In the end Torquay United simply ran out of games under Chris Hargreaves as they returned to the Conference just five years after winning promotion back into the Football League.
Hargreaves himself captained that Gulls team to victory over Cambridge United at Wembley, and also scored Torquay's opening goal in their 2-0 win, but is now entrusted with building a side capable of challenging for a second promotion from the Conference.
If he is to succeed in this feat then Hargreaves will need to solve two major problems that helped contribute to the Gulls' relegation: scoring goals and establishing a settled midfield.
The former conundrum is one that Hargreaves may already have found the answer to in the form of Kingsbridge-born Ashley Yeoman.
Prior to Hargreaves' appointment as successor to Alan Knill, Yeoman had spent the early part of the season at Calor Gas Southern Premier Division side Bideford- managed of course by another former Torquay midfielder Sean Joyce- but was recalled after Knill's dismissal.
Another loan spell followed- this time in Conference South with Dorchester Town- before Yeoman returned to Plainmoor and netted his first goal of the campaign for the Gulls in a 2-1 win over Bury.
Further goals in the Devon derby against Exeter City on Easter Monday and Mansfield Town brought Yeoman level with fellow strikers Elliot Benyon, Karl Hawley and former loanees John Marquis and Paul McCallum with three goals; only Marquis possessed a better goals to game ratio than Yeoman, he netted three times in five appearances whilst Yeoman scored three in eight appearances.
It is no coincidence that Torquay's best run of form this season came during Marquis' loan spell from Millwall, which read played 5, won 2, drew and lost 1.
The latter problem is one that also posed questions for Hargreaves's predecessors Martin Ling and Knill- a midfield that has never looked the same since the departure of Eunan O'Kane to AFC Bournemouth.
During the current campaign- under both Knill and Hargreaves- the Gulls have used ten different combinations of central midfielders, which has- at various times- included skipper Lee Mansell, Damon Lathrope, Ben Harding, Leicester City loanee Jak McCourt, Damien Mozika, Joss Labadie- who was banned for ten matches for biting Chesterfield's Ollie Banks- and Nathan Craig.
None of these players managed to successfully fill the void left by O'Kane, and one of the tasks facing Hargreaves now is to find a midfielder who possesses the ability to influence a game in the manner in which the talented, young Irishman once did.
Then there is also the great 'what if' surrounding the postponement of the Gulls' league meeting with Northampton Town in January, which could have had a bearing on the outcome of the campaign.
Whether Torquay would have beaten the Cobblers if the original had gone ahead will probably never be known, but after winning two out of their three fixtures under Hargreaves' fledgling reign the Gulls would have felt confident against a Northampton side, who were then still under the caretaker managerial reign of Andy King- following the dismissal of Aidy Boothroyd- and rooted to the bottom of the table.
As it transpired the match was called off, and by the time the re-arranged fixture was staged Northampton had appointed Chris Wilder as manager and had managed to regroup, and ran out as 2-1 winners.
Nevertheless, the plain facts are in the cold light of day are that Torquay United will once again be facing life in the Conference again.
