After a tumultuous 2011, Trinidad and Tobago's football is currently at its lowest ebb.
But for T&T Football Federation (TTFF) vice-president Rudolph Thomas, things can only get better from here.
"I think (up) is the only way we could go (from here)," Thomas told the Express on Tuesday. "We can't continue how it used to be. Fortunately, some of the factors that contributed to how it used to be are no longer part of the equation. So I think the opportunity will be taken to take us where we need to go, and we have to take it there."
T&T have had a disappointing year on the field, which culminated with their first round 2014 World Cup qualifying exit after they lost to both Bermuda and Guyana in a four-team group that also included Barbados.
Trinidad and Tobago started that qualifying competition with barely any match practice under their belt, after spending weeks in camp under the stewardship of German coach Otto Pfister. Before that, the national team had been inactive for nearly ten months, having missed the CONCACAF Gold Cup due to a poor Digicel Cup campaign last year.
Off the field things have been even worse. Both former TTFF special adviser and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who has been a key figure in T&T football for more than four decades, and longstanding ex-TTFF president Oliver Camps have resigned after FIFA investigations into them after the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) bribery scandal in May. General secretary Richard Groden too was investigated and escaped with a warning.
For Thomas, though, T&T's football woes may just be a blessing in disguise.
"It has given us the opportunity to step back and look at ourselves in a way we haven't done for some time," he said.
In January the TTFF is expecting to kick off initiatives to correct their administrative shortcomings, including revamping some of their committees.
The technical committee has already been established and will be headed by Southern Football Association (SFA) representative Richard Quan Chan and is due to meet in the New Year.
Some of the other committees have not been confirmed, while the TTFF has also yet to appoint a technical director to replace Lincoln "Tiger" Phillips, who was dismissed earlier this year.
Thomas revealed that the TTFF is still working on a "strategic plan" to move T&T football forward.
One of the approaches the TTFF hopes to explore will be the proper organisation of current community leagues, which Thomas described as a "critical component of the overall football".
This focus on development, he said, is more important than simply trying to win competitions.
"I don't think moving from competition to competition is all that is needed," Thomas said. "Competitions like Olympics (we have to play in, but) everybody knows World Cup football really is (what we want to win), and we are not there (right now)."