Shrewsbury Town's 53-year tenure as a Football League club ended on a suitably sombre note this afternoon, as they suffered a 2-1 home defeat against promotion-chasing Scunthorpe United.
Already destined for the Conference following a 3-2 home defeat against Carlisle United last Tuesday, the beleaguered Gay Meadow side aimed to finish the ultimately disastrous campaign on a high, but despite taking the lead shortly before the break through top scorer Luke Rodgers, they were sunk by two second-half goals from Paul Dalglish.
Following the resignation of Shrews boss Kevin Ratcliffe, just hours after the Carlisle game that sealed their fate, midfield man Mark Atkins and youth team coach Nigel Vaughan, were placed in place of Shrewsbury as they said goodbye to league football for at least the next 12 months.
And they would have been encouraged by the positive start made by the home side, who deserved to be ahead long before Rodgers broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute.
Seizing on some hesitancy in the visitors defence, Rodgers broke clear to score his 16th league goal of the season, sliding the ball past advancing Scunthorpe keeper Tom Evans.
But six minutes after the break, Dalglish levelled matters with an angled drive, before sentencing Shrewsbury to their eighth straight defeat with a long-range free-kick that slipped from the grasp of Shrews goalkeeper Mark Cartwright in the 81st minute.
Just four months on from their headline-grabbing FA Cup defeat of Premier high-flyers Everton, Shrewsbury, who have recorded only two league victories since the turn of the year, must now face up to the harsh realities of life outside the Football League.
It was a sad irony that Shrewsbury should end this chapter of their history with a match against Scunthorpe United, who were their very first league opponents in August 1950.