Salford City lost the League Two play-off final 3-0 to Notts County at Wembley Stadium

The stars were out at Wembley Stadium. Sir David Beckham, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes were all present to witness Salford City’s biggest day in their history.

Unfortunately for Manchester United’s greatest generation, City were outclassed. With the Class of ’92 watching on at Wembley Stadium, the Ammies suffered throughout. Karl Robinson’s side were struggling to deal with the intense heat and with more than 20,000 Notts fans screaming their side on, Salford were wilting.

Alassana Jatta and Jodi Jones were quick to cause the Salford defence problems as their directness had the back four scrambling. Salford were not helped either by numerous Matt Young balls floating harmlessly out of play.

Despite their admittedly slow start, Salford could see where they could hurt the Magpies. Matt Butcher’s long-range effort had County worried momentarily as Daniel Udoh and Kallum Cesay provided constant threats.

Just as Salford were finding their feet, they were behind. A hopeful ball forward by Jones caught the City defence flat-footed, Jatta latched on and easily slipped the ball underneath Young.

On the stroke of half-time, Salford were again their own worst enemy. A free-kick to the back post from Jones found McDonald in acres of space.

His ball back across was mis-hit but still found Lucas Ness, the only man alert in the area, who rose highest to double Notts’ lead. Salford were in need of a minor miracle.

And that miracle nearly came within 25 seconds of the restart. Cesay was played through on goal but he took one too many touches and James Belshaw smothered it at his feet.

But while City were finally starting to show the form that got them to Wembley, the game was trickling away from them. The Ammies had a reasonable shout for a penalty turned away when Jacob Bedeau looked to have handled in the area.

Referee Tom Reeves said no and VAR, introduced for the League Two Play-off Final, decided that it was not worth intervening in. The game was eventually put out of Salford’s reach with 20 minutes remaining.

Substitute Conor Grant was allowed the freedom of Wembley to pull a cross back to Jones who capped a brilliant individual performance with a smart finish. It summed things up for the Ammies.

While the focus will be on the Class of ’92s heartache post-match, the Salford fans were the ones who suffered the most. Their entire end was bathed in unbearable sunshine and made cheering on their side even harder.

With an hour gone and Fabio Borini introduced, some of the braver Ammies fans who decided to forego their shirts tried their best to lift the mood. Cries of ‘Salford’ could be heard over the sizeable Notts support but it was to no avail.

Notts were the deserved victors on the day and will play League One football next season, a standard they feel they deserve to be. For Salford, the wait goes on to play at that lofty level.

Robinson will go back to the drawing board this summer with Neville and Beckham to work out how they take the next step. It will not be easy, though.

The likes of Udoh and Cesay will attract attention from clubs in a higher division. League Two will be strong next season too, with the newly-promoted York City and Rochdale set to challenge as well as EFL stalwarts Chesterfield, Oldham Athletic, Rotherham United and Bristol Rovers.

A measure of where the club is now is that this defeat will sting. Salford must regroup and go again.