Luton Town were unable to draw on the luck of beating Fulham by an eleven-goal margin and counting on already-relegated Burnley to beat Nottingham Forest, which would have prevented Premier League relegation.
Even by Premier League standards, that would have proved to be an outlandish feat.
In fact, Luton’s hopes of staying up were scuppered very early on. Nottingham Forest’s New Zealand international front man Chris Wood scored in the second minute before adding a second twelve minutes later.
Luton Town down and out
Their match finished 4-2 to Fulham, who were playing away from home. Nottingham Forest won 2-1.
It is only the second time in Premier League history where all three clubs promoted to the Premier League were relegated back to the Championship.
The only real thing that could save Luton Town now is an unexpected, last-minute, retrospective point deduction.
Nottingham Forest have already been penalised four points for breaching profit and sustainability rules. The club have also tended to grab headlines this year, especially after the club publicly questioned the impartiality of officiating in its defeat against Everton in April.
Everton, who finished 15th, have lost six points and are in the midst of a long-running takeover debacle, while Chelsea and Manchester City’s cases over other rule breaches remain ongoing. It is a sour mark of a season which has been just as unpredictable off the pitch as it has been on it.
Luton Town can bow out of the Premier League with some sense of pride.
Stay together
Much has been made of their stadium Kenilworth Road being squashed between houses. But it is symbolic of how the club has given the local community some extra prestige despite its “chronic reputation problem”, as the New York Times wrote.
Their manager Rob Edwards said before their match with Fulham that this season is the “strongest the club has ever been”, adding he hopes the club can bounce back to the Premier League.
“We want to be back there and the best chance of doing that is by keeping the majority of the group that we’ve got,” he said.
Leicester City, Ipswich Town and one of Leeds United and Southampton will replace the relegated teams – the latest sign of a yo-yo trend where the same clubs relegated to the Championship last season do come straight back up.