WHEN I started covering Tranmere Rovers, midway through last season, I was filled with a sense of pride.

Reporting on Wirral’s famous old football club that had defied the odds over the years with cup giant killings and come within an inch of top flight football had always been a something to aspire to.

But as each week past with defeat after defeat, it became apparent the League Cup runners-up of 2000 were on non-league death row.

Rovers weren’t officially relegated until April 25, but in reality they had looked a beaten club long before Plymouth Argyle stuck the decisive nail in their Football League coffin.

The intervention of new owner Mark Palios arrived too late to avert Tranmere’s trajectory but the club, it’s owners, surviving players and fans have now had time to face up to the reality of the situation.

If anything, relegation felt like putting a beloved sick family pet out of its misery.

Much work has been done behind the scenes at the club pre-season while supporters licked their wounds. The fruits of which are already evident.

Walking into Prenton Park ahead of the Blackburn Rovers friendly, I could’ve been mistaken for thinking I had turned up at the wrong ground.

Confronted by a smart converted bus selling beers to people queuing for tickets I was greeted by smiling hostesses before heading upstairs with the distinctive smell of new carpet in the air.

The main stand’s cosy but dated pre-match lounges have been completely refurbished to a standard fit for a Radisson hotel.

This is the look of a club that has been promoted further up the Football League, not one that served time on its membership two months ago.

The significance of this investment should not be underestimated.

Palios could either feel sorry for himself and manage the decline of the club’s professional operation, ensuring a sustainable existence at non-league level, or he could invest his resources, faith and hope in returning Tranmere Rovers to a higher place, where they undoubtedly belong.

Thankfully, he has opted for the latter.

The managerial appointment of Gary Brabin – a man with substantial Conference experience – looks like a logical move in its infancy.

Naturally he will be judged on his results over the course of the season but his crucial knowledge of what works at this level combined with a workmanlike approach to the role sits comfortably with the demands of getting Prenton Park upwardly mobile again.

It won’t be easy.

There are plenty of teams in the division that you may simply have never heard of, but what the new regime at Prenton Park is offering the fans is hope, something that was slowly stripped away from them over time.

If the club’s renewed ambition can be matched with performances on the pitch, then there is no reason why this wonderful football club cannot rise again.

I would encourage any disillusioned supporters to get down and share in that hope this season.

You might be pleasantly surprised where it takes you.