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The shock collapse of a Women's Super League side and a serious knee injury left Charlotte Steggles to rebuild her football career at childhood club Nottingham Forest.
More than three years later, and with the Reds now one win away from a return to the second division after an 11-year absence, the 25-year-old says she would not have wanted it any other way.
Forest face Watford in Saturday's Women's National League play-off final at Stadium MK.
It comes six years after the sudden liquidation of Forest's city neighbours Notts County robbed then teenager Steggles of a team to play for.
"It changed the course and direction of where I was going, but I wouldn't change it for the world," Steggles told BBC Sport.
"I love where we are at now, with the group of players I'm with week in and week out."
After Notts folded, Steggles moved to Leicester City - another of her former clubs - only for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury to end her spell with the Foxes.
And so, in 2020, the versatile defender returned to third division side Forest - the club she grew up supporting and where she previously spent five formative years as a junior.
This season she has already helped Forest win the National League Northern Premier Division title and League Cup - scoring 11 goals and providing five assists in 28 games.
Forest now have a chance to go up as treble winners.
"We all know what's at stake - it's a huge game for everyone involved," Steggles said.
"We have to embrace and enjoy the challenge."
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Nottingham Forest won the FA Women's National League Cup for the first time
When at Notts, Steggles counted a host of international stars as team-mates - including Ellen White, who would go on to become England's record women's goalscorer and help the Lionesses to their famous European Championship win on home soil in 2022.
Steggles, who now juggles her football career with being a chartered surveyor, remembers them as "incredible" days.
What she learned about football, however, did not come from just sharing the pitch with some of the games best and brightest.
"At that time all I was focused on was football and all I wanted to be was a professional footballer," Steggles added.
"It also made me realise how unstable the women's game can be and it can change overnight.
"I remember we were preparing to play Arsenal and then it was all pulled from under our feet."
The loss of the Magpies meant top-flight football was wrenched from Nottingham - but women's football remained highly visible with Forest remaining.
The Reds were the dominant women's club in the city before Notts' sudden arrival in 2014, when Lincoln Ladies relocated to Meadow Lane and were rebranded as County.
Forest's rise has been a steady and deliberate one in recent years under boss Andy Cook, whose 100th game in charge will be Saturday's promotion final against Watford.
The Reds have already beaten the Hornets in a final this season, claiming the League Cup in April.
A week later they won the league title to set up a promotion showdown against the Southern Premier Division champions.
"Forest means a lot to me," Steggles said.
"Trying to continue to grow and push the club on and off the pitch is something I'm passionate about.
"The last few weeks have been intense and probably more mentally draining than physically.
"We now have to take that momentum into Saturday."
Laura-Jayne O'Neill (left) returned to Nottingham Forest in 2017 after leaving for Notts County in 2014
Like Steggles, Laura-Jayne O'Neill is a former Notts County player who is helping the Reds build in her second stint with the club.
The 28-year-old will miss Saturday's final because of injury, having only returned from a lengthy ACL layoff earlier this season.
O'Neill had moved on before the Magpies folded, but she had been there when Notts reached the 2015 Women's FA Cup final - historic for being the first to be played at the national stadium.
"I know in terms of size of the game and how many might watch, it's not going to be anywhere near as close to what it was with the Wembley final, but it certainly means just as much, if not more, with Forest," O'Neill said.
"This one feels more personal in a way. I'm very fond of Notts County, it was a Nottingham team, but Forest is my team. I'm a Forest fan and it feels very personal, and I know a lot of girls are followers of Forest.
"There has been a lot of reflection on where we have come from as a group and as individuals and where we want the club to be in five or 10 years' time.
"We want to be able to look back at being part of a real special group that was a catalyst for change at Forest."
