I remember exactly where I was when Plymouth Argyle secured their last promotion in 2017.

I was sat in Block 9 of the Lyndhurst Stand at the team’s Home Park ground alongside my friend, basking in the Easter Monday sunshine as Argyle saved their most ruthless performance of the season for the best possible moment, putting six goals past Newport County.

Fast forward three years to Tuesday and the scene is rather different, having spotted confirmation of Argyle’s promotion back out of League Two while idly scrolling through Twitter at my desk in my spare room.

Unlike three years ago, there were no cheers or pitch invasions on Tuesday. Instead I acknowledged the news with a casual fist pump before making a beeline for the kettle.

Instead of soaking up the sunshine and discussing the achievement with my friend over a beer, I exchanged a quick couple of messages with him over my cuppa before continuing to send this week’s paper to print.

This achievement was certainly earned on the pitch – indeed, Argyle were in the automatic promotion places at the time of the suspension of all football in March, having won 20 of 37 games – but it was decided after countless conference calls over the last two months.

Promotions and relegations were fought for/fended off as passionately off the pitch as they would have been on it, with club chief executives taking on the role of star strikers through the saga.

It was a saga that threatened to get ugly several occasions, with every which way of deciding how to end the season being met by threats of legal action by the teams that would be affected.

But the battle was finally over on Tuesday when, despite resistance from some clubs, everyone was finally put out of their misery.

It may not feel the same as a 6-1 win in the sun, but the outcome is the same.