Cardiff City will play in the third tier of English football for the first time in 22 years next season after their relegation from the Championship was confirmed with a goalless draw against West Bromwich Albion on a day of despair in the Welsh capital.
Although hopes of survival were already hanging by a thread following Luton Town's win over Coventry City earlier on Saturday, Cardiff were backed by a passionately believing home crowd and played with the determination of a team that thought they could pull off an almighty escape act.
They were fortunate not to fall behind during a first half in which the Baggies missed several chances as Ethan Horvath was kept busy in the Bluebirds' goal and Isaac Price hit a post.
Cardiff had opportunities of their own either side of the interval and, after an hour, it was only a combination of West Brom goalkeeper Josh Griffiths and the woodwork which kept Alex Robertson and Yousef Salech at bay in a frenzied few seconds.
That flurry of activity raised hopes of Cardiff snatching the win that would have kept intact their paper-thin aspirations of staying up, but the draw consigned them to the bottom of the table and the relegation that had felt inevitable for some time.
West Brom, who were playing their first game under interim manager James Morrison following the departure of Tony Mowbray, needed victory to keep alive their faint hopes of making the play-offs, but this result means they will be in the Championship again next season.
There was a sense that the damage had already been done to Cardiff's faltering bid to avoid relegation, with a run of just one win from their previous 13 matches leading to their second managerial sacking of the season as Omer Riza was dismissed a week earlier.
Wales captain Aaron Ramsey was brought in as caretaker boss with three games left, a desperate roll of the dice from the club's much-maligned owner Vincent Tan.
And while Ramsey is blameless for the Bluebirds' demise, there was already an acceptance from most supporters that relegation was inevitable after they drew at home against Oxford United in his first game in charge on Easter Monday.
Luton's last-gasp win over Coventry in one of Saturday's earlier games was another nail in the coffin for Cardiff's rapidly fading hopes of staying up.
Where Ramsey, his players and the fans were concerned, though, all was not lost quite yet.
Buoyed by an encouraging home crowd, Cardiff were close to taking an early lead when Calum Chambers' header was cleared off the line by Price.
West Brom dominated from that point and missed several chances, with Price and Callum Styles both drawing fine saves from Horvath before Price hit the post from Adam Armstrong's cutback.
Cardiff thought they had scored against the run of play when Chambers headed in from David Turnbull's free-kick, but the former Arsenal defender was flagged offside.
Chances flowed at both ends in the second half, and the hosts came agonisingly close to a precious lead when Robertson had one shot blocked, another saved and Salech fired against the post before Chambers was denied by Griffiths.
West Brom almost killed their opponents off completely with chances for Karlan Grant and Armstrong, but still Cardiff hung on and threatened through substitutes Ollie Tanner and Joe Ralls.
At the final whistle, the home fans chanted "City till I die" and applauded their players, but turned their ire on owner Tan once more, calling on him to leave.
That has been a common refrain in recent years but, despite the supporters' fury which has manifest itself with demonstrations and protests as well as anger at games, Cardiff remain financially dependent on their Malaysian backer.
Having narrowly escaped relegation in two of the previous three seasons, Cardiff have become embroiled in one crisis too many. This relegation had been coming.
Cardiff City: Horvath, Ng (Daland 46’), Fish, Chambers, O’Dowda, Rinomhota, Turnbull (Ralls 71’), Robertson (Colwill 78’), Willock (Alves 71’), Ashford (Tanner 78’), Salech. Subs not used: Turner, Goutas, Bagan, Méïté.
West Bromwich Albion: Griffiths, Furlong, Styles, Bartley, Heggem, Diakité, Grant, Price (Wallace 64’), Mowatt, Fellows (Johnston 84’), Armstrong (Dike 78’). Subs not used: Wildsmith, Holgate, Ajayi, Diangana, Lankshear, Whitwell.
