The 2008/09 season concludes with Nottingham Forest and Derby County maintaining Championship status, Leicester City secure an easy promotion back to Championship level, and Notts County maintain their Football League status.
None of this will change the fact that the past five years have been dark times for East Midlands football.
Possibly some of the darkest.
Nottingham Forest last saw Premiership football a decade ago – and had been a football powerhouse a decade before that – at a time when both Leicester and Derby had seemingly established themselves as top 10 Premiership clubs.
Even Notts County seemed to be on the up, under the management of Sam Allardyce, prior to his departure for Bolton.
Financial woes afflicted all four clubs, none of whom could have been considered as models of financial prudence.
Leicester had attained top 10 Premiership finishes and League Cup success under Martin O’Neill working on a relative shoestring at a time when transfer fees had skyrocketed. But his successor, Peter Taylor, managed to spend the legacy away.
Derby had gained promotion on the back of Lionel Pickering’s heavy investment into the club, but this was also squandered by some poor decisions.
By 2002, both Leicester and Derby suffered dismal relegations from the Premiership, and neither club have been able to recover lost ground.
Forest, likewise, had lived beyond their means for years.
The appointment of David Platt in 1999, despite lacking managerial experience, resulted in an awful financial mess that was only alleviated after his departure by the sale of Jermaine Jenas. Though an excellent youth policy led to a briefly promising side, they fell considerably further down the line.
By 2005/06, they were struggling in League One, their lowest station ever, and it took until 2008 to return.
Leicester have managed to climb out of that level after one season, winning the League One title at a canter this year.
While Derby avoided that level (which they’ve been twice before, in the 50s and the 80s), they took have had their share of ignominies in the past decade, including their disastrous recent attempt at Premiership football.
Nigel Clough now has the task of resurrecting the club, which he needs to be given time to do so.
Notts County relied on the goals of Danny Allsopp, among other things, to preserve third tier status for a few years, but then came perilously close to extinction. While they’ve survived, they’ve spent the last five years in the basement division and have had some very poor seasons there.
It says something when fans look fondly back on Allsopp, comparing favourably to the rabble they have to put up with today!
These have been some very bad times for the once proud old East Midlands clubs, but surely they will have to end soon.
Both Forest and Derby will have to stabilise in the Championship before moving forward and looking to regain Premiership status. And Leicester fall into the same category.
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