Every football supporter, save perhaps those whose allegiances lie with perennial achievers such as Liverpool, has peered at least once into the yawning chasm of relegation. At the beginning of May each year, nails are bitten and hair is pulled out across the land as clubs either topple into the division below or are saved by last-gasp winners or equalisers. Some clubs, most agonizingly of all, have their fates decided by events taking place elsewhere. This is a study of the causes, effects and heightened emotions of relegation. Drawing upon the experiences of players and supporters, the book explores the meaning of emotion in the English game, particularly in the current top-heavy financial climate where relegation is measured in millions of pounds' worth of lost revenue. Charlie Connelly examines tales of relegation and narrow escapes at clubs ranging from Manchester United to Millwall and Coventry City to Colchester United, and, as well as providing an entertaining chronicle of the spectre of relegation' throughout football history, asks whether relegation really merits the widespread wailing and gnashing of teeth that accompanies it. Above all the book pays tribute to the blind devotion of the supporters of teams who spend entire seasons with their backs to the wall.