Hoops suffer relegation forfirst time in their history

Dublin City 1 Shamrock Rovers 1 (Dublin City win 3-2 on aggregate)

In a season which, long-term, could see Rovers return to the top of Irish football, the club suffered the ultimate punishment for years of bad decisions - with the eight-point deduction imposed for inaccuracies in their Licensing application proving costly.

That and what it represented led to everything after. The reduced budget, the lengthy list of player departures as the club, under the control of the fans’ 400 Club, ensured the mistakes of the past were not repeated.