But there were plenty of memorable moments to accompany the dark times.
Here we present a statistical review of the season.
1.
Goalkeeper Christy Pym (pictured) was the only player to appear in all 35 League One matches for Posh in the 2019-20 season. Pym appeared in 42 of the 44 competitive matches Posh played. The next highest appearance-makers in all competitions were: 39 Ivan Toney, 37 Mark Beevers, Niall Mason, 36 Joe Ward, Dan Butler, 35 Mo Eisa, 34 Frankie Kent, 30 Siriki Dembele, 29 Louis Reed, 26 Marcus Maddison, Josh Knight, 24 George Boyd. Photo: Midlands
2.
No fewer than 18 players made their Posh debuts in the 2019-20 season: Kyle Barker, Mark Beevers, Frazer Blake-Tracy, Reece Brown (loan), Harrison Burrows (pictured), Sam Cartwright, Bobby Copping, Mo Eisa, Archie Jones, Ricky-Jade Jones, Frankie Kent, Niall Mason, Benjamin Mensah, Christy Pym, Sammie Szmodics (loan), SerhatTasdemir, Jack Taylor and Nathan Thompson. Photo: Midlands
3.
Thirteen Posh splayers scored 82 goals between them in the 2019-20 season (68 League, 8 FA Cup, 6 Checkatrade Trophy). Ivan Toney led the way with 26 goals with Mo Eisa (16, pictured), Marcus Maddison (10), Siriki Dembele (6), Joe Ward (5), Ricky-Jade Jones (4), Sammie Szmodics (4), Josh Knight (3), Jack Taylor (2), Frankie Kent (2), Dan Butler (2), Idris Kanu (1) and Louis Reed (1) also on target. Photo: Midlands
4.
Posh were the 12th best behaved team in League One according to the FA’s Fairplay table which recorded five red cards and 70 cautions for Darren Ferguson’s men. The players sent off were Mark Beevers (v Gillingham), Siriki Dembele (Lincoln), Frankie Kent (Rotherham, pictured), Louis Reed (Lincoln) and Nathan Thompson (Oxford). Ivan Toney (12) collected the most Posh cautions followed by Dan Butler (9), Niall Mason (7), Thompson (7) and Alex Woodyard (5). Photo: Midlands