Newcastle United were relegated last May. The club with a wonderfully absurd ability to put themselves on the front and back pages - for right and for wrong - were gone from the Premier League. Journalistically, for a man covering the North-East of England, it was a huge blow.
Compensation, however, was soon sought in the survival of Sunderland and promotion of Middlesbrough. And then there was Hull City's victory in the Championship playoff final, another club falling under my 'patch'.
Sunderland had Sam Allardyce and were ready to build, finally shedding their tag of perennial strugglers.