LONDON -- As Callum Wilson drilled home a stunning long-distance strike to put West Ham 3-0 up against Leeds on Sunday, the celebrations were muted. West Ham were on the way to an impressive final day victory, but it wasn't going to be enough.
Nuno Espírito Santo and Co. had to win and hope a certain David Moyes could provide a helping hand and turn over Tottenham Hotspur in north London.
They did their job, but the helping hand? It never came.
After 15 years away, West Ham will be making a Championship return. Once João Palinha put Spurs in front against Everton, the writing was on the wall. Moyes' Everton couldn't find a second-half equaliser and West Ham's fate was sealed. But in all truth, it had been coming for a side woefully out of form right at crunch time in the campaign.
When the full-time whistle blew in east London, Spurs were still playing at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. And despite the comprehensive 3-0 victory, the West Ham players knew. They dropped to the turf in desolation before an emotional lap of honour where you could feel that several players from this squad might just have been waving their goodbyes.
The day of all days for West Ham began with a rousing pre-match montage of some of their best moments this season accompanied by a soundtrack you would find in a Jason Statham film. They were asking this home crowd to get up and they obliged under the London sun, with temperatures nearing 30°C in the capital not stopping a fiery start in the stands. But West Ham couldn't replicate it on the pitch in a nervy first 45.
The message from Nuno Espírito Santo was clear when the team news trickled around the ground: get back to basics. After a terrible defensive showing against Newcastle, he reverted back to a good old-fashioned 4-4-2, a formation that he trusts. No Callum Wilson was an interesting call, with Pablo, yet to score in the league for the club, and the ever-energetic Taty Castellanos getting the nod in a two up front. With their affair goalless at the break and Spurs winning, that call was quickly corrected as Wilson emerged from the tunnel, and Pablo did not.
Nuno admitted the difficulty of the task they had in his pre-match programme notes, saying that while their destiny was no longer in their own hands, West Ham had an "opportunity to do something very important: to honour the badge we wear." In the end, they did that.
"Today is to understand the moment of sadness of our fans, of ourselves, of the club and apologise, and thank them, more than apologise, Nuno said. "I thank them for all of the season and the support that they give us, the way we establish or reestablish a good relationship here with our fans and respect them. But now we have to go through this period of sadness, understanding the frustration and anger of the fans and rightly, we have to thank them more than anything."
The side and system Nuno picked was one for the enormity of the occasion and the crowd appeared to respond. They did their best to rally behind West Ham's miniscule chance of survival but as Leeds had the better of the chances, and when Palinha put Spurs in front in N17, the atmosphere had been popped like one of the balloons the travelling Leeds support had brought down to London. The half-time whistle brought boos -- an increasingly familiar soundtrack for the end of West Ham's campaign -- and they were left to hope for an unlikely Everton comeback.
With the deflation palpable, West Ham didn't get off to the rapid second-half start their situation required. There was almost a sense of whatever Nuno's side could produce on the pitch from here almost didn't matter. While Spurs were winning, they were helpless.
But then their main man Jarrod Bowen put a tantalising corner into the box to find Castellanos at the back post. He glanced home with poise and celebrated with vigour. West Ham were still alive and didn't their supporters know it -- belief had been re-injected. They were now not just hoping, but praying for an Everton comeback. The assist was also Bowen's ninth from West Ham's last 12 goals. He has been out of form and taken stick for not showing up in West Ham's crucial relegation showdowns in recent weeks, but the numbers prove just how crucial he is for West Ham to score at all.
It was him again for the second. Slid through delightfully by the Hammers' unofficial player of the season Matheus Fernandes, it was a vintage Bowen finish into the far post. Karl Darlow had no chance. But there was no vigour in the celebration this time. Spurs were still leading and his muted fist pump and jog reflected that. "Two-nil and you're going down" rung out from the away end, followed by potentially one of the most poignant moments of West Ham's season.
Virtually the whole stadium turned to the owners' box and the ever-unpopular David Sullivan, with many placing responsibility for West Ham's mess in Stratford at his feet.
"We sold our soul for this sh--hole," the home supporters chanted.
