In 1987, just five years after winning the European Cup, Aston Villa were relegated from the top flight.
They finished bottom of the old First Division, 10 points from safety, with memories of their 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich ebbing away.
Peter Withe's winner was buried by a frustration which has been mirrored during this season.
Fast forward 28 years and Villa face dropping out of the Barclays Premier League for the first time since its inception in 1992.
Successive sixth placed finishes between 2008 and 2010 are in the distant past.
And Tuesday's visit of QPR will prove pivotal as boss Tim Sherwood continues their fight for survival.
Defeat would see Rangers leapfrog Villa and plunge them into the bottom three with just six games left.
Owner Randy Lerner's decision to curb their spending has brought on three seasons of relegation struggles.
Paul Lambert arrived from Norwich in 2012 as part of a bright new era, one which could operate on a smaller budget and bring through young, exciting, players.
Lambert managed to trim the budget but a lack of affinity with the fans, a lack of goals and a lack of results cost him his job in February.
Sherwood replaced him and is unflinching in his belief they will survive.
His last starting XI - in Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Manchester United - included 10 full internationals, with another three on the bench.
Villa are no longer the young squad Lambert had but Sherwood has questioned their character, admitting he does not have the players to dig out results.
That is worrying given Villa have not demonstrated much flair this season either - scoring just 20 times.
Four of Christian Benteke's seven goals have come in his last four games as he begins to show glimpses of the player who scored 23 times in his debut season, keeping Villa up in 2012-13.
An in-form Benteke is the hammer in Sherwood's survival toolbox.
Along with goalkeeper Brad Guzan, and new England international Fabian Delph, Sherwood has enough quality in his side - but it must start to show.
Too often this season Villa have surrendered and they need to improve for their final run-in.
They have a 23 per cent win ratio this season, compared to 1987's 19 per cent, but have lost a higher percentage of their games - 55 per cent compared to 52.
And back in 1987 there was promising potential married with some pedigree, just like 2015.
Nigel Spink, Allan Evans, Gary Williams, who had lifted the European Cup, were still at the club.
With them were a young Martin Keown, Tony Daley and Tony Dorigo - who all went on to have England careers with varying degrees of success - and Paul Elliott.
Andy Gray, in his second spell at Villa Park, never made the same impact as he did in the 1970s as he struggled for goals.
But there looked to be enough know-how in the squad to guide them through even if the bulk were in their early or mid-20s.
The club also changed their manager mid-season. For Lambert and Sherwood read Graham Turner and Billy McNeill.
Turner left in the September to be replaced by McNeill, who lost just once in his first 10 matches, but Villa were never higher than 16th.
They scored 45 goals - a tally this year's team could only dream of - but conceded 79 and won only once away from home, 1-0 at Coventry.
Just two wins after Boxing Day sent them down and McNeill was replaced by Graham Taylor - who earned promotion the next season at the first attempt.
Should they drop out of the top flight again, though, an instant return from the Sky Bet Championship is not guaranteed.
1986-87 squad: Spink, Poole, Dorigo, Elliott, Keown, Evans, Williams, Norton, Robinson, Kerr, Hunt, Blair, Hodge, Daley, Walters, Glover, Birch, Burke, Gallacher, Cooper, Stainrod, Thompson, Gray, Aspinall.
2014-15 squad: Guzan, Given, Hutton, Lowton, Clark, Okore, Vlaar, Baker, Senderos, Cissokho, Bacuna, Grealish, Sanchez, Gil, Cleverley, Sinclair, Westwood, Delph, Cole, Richardson, N'Zogbia, Benteke, Agbonlahor, Weimann.
Source: PA-WIRE
