Luton have joined Swindon, Wolves and Sunderland as the only clubs to have suffered back-to-back relegations from the Premier League.
The club that climbed from non-League to the top flight in 10 years, a fairytale rise that culminated in the club's greatest day with a Championship play-off final victory on penalties at Wembley, now faces another rebuild.
Luton were relegated on goal difference after losing just twice in their final 10 games, with a 5-3 final-day defeat at West Brom sealing their fate.
What went wrong?
Edwards unable to reverse losing mentality
Luton still had a chance of staying in the Premier League on the final day of last season despite failing to win any of their last 15 matches.
They had picked up 11 points over a six-game run in January and February which moved them out of the bottom three yet 10 defeats in 13 matches confirmed their fate.
Expectations, though, were understandably high at the start of this season with the club's bank balance boosted by the Premier League's riches and manager Rob Edwards signing a new four-year contract.
The aim was to push for an immediate return to the top-flight and Luton were tipped as the third-favourites for promotion while Opta's supercomputer predicted a fifth-placed finish.
A 4-1 defeat at home to Burnley on the opening day was a shock but the goalless draw at Portsmouth and the defeats to Preston and QPR which followed raised concerns their return might not be so easy.
Then came the demoralising away losses at Plymouth, Coventry, Middlesbrough, Leeds and Norwich in which they conceded three goals or more each time. The credit Edwards had earned with supporters for leading them to the Premier League was starting to wear thin.
Five defeats in six games resulted in Edwards' departure by mutual consent in January. "It just seems the footballing gods are against us," he said after his final game in charge.
Poor summer recruitment
Luton's new stadium at Power Court will be "bigger, better, bolder" according to CEO Gary Sweet thanks to the extra income from the club's season in the Premier League - but the same couldn't be said for their transfer business.
In January 2024, with a good chance of surviving in the Premier League, Luton only signed defender Tom Holmes from Reading, who was loaned straight back to the club, and right-back Daiki Hashioka from Belgian side Sint-Truiden.
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Holmes went on loan at another Belgian club Dender while Hashoika missed the end of the season after suffering his second injury, but Luton's problems in the Championship have stemmed from last summer.
The quality of midfield duo Ross Barkley and Albert Sambi Lokonga, plus Chiedozie Ogbene who left in an £8m move to Ipswich, has proved difficult to replace.
Luton spent "significant" money on Mark McGuinness from Cardiff, signed Swansea's Liam Walsh on a free, Shandon Baptiste on loan from Brentford and Tom Krauss from Mainz, but they had not solved the midfield problem.
There is also a feeling the squad had lost its connection with supporters and that the dressing room had lost some of its soul. Popular players Luke Berry, Dan Potts and Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, who rose through the leagues with the club, have either departed or left on loan and the leadership of Tom Lockyer is missed.
Lack of goals
Luton were prepared to pay up to £7m for Wycombe striker and League One top scorer Richard Kone in January to fix their problems in attack but were unable to get the deal done.
Carlton Morris scored 11 times in the Premier League and Elijah Adebayo netted 10, but both failed to hit double figures this season in the Championship.
Luton had the joint-second-worst attack for goals scored and underachieved their non-penalty Expected Goals total which places them in mid-table, with their shots on target percentage the second-worst in the league.
They've been unable to convert regularly despite having little issue in getting to the final third, placing seventh in the league for touches in the opposition box.
New manager bounce arrives too late
Matt Bloomfield swapped a League One title push with Wycombe for a Championship relegation battle when he replaced Edwards in January although was unable to inspire an instant turnaround in form.
"It's taken a little bit of time for Matt Bloomfield to get a grip of things and impose his way of doing things on the group," said Sky Sports' Jobi McAnuff in March. "There have been some improvements and we're seeing a little bit more fight.
"But when you're at that end of the table, when you're a group of players who didn't expect to be there, that can be a real challenge from a mentality perspective."
A 1-0 victory over Portsmouth was Bloomfield's first win at the ninth attempt to lift them off the bottom. Bloomfield, 41, had been a slow starter in his previous two jobs, winning nine games in 27 at Colchester, leaving them 19th in League Two when he joined Wycombe.
He won just four of his first 15 games at Wycombe at the end of the 2022/23 season before a remarkable 2024 that saw them take 87 points, scoring 107 goals in all competitions and reaching the EFL Trophy final.
Luton won five of their final 10 games, but it arrived too late to save them from tumbling into League One.
