David Beckham was left heartbroken as the club he co-owns with other Manchester United legends, Salford City, lost the League Two play-off final to Notts County at Wembley.
His former teammates, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, sat near the former England captain with glum faces as Salford fell to a 3-0 defeat, struggling to get going in the contest.
The heavy defeat condemns Salford to another campaign in English football's fourth division, extending their stay at that level to eight consecutive seasons.
Alassana Jatta opened the scoring for the Magpies, with Lucas Ness and Jodi Jones also finding the net to seal a dominant victory.
Karl Robinson's men had come agonisingly close to securing automatic promotion, only to be denied on the season's final day when a goalless draw with relegation-threatened Crawley ended their hopes.
The Ammies subsequently navigated a thrilling play-off semi-final against Grimsby, prevailing 4-3 on aggregate after a dramatic second leg.
Yet Monday's final proved a step too far, with Salford unable to secure promotion to League One.
Beckham, Neville and Scholes, all dressed in suits, appeared visibly dejected as they watched on in the blazing London heat.
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Scholes had previously been part of the celebrated Class of 92 ownership consortium at Salford, which was succeeded last year by a new group headed by Neville and Beckham.
The original ownership collective also included Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville.
Former England international Jill Scott was also spotted seated near the pair.
For Notts County, the triumph marks their return to League One after a decade away, having only rejoined the Football League three years ago following four seasons in non-league football.
Following the match, Notts County's players celebrated their achievement near to where Beckham and Neville were seated, with the former England captain graciously shaking hands with several victorious squad members.
Speaking about his involvement when the new ownership structure was announced last year, Beckham outlined his dedication to the project.
He said: "I will be over every big decision that's made and every little decision that's made.
"That's what my commitment is to Gary. It's what my commitment is to the club. We're definitely not doing it for a laugh and it's also not for the romantic side of things.
"Yes, we care about the club - but we're doing it to win. We want Salford to be successful and we have had success, but then we want it to go on to the next level.
"I always dream big so I'm always going to want us to get to the pinnacle of football and be in the Premier League. But there's a lot of hard work and a lot of investment to be done up until that point.
"The Championship is a league that we want to get into, but it's step by step.
"We want success very quickly, but these things take time."
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