Tours avoided relegation in almost miraculous fashion last season, but this time around they appeared desperate to go down almost practically from the off.
It was a catastrophic campaign for the club from the Loire Valley, who ended the season bottom of the table, 10 points adrift, and 15 points away from outright safety. Their relegation was confirmed with four games still to play.
They spent the entire campaign in the automatic relegation places, and all bar two weeks in bottom spot, with the decision to keep the duo of Gilbert Zoonekynd and Noureddine El Ouardani in charge at the start of the season proving a disastrous one.
They kept Tours up last season, but departed in mid-October with the club in dire straits. They did not win any of their opening 13 league games, and only took respite in the Coupe de la Ligue, reaching the round of 16 after beating Ligue 1 Nantes.
Former Porto and Portugal defender Jorge Costa was named as coach in November. But, while he was a great player, he has enjoyed little success in a journeyman coaching career, and he could not turn things around.
Tours finished the season with just five wins and only 34 goals scored. A five-game unbeaten run between mid-February and the end of March - featuring wins against Brest and Lorient - came far too late to turn things around. Their points tally was the lowest of any team since FC Sete finished bottom, also with 23 points, in 2005-06.
There will now be third-tier football at the Stade de la Vallee du Cher next season for the first time in 10 years, and a big rebuilding job will begin. Midfielder Haris Belkebla and defender Jonathan Gradit are possibly the only ones who did enough to attract the attention of rival clubs in the second tier, and they could move on.