The toxicity that many thought would come with a defeat or draw today was arriving with West Ham two to the good. There have been regular protests towards the board and ownership in and around the London Stadium this season, but this time it came with the supporters knowing they were going down. It was a sorry state of affairs for Sullivan who was perhaps working out the best exit routes from the stadium he once extolled as the answer to West Ham's problems. With the final whistle around the corner, he was no longer in his seat.
Wilson's sensational effort for the third capped off a wonderful result. But it was far too little too late. It had been an excellent day on the pitch for West Ham but the league table would not show it.
Many West Ham supporters on the walk up to the London Stadium on Sunday were already resigned to their fate. This has been coming. Nuno's side in the past few weeks have been guilty of losing at exactly the worst possible time and so, when Spurs stumbled against Leeds and Chelsea, they weren't there to capitalise.
When Wilson scored a stoppage-time winner at Everton in late April they were two points clear of Spurs, even though the north London side won at Wolves. The relegation fight was in their hands with four to go but since then, a catastrophically-timed capitulation has occurred. A thrashing from Brentford was followed by that controversially-decided six-pointer with Arsenal, and then most worryingly, a defensive horror show at St James' Park that preceded the final day.
Even before the Everton result, West Ham took a point in a goalless home draw at Palace, which didn't look like too bad a result at the time with Spurs still struggling to rack up consistent results. But with Palace's European focus, it is a result that has aged horribly. After the limp showing in Newcastle, a toxicity began to take hold. West Ham's XI were treated to a damning judgement from their own supporters as "you're not fit to wear the shirt" rang out from the away end.
The fact West Ham even had a slim chance of survival on the final day would have caused surprise at the halfway point of the season. West Ham were seven points adrift of safety during an atrocious run stretching back to November. Nuno had since revived things of course, but even when Spurs left the door ajar for the Hammers, they were always up against it. Their relegation was confirmed in the London sun but it was set up in the cold of Christmas.
The players weren't on the receiving end of any lingering frustrations on Saturday, though, how could they be after a commendable final day showing. This time the home supporters took aim at the bigger picture: the ownership.
Attention will now turn to whether they can keep the likes of Bowen, Fernandes and Axel Disasi at the club the Championship looming. The answer is unlikely to please supporters, with sales needed to balance the impending financial loss of Premier League TV money, sponsorship deals and matchday revenue all about to hit the West Ham coffers like a Japanese bullet-train.
Amid the uncertainty of what West Ham's playing XI will be next season, their manager was in no mood to confirm his own future after relegation was confirmed. "We just didn't do it [talk about his future] because it was not the moment to do it," Nuno assured reporters. "Yeah, they [West Ham supporters] will know. They will know, of course, they will know. "But please understand the respect that I have for all of us, is not today. It's not today. They will know. Of course they will know."
Remarkably, it is not just West Ham and Sullivan and Co.'s pockets that will take a substantial hit, but the taxpayer could have to contribute more too. The London Stadium was built in 2012 for the London Olympics and remains under the ownership of the Greater London Authority after West Ham signed a 99-year lease with then-mayor Boris Johnson in 2016. Per that agreement, their rent will drop by 50% in the second-tier with a figure widely believed to be around £2.5 million ($3.4m) set to be picked up by the taxpayer.
"The previous mayor, Boris Johnson, did the worst deal that can be imaginable," Sadiq Khan, current Mayor of London has said.
In the end, West Ham might feel a little hard done by. They went down with 39 points, the most to see relegation from the Premier League in a decade and 14 more than Leicester in 18th last season. "We were aware of the difficult situation that the club, the players more than anyone, was aware of how hard it was," Nuno said. "Like I said, it was not enough. It was not enough, not enough. But 39 points normally give you [survival]. It's our responsibility."
West Ham will start next season as one of the favourites to come straight back up and will fancy themselves to do just that. There will likely be changes in the boardroom and maybe even the dugout in the summer too. West Ham have become used to the Premier League and a season outside of it could yet have catastrophic financial and sporting implications.
The final whistle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium may have condemned West Ham to the Championship, but their relegation has been a long time coming.