Walsall will play League Two football for the first time since they were promoted as champions in 2007 after a drab 0-0 draw at Shrewsbury Town.
It all seemed so promising for the Saddlers after they won four games out of their first five matches to sit fifth in the table at the end of September.
However, they ended the season in twenty-second place, three points from safety after a disastrous run of form in which they won just five league games from the end of October, a sequence which cost manager and club legend Dean Keates his job in April.
Interim manager Martin O’Connor proved unable to halt the slide winning only one of his five matches in charge.
The board were quick to issue an apology for relegation on the in which they said: ‘Following confirmation of the club’s relegation to League Two, the Walsall FC Board of Directors would like to place on record our disappointment and apologise to all associated with the club, most importantly our supporters.’
Their words contrition did not impress and failed disastrously to make amends with many supporters, devastated and heartbroken by relegation.
Many fans soon took to social media to angrily question how the club had fallen from losing playoff semi-finalists in 2016 to relegation in 2019.
Plenty laid the blame firmly at the feet at the club’s board of directors, with owner Jeff Bonser and chief executive Stefan Gamble receiving the most criticism for their perceived role in the club’s failures.
The disconnect of fans with the club is clearly evident in the reaction, with the trust of the board seemingly at an extremely low ebb.
The statement is regarded as insincere and hollow by supporters with many concerned League One relegation might be a staging post on a depressing journey to the National League if things do not change.
Here is a selection of their responses to the statement on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/andy90wfc/status/1124830865895432193
https://twitter.com/jjwfc/status/1124755199569027072
https://twitter.com/saddler1982/status/1124755416934690816
https://twitter.com/James_Clarke29/status/1124764000137379840
https://twitter.com/DanG_WFC/status/1124755098125635590
https://twitter.com/PaulSav70457468/status/1124949506217451520
https://twitter.com/owainwilliams90/status/1124768045757603842
https://twitter.com/deacon2112/status/1124756628706922496
https://twitter.com/K_2DaP/status/1124787378349015045
https://twitter.com/RicardoGravy/status/1124761955485483008
