be fighting it out for one promotion place through the play-offs, whilst the likes of Ipswich and Bolton will have to put such hopes on hold until next season.
Looking back over the past ten completed seasons shows the size of the challenge Derby have.
Of the 30 sides to be relegated from the second tier over the last decade, only 10 have won promotion the year after. That's an average of one per season going up as either champions, runners-up or play-off winners. The anomaly within those campaigns occurred in the 2017-18 season. That year saw all three sides relegated from the Championship - Wigan, Blackburn Rovers and Rotherham - bounce straight back.
There were two seasons when none of the relegated sides made it back up at the first attempt. The 2011-12 season saw Sheffield United stumble in the play-offs whilst Preston and Scunthorpe finished in the bottom half. Then, in 2014-15, Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers finished 11th and 13th respectively whilst Yeovil Town suffered a second successive relegation.
On the whole though it has generally been one from three to go up. This season, as we approach the end of the campaign, Rotherham look best-placed to go straight back up via the automatic spots.
Wednesday and Wycombe, the other two sides relegated last season, are two of the sides involved in the play-off scramble. Whilst long-term attentions will inevitably be on Derby's first stint in the third tier since 1986, for now Rooney is adamant his players will give their all in the remainder of this campaign.
County have home matches with Bristol City and Cardiff sandwiching a trip to Blackpool - and Rooney wants his players to finish strongly. He said: "If you watch how the players train, they want to win every training game. We've got three games left now and we'll try and take as many points as we can.
"I get that on one hand our season is done, but every time you put that shirt on you have to go out and perform and give everything you've got."
Number of sides promoted straight back to the Championship
2011-12 - 0
2012-13 - 1 (Doncaster)
2013-14 - 1 ( Wolves )
2014-15 - 0
2015-16 - 1 (Wigan)
2016-17 - 1 (Bolton)
2017-18 - 3 (Wigan, Blackburn, Rotherham)
2018-19 - 1 (Barnsley)
2019-20 - 1 (Rotherham)
2020-21 - 1 (Hull)
