It won't go down as a season to be remembered in Workington Town's history books as 2016 saw the club relegated to League One.

It was a tough year for everyone involved with the club. Hopes were high at the start of the year to make it into the Championship play-offs.

Sadly, a never-ending injury list in a small squad put paid to those hopes.

Alongside that, the players had to take a pay cut towards the end of the year as the club hit financial problems.

There were bright spells with the emergence of youngster Tee Ritson as a real talent and also the big Four Nations draw between Scotland and New Zealand, featuring Brett Phillips.

But as Town were relegated, along with neighbours Whitehaven, officials knew they had some big decisions to make.

It was out with the old and in with the new at Derwent Park as coach Phil Veivers departed and Dave Clark was brought on board.

The board saw a major revamp with a new chairman in Garry Mounsey and several new directors keen to put the club back on track.

A core selection of experienced players remain and Town have looked to the youth of the county to back them up.

It won't be an easy process and Town have opted to rebuild with a Cumbrian flavour from the top down.

It may take a couple of seasons for the young players to start to produce the results that fans are hoping for.

But, in the long run, this could be the best medicine for the club, as they look at the longer-term rather than a quick fix.

It all began back in January when Town looked to retain the Ike Southward Memorial Shield against rivals Whitehaven.

Even at this point, Town were around seven players down, with longer term injuries and others recovering from close-season operations.

Veivers was working with depleted resources but he remained confident with Jarrod Sammut back on board and the signings of Aussies Ryan Verlinden and Oliver Gordon.

Before the clash, Whitehaven hadn’t tasted victory against their rivals for 646 days but that was all to change as the Recreation Ground outfit turned Town over to win 12-6.

That kind of set the tone for much of the season, Workington were the nearly men, losing out in some big games by the narrowest of margins.

February began badly with a heavy loss at home to Sheffield and then defeat on the road at Dewsbury.

Another loss at home to Halifax was then followed by a superb showing against former Super League outfit London Broncos.

Jarrod Sammut starred on his return from injury, directing play across the park and helping himself to two tries and a drop-goal but it was not enough to salvage the all-important two points as Town lost 16-13.

With several other key players taking back to the field, Town went into March with renewed hope.

Despite a defeat at the hands of then high-flying Batley Bulldogs, Town picked up their first win of the season, at home to Oldham 23-12.

And it put them in a good frame of mind to try and avenge their pre-season defeat by Haven, as the two sides lined up for the first time in the league.

But things did not go to plan at the Recre as Whitehaven secured their second success of the year over their old rivals.

It wasn't a derby to set the pulses racing and for Town the defeat was not the only burden to bear.

They had gone into the contest with Brett Carter on the bench but as a spectator only, and with match-time knocks for Karl Olstrum, Declan Hulme and Jarrad Stack, they finished it with only 13 men and no more inter-change options.

They headed into the second half of the Easter weekend double header on bare bones.

And they were to meet Leigh for the second time in a couple of weeks, after the Centurions dumped them unceremoniously out of the Challenge Cup.

This time, it was not quite as easy for Leigh as they headed to Derwent Park but, with 11 injuries, Veivers had to name three players on the bench who would not take part in the game.

The forwards were outstanding as they matched Leigh for the majority of the game but tired bodies took their toll as they slipped to a 40-24 defeat at the final whistle.

There followed heavy defeats at the hands of Featherstone and Bradford before things began to look up.

May perhaps did not produce a raft of success but Town were so close to putting it all together.

They recorded one victory over Sheffield away from home 37-30 but they also ran Halifax and Batley close, before the next derby of the season came calling.

This time, it was Summer Bash at Blackpool and Town were going into the game a favourites for the first time this year.

They were on a roll, while Haven had been struggling to find form and the fans flocked to the seaside expecting an exciting encounter.

But they were to be disappointed as their opponents once again took the bragging rights despite a Sammut hat-trick.

And Veivers was scathing of his troops saying they “didn’t show up” on the day.

June was not a month to look back on fondly with heavy defeats by Leigh and London, although sandwiched in between was a game Town could and should have won against Bradford.

A 10-10 draw with Swinton saw the month out as Town began slowly to regroup with players returning from injury.

Despite an opening loss in July to Featherstone, they ended the normal season on a high with three victories.

But Town did not do their supporters any favours by winning in a convincing manner, instead they left them to the last minute - literally on a couple of occasions.

Against Dewsbury, a try from Matt Gee levelled matters in the 78th minute and then a touchline conversion, into the wind, from Jarrod Sammut, sealed the win 22-20.

Town were still rock bottom of the Championship but they had some wind in their sails going into yet another derby at Derwent Park.

And this time it had the outcome the fans were looking for, although going into the last five minutes it did not look likely.

Town won a full-blooded derby 30-28 thanks to a Jason Mossop try with two seconds left on the clock and then Sammut coolly slotted over a touchline conversion to clinch the victory.

But Workington had to do it the tough way after Karl Olstrom was sent from the field after just seven minutes.

On Town marched to Oldham and a 32-30 narrow win to notch up their third in a row.

Veivers’ men were now level on points with Whitehaven, and raised hopes of a Great Escape with the seven Championship Shield games still to come.

Disappointingly Town lost their opening Shield game to Oldham, the side they had just beaten a couple of weeks earlier.

But then they recorded a 34-24 victory over Dewsbury to keep the hopes of escaping the bottom two alive.

Then came the crunch match. They faced off against Whitehaven in possibly one of the most important derbies in recent history.

Haven went into the match with four players in charge of their side after the sacking of coach James Coyle.

And in a nail biting final few minutes, Haven hung on to a slender 28-24 lead to move back on to level points with Town in the bottom two.

Town then slipped quietly out of contention with a loss to Swinton and then came the hammer blow at Sheffield.

Workington looked vulnerable as they arrived at Sheffield with only three substitutes and their relegation to League One was rubber stamped after they were thumped 62-0 by the Eagles.

Pride was all that was left to play for in the remaining games, and pride came to the fore against the mighty Bradford Bulls in the final game at Derwent Park.

Town overcame a raft of injuries to win 30-26. Sammut was the difference with a hat-trick of tries and a raft of goals to put the Bulls to the sword.

Unfortunately, the injury curse struck again and Town landed for the final game of the season at Halifax with just 14 fit players and played with only one substitute.

Given the situation, it was no surprise that Town were beaten 46-26 to finish their season.

This was not the ending anyone had hoped for but the club has took its time to regroup and now they can look towards 2017.