Bristol City drew 1-1 at Hull on a dramatic final day of the season as the Robins failed to make the Sky Bet Championship play-offs.
Lee Johnson's side had gone into the game needing to win but as both Derby and Middlesbrough won their games what happened at the KCOM Stadium became irrelevant to the play-off picture.
Famara Diedhiou missed two first-half chances to put the Robins ahead, the second a close-range header which came back off the bar. Substitute Nicolas Eliasson also saw his second-half goal ruled out for handball.
Jackson Irvine scored early in the second half for Hull with a low shot, but substitute Matty Taylor equalised late on to ensure the points were shared.
The visitors started brightly as Josh Brownhill fed Jamie Paterson but when he centred low across the six-yard box Reece Burke cleared the danger at the expense of a corner.
Burke was in the right place again to block a low ball before Diedhiou volleyed off target from Paterson's lobbed cross nearly half an hour in.
The visitors should have led five minutes before the break as Paterson crossed deep from the left and Brownhill headed back across goal but Diedhiou's close-range header hit the bar.
Hull took the lead after 54 minutes as Irvine collected a poor clearance from Lloyd Kelly and fired left-footed across goal into the bottom right corner.
Bristol City thought they were level eight minutes later when substitute Eliasson forced the ball home after Hull had cleared a series of shots.
However, referee John Brooks - who had initially allowed the goal to stand - spoke to his linesman before disallowing the effort for handball in the build-up.
The same linesman flagged Taylor offside when he headed home following a goalmouth scramble but this time referee Brooks gave the equalising goal.
The managers
Nigel Adkins: "I'm honoured to be the Hull City head coach. Earlier in the season we were bottom of the league and the fans weren't chanting my name then. Through the ups and down we've all stuck together."
On his contract, Adkins added: "That should get resolved soon, I've had a couple of good meetings.
"Whether I'm here or not it's important you've still done the right things for the football club to try to progress."
Lee Johnson: "It's been 46 games and we just fell short. I think it's been a good progression again from a wonderful football club.
"Nobody fancied us at the start of the season and we've taken it to the last game. I was getting updated with results but we still wanted to win the game.
"That leaves us looking at next season, taking all the positives and hopefully taking it one step forward next season."