The hurt right now is raw for the Newcastle Jets.
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But when the dust settles and the club reflects on a season in which the odds were stacked well against them from the outset there will be plenty to take out of 2019-20 other than just the wooden spoon.
The only team with no imports nor big-name players, Newcastle were tipped to come last. It is where they eventually finished but not before unearthing a host of young, and mostly local, talent that proved the shining light of the season. As were the bumper crowds at No.2 Sportsground with 1523 then 1321 turning out at two appearances there. By W-League standards, they are huge numbers.
It was always going to be a season built on hard work, and work hard they did. But in the end a lack of consistency proved telling.
They started strongly, turning heads with a historic 1-1 draw against now unbeaten minor premiers Melbourne City. It was the first time Newcastle had ever taken a point off the league heavyweights who were bulging with a host of Matildas and other internationals.
What's more, the low-budget Jets finished the stronger side and young gun Teigan Collister produced a stunning late equaliser. The rest of the league took notice of the underdogs' fight. Long-serving Jet Tara Andrews described it during the week as "the Newcastle way".
Without star power came opportunity.
Claire Coelho had long been the back-up goalkeeper with only 10 W-League appearances to her name in six previous seasons. But the 23-year-old took her chance with both hands, literally, and many stunning saves drew plenty of attention.
Paige Kingston-Hogg, 19, and Lauren Allan, 23, both discovered by the Jets while playing in Herald Women's Premier League, made their W-League debuts in round one.
By the end of the season Kingston-Hogg had worked her way into the starting side and featured in every game. Allan played in all but one and scored her first W-League goal. Home-grown 18-year-old Tessa Tamplin and Libby Copus-Brown, 22, went from fringe players to regular starters. By season's end Collister, 20, had produced two classy goals and showed plenty of grit.
The central defensive pairing of Hannah Brewer, who notched her 100th W-League appearance in round three, and Cassidy Davis clicked and Newcastle's backline for the most part looked steelier than in recent years.
In round four came the milestone moment of a first ever win in Perth, and their first of the season, with a dominant performance in a 2-1 victory against Glory.
What followed were a series of close scorelines in a string of losses and what was evident was a lack of ruthlessness in the box.
Going into round 11, they remained a mathematical chance of a top-four finish, but a 4-2 loss to Glory changed their focus from finals aspirations to avoiding the spoon.
A 2-0 win over the Reds on February 1 had them eyeing a sixth-place finish but what ultimately changed their fate was a club-worst 7-0 rout at the hands of Melbourne Victory in the penultimate round.
Devastated, disappointed and embarrassed, it was always going to be a tough ask to pick themselves back up and fly to Adelaide for a final-round duel on Thursday night to determine last place.
A 2-1 loss left Newcastle rooted to the bottom of the table on goal difference.
The Jets and Adelaide both finished with seven points from two wins, one draw and nine losses but had goal differences of -15 and -13 respectively.
It is the third time the club have collected the W-League wooden spoon.
Ash Wilson, who took over as coach for Craig Deans midway through the season when he stepped in as caretaker of the club's A-League side, told the Newcastle Herald on Friday it was "a disappointing" way to finish.
"All of us had expectations of ourselves and in the last couple of weeks we haven't lived up to those expectations and other results have gone other teams' ways, so it's been a bit frustrating in that sense," Wilson said.
"I can't fault their work ethic for yesterday but at the same time we talked about the quality needing to be a bit more consistent.
"That's something that's sort of been the story at times because we've been competitive, but with the ball we need to be a bit more consistent and take the chances that we're creating."
After the mourning process will come a reflection phase and there will be plenty of positives that come out in the wash.
"We've been in most matches, taking out last week's result [against Victory], so I think that's been positive," Wilson said.
"We saw some young ones that played really well [this season] and from here they'll be better for the experience. Obviously for us in the future we need to keep getting better and keep building.
"Take someone like Renee [Pountney], who's come from not getting a lot of game time last year. To be able to come off the bench and be able to contribute to attacking movements is pleasing.
"Cass [Cassidy Davis] and Hannah [Brewer] have really stepped up this season in that backline and the opportunity for Clare Wheeler to have the captaincy and be part of that leadership group. I think that's been a positive thing for the future and for her. She's still young and hopefully got a lot of time left at the club.
"It's been tough but it's been positive because we know we probably don't have the international experience that some of the other clubs do, and we've really had to rely on working as a team rather than having individuals."
There will be little reprieve for Jets players with most heading to Sydney to play in National Premier League NSW Women's starting next week.