The Championship season came to an end in dramatic fashion on Saturday exactly nine months after it had begun.
The final-day focus was on two positions in the table - the last playoff place and the third relegation spot - and what a finish it was in both.
Reading started the day in the top six and looked set to keep their playoff place until a last-minute winner for Brighton & Hove Albion at Nottingham Forest saw them leap above the Royals, who could only draw with Burnley.
At the bottom, Birmingham City appeared to be doomed after going 2-0 down at Bolton Wanderers with just 15 minutes remaining.
Lee Clark's side, who had to better Doncaster Rovers's result to avoid being relegated to the third tier for the first time in 20 years, somehow found two late goals to earn a draw and maintain their Championship status on goal difference.
Donny, meanwhile, went down 1-0 at champions Leicester City and were condemned to an immediate return to League One.
Here, Sports Mole selects its best XI from Friday and Saturday's action as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal. Also, look out for our end-of-season Championship awards and playoffs preview later this week.
David Forde (Millwall)
Millwall were one of the sides in danger of being relegated on the final day but ensured that they didn't have to rely on others by defeating Bournemouth 1-0. Forde kept a clean sheet in goal, becoming the first goalkeeper to do so in 10 games against the Cherries.
Yun Suk-Young (Queens Park Rangers)
He might not normally start under Harry Redknapp, but Yun showcased his attacking ability with a wonderful solo goal that proved to be the winner as QPR beat Barnsley. They will now play Wigan Athletic, who they were relegated with last season, in the playoff semi-finals.
Dorian Dervite (Charlton Athletic)
Just three out of the 24 clubs in the Championship kept clean sheets on Saturday. Charlton were one as they eased past Blackpool at Bloomfield Road, with Dervite the stand-out Addicks defender.
Wes Morgan (Leicester City)
Another side that avoided conceded were Leicester and, like so often this season, Morgan dealt comfortably with everything that came his way.
Stephen Ward (Brighton)
It was an amazing day at the City Ground for Brighton as they snuck into the playoffs with victory over Nottingham Forest. The Seagulls have never lost when Ward has scored for them, and he started their comeback with an accurate low finish in a jam-packed penalty box.
Paul Caddis (Birmingham)
The name Paul Caddis will live long in the memory of Birmingham City fans after the Scot's last-minute leveller against Bolton that kept the Blues up. Often a right-back, the former Celtic man kept his composure to head home and send the travelling fans bonkers.
Emmanuel Ledesma (Middlesbrough)
Consistency has been the problem for Middlesbrough this season but they finished well by brushing aside already-relegated Yeovil Town 4-1 at Huish Park. Ledesma bagged two of the goals, with the second an inventive bicycle kick.
Craig Conway (Blackburn Rovers)
Blackburn went into the final day with the slimmest of playoff hopes. They needed to beat Wigan by several goals and hope that Reading and Brighton both slipped up. Gary Bowyer's men gave it their best shot, beating the Latics 4-3, with Conway setting up all four goals.
Callum Harriott (Charlton)
A fine end to the season for young winger Harriott, who scored five of Charlton's last six goals, including all three in the win over Blackpool.
Leonardo Ulloa (Brighton)
The Argentinian headed home the all-important winning goal for Brighton to lift them up into the top six. That's now 14 for the season and Seagulls fans will be hoping for similar heroics in their upcoming playoff semi-final against Derby County.
Danny Ward (Huddersfield Town)
There were two hat-tricks on Saturday and the other came from Ward. The Terriers forward was only on the pitch for an hour and did the damage with three goals in half an hour as Huddersfield ended the season on a high with a convincing win at Watford.
Numpty of the Week
Tomasz Kuszczak: Even though Brighton got what they wanted on the final day, they did have the biggest numpty playing for them. Former Manchester United keeper Kuszczak let in the softest of goals to give Forest the lead when he mishandled Matt Derbyshire's first-half header.
Goal of the Week
Garath McCleary (Reading) vs. Burnley: The Royals may have been heartbroken by Brighton, but they did score the best goal of the weekend. McCleary made it 2-2 at the Madejski with a volley that is being compared to Zinedine Zidane's in the Champions League final for Real Madrid against Bayer Leverkusen in 2002:
Check out all the other best XIs, biggest numpties and best goals from the Championship season here.
Pascal Lemesre
