It was 1998 when Stoke City was last relegated to the third tier and now, over a quarter of a century later, this famous old football club is once again teetering on the precipice.
Stoke are staggering towards the League One hatch after an excruciating season of underperformance and haphazard recruitment, with anger and apathy mounting in the stands.
Steven Schumacher is the latest head coach to be parachuted in with a previously stellar reputation now being fully tested by the slump.
Stoke are in the bottom three on goal difference and Schumacher - currently the League One Manager of the Season - is feeling the heat after six defeats in the last seven games.
It's the football club that seems to have it all: wealthy and ambitious, locally born owners, excellent facilities and a fanbase desperate for a launch.
Yet it appears the problems run deep and Stoke now have twelve games to save themselves or face relegation which will have a serious impact on the club's future plans.
Saturday's visit to Middlesbrough feels hugely meaningful, and earlier this week Jon Walters, a key figure in the club's Premier League years, made a rousing call for unity in front of the staff.
Walters is back at the Potteries as interim technical director, following the sacking of Ricky Martin last Thursday (more on that later).
He demanded that everyone stick together and do their part in the crucial run-in. The Stoke board will probably hope that the message has gotten through to the players.
Relegation from the Premier League in 2018 must feel like a lifetime ago. Those heady years back in the big time, under first Tony Pulis and then Mark Hughes, when they turned disrupting the odds into an art form, were thrilling.
Stoke's team during that glorious period included strong characters and leaders such as Walters, Ryan Shawcross, Glenn Whelan and Rory Delap.
Their progress allowed them to sprinkle stardust from across Europe with super-talented players including Bojan, Marko Arnautovic and Xherdan Shaqiri.
The story continues
Under Pulis they reached the 2011 FA Cup final, toured Europe and became a stable top club.
It is rather overlooked that Hughes achieved three ninth places, with a team brilliantly named "Stokealona".
Since their relegation, Stoke have hardly fought for a return. Their highest finishes were both 14th under Michael O'Neill.
Restrictions on spending due to the Football League's profitability and sustainability rules have made the last two to three years difficult.
There is no doubt that Stoke's hierarchy has the power to provide more financial support, but that is not possible under the current regulations. That makes this summer's recruitment drive all the more painful and explains why Martin was fired last week.
With the threat of breaching financial rules removed after Stoke sacked a raft of big earners and sold Harry Souttar to Leicester for £15m, there was a real opportunity to reset the club. Officials even spoke of being "prepared for the Premier League" before the start of the season.
Together with former manager Alex Neil and head of recruitment Jared Dublin, Martin signed 19 players this summer, with a total of 24 following the January transfer window. If you want an indication of how poor that recruitment has been, that came before the 1-0 home defeat to Coventry earlier this month. For that game, 19 of their 24 signings failed to get going, which only underlines where Stoke's biggest problems appear to lie this season.
Martin's vision for his team was described as his "five pillars", but those plans have crumbled and fallen apart.
Wouter Burger, signed for £4 million for FC Basel, is one of the few success stories. Bae Junho and Junior Tchamadeu are both considered promising players for the future. Unbalanced and without leadership, with only one recognized left-back, the team is likely in need of another overhaul. For now, however, these are the players who will determine Stoke's fate.
Pre-season often determines the direction of the campaign and Stoke's summer training camp was a disaster. The team stayed in a hotel on the Costa Blanca, where the pitches were poor and the facilities substandard. One staff member was injured when a weight machine fell on him while he was doing a demonstration for the players.
It is understood that only a dozen first-team players were present in the camp as Stoke's squad were still short on numbers at the time.
Neil was sacked in December after four consecutive defeats and just six wins from 20 games this season. He succeeded Gary Rowett and Nathan Jones as the latest Stoke manager to have overachieved at other clubs but failed to turn the tanker around.
Schumacher was a popular replacement but is already under scrutiny nine months after leading Plymouth to the League One title with 101 points. Selected ahead of other contenders including John Eustace and Paul Heckingbottom, Schumacher is clearly an excellent coach. He obtained his Pro license at the age of 38 and is considered an innovative operator who has used modern techniques to improve his teams. His Plymouth squad was known for being organised, resilient and adaptable. The football was risky and exciting, using fast full-backs and wingers.
Panic has now taken hold like a wet rope and Schumacher appears to have prioritized making his team harder to beat.
Schumacher has a strict code of conduct and calls his rules the 'non-negotiables'. One player, Ryan Mmaee, was told to train with the under-21s after angering Schumacher in the dressing room following a defeat at Sunderland. Mmaee flew to Turkey for club talks ahead of the January deadline but opted to stay. Another striker, Wesley, also saw a move to the same league fall through as Stoke fought to free up funds.
The absence of a proven, consistent goalscorer still seems to be the biggest concern in the battle against defeat.
It is impossible not to feel sympathy for the owners, the Coates family, who simply want to see their beloved club succeed. That is no excuse for the position Stoke are in. John Coates, the club's co-chairman, is the key decision maker in the Championship years and a lifelong Stoke fan. He will be shocked by their current situation.
Coates will know mistakes were made, and perhaps his biggest mistake is misplaced loyalty. The approach to senior staff has always been about trust and the determination to keep people getting on with their work. That mentality has extended to the football side of their empire, but means it sometimes comes too late to make the decision to part ways.
Martin was fired last week in what appeared to be a show of support for Schumacher. It was a big call and it proved that Coates will take action to improve the situation. Walters' arrival as a short-term replacement has galvanized staff and officials.
Stoke take on Middlesbrough on Saturday, looking for only their second win at the Bet365 Stadium since the end of October.
With games still to be played against promotion chasers Leeds, Preston, Norwich, Hull, West Brom and Southampton, there will be a serious shortage of fingernails between now and May 4.
Now more than ever in recent history, Stoke City must adopt the motto 'Vis Unita Fortior' (United force is stronger).
