Ireland's final match of 2016 was a 1-0 win in Vienna on 12 November, a victory which sent Martin O'Neill's team to the top of Group D in World Cup qualifying and set the seal on what had been an uplifting year for the national team.
Over the previous 15 months, Ireland had reached the last-16 of the European championships and recorded a series of improbable wins over Germany, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy and now Austria.
Since that moment, the fall in the team's fortunes - at least in terms of results - has been stark.
From the beginning of 2017, the senior team have won just five of their 29 competitive fixtures. When friendlies are tossed into the mix, Ireland's win tally rises to nine - but from a total of 40 games.
The unlikely smash-and-grab victory against Wales in Cardiff stands out as a rare high-point, James McClean lashing home the winner to rescue a play-off spot for Ireland in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
That effort ended bitterly with a demoralising 5-1 loss to Denmark in Dublin and Ireland haven't recovered since. Indeed, their decline has continued unabated.
From 2018 onwards, Ireland have managed a mere three competitive wins from 21 games, all occurring in 2019 during Mick McCarthy's reign, two of them relatively narrow wins over Gibraltar.
Ireland's last competitive victory was on an underwhelming 2-0 scoreline against Gibraltar in June 2019, and their last win of any sort came in a friendly encounter against New Zealand in November '19.
By any statistical yard-stick, the period from 2017-18 until now stands out as the worst era for the Irish senior team since the four-year period from 1968-71 when they failed to win an international match - an era covered in depth here.
There is a plausible argument that the present era could be regarded as worse. Had the poor, bedraggled, badly-selected outfit of the late 60s/early 70s been handed a couple of games against Gibraltar and Moldova, they might have gotten a couple of wins under their belt as well.
During the 68-71 time period, Ireland played 22 games - having one other against Denmark abandoned due to fog in Dalymount when tied at 1-1 - and never once played a nation with a smaller population.
Returning to Austria, it was a 6-0 loss in Linz in the final Euro 72 qualifier under new manager Liam Touhy that was widely regarded as the low-point of that era.
With qualification long gone and anger rising following a lengthy losing streak, a largely home-based team was selected for that game, with 10 of the starting side playing for League of Ireland clubs. It was a chastening experience.
The 1-0 loss at home to Luxembourg on Saturday night has been described as "rock bottom" in the days since, much as the 6-0 in Austria was 50 years ago.
Irish fans will be hoping that does indeed prove the case but in the wake of Saturday, it looks a long journey back for the national team.
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