Paul Tisdale's reign as the longest serving manager in English football proved to be a brief one, as he brought the curtain down on his 12-year spell as Exeter City manager.
However, the vacancy didn't remain open for very long as Under-23's manager Matt Taylor was promoted internally as his replacement.
He took on the mantle after Arsene Wenger's departure from Arsenal, but he decided to stand down from the post following the Grecians' League Two play-off final defeat to Coventry City.
With the retirement of Steve Perryman as Director of Football, there was some strong hints that he could also be leaving St James Park. His contract with the club was due to expire in November - after the club's Supporters Trust voted to serve notice on it in November 2016 - and Tisdale hadn't committed to signing the extension on offer to him by the club's board.
Whilst his decision may not have necessarily shocked some observers, but there are others who might have been taken by surprise.
In Michael Calvin's book on football management Life on the Volcano, which was published in 2015 and contains a chapter on Tisdale, he spoke of his love of the club and also hinted at the possibility of leaving for pastures new one day.
He said: "I'm totally in love with Exeter, but I know I'll leave one day. Other coaches and managers say, "Oh you're not ambitious then." I'm more ambitious than anyone could imagine. I've been in the boardroom and heard people say "he's never going to leave, he ain't got the guts for it." And I think you cheeky bastard. You haven't got a clue."
And Tisdale is now looking for a fresh challenge and he can certainly look back at his 12 years in charge with a sense of pride.
He first arrived at St James Park in 2006 from Team Bath, after emerging from a three-man shortlist that included former Grecians' defender Shaun Taylor and ex Northern Ireland striker Jimmy Quinn, who had previous experience of winning promotion from the Conference, the league where Exeter found themselves at that time, with Shrewsbury Town.
However, his appointment proved to be a master stroke and his achievements include back-to-back promotions from the Conference to League One in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
He also equalled the Grecians highest ever league position in 2010-11 when they finished eighth in League One and in the same season they also equalled their best ever run in the Football League Trophy when they reached the Southern Area final.
In more recent times he also led them to their first play-off finals as a Football League club in 2016-17 and 2017-18, where they lost to Blackpool and Coventry respectively.
And there is also the big money transfer sales of home grown products as Dean Moxey, Danny Seaborne, George Friend, Matt Grimes, Ollie Watkins and Ethan Ampadu, as well as other rough diamond discoveries such as Jamie Mackie and David Wheeler - all of whom have provided a financial boost to the club.
He also won plaudits for his distinctive dress sense (He is close friends with Ted Baker founder Ray Kelvin).
Such is his influence on the club that his successor - Matt Taylor - is somebody who arrived at St James Park in 2007 in charge from his former club Team Bath.
He now has big shoes to fill.
