Stoke were relegated at the end of the 1976–77 season after winning just one of their final 15 games, with new manager George Eastham proving unable to turn around the club's slump after he replaced Waddington as manager in March. Conroy later blamed complacency on the part of the players, admitting that he "never conceived" that Stoke could be relegated after their successes earlier in the decade. Eastham was sacked after a poor start to life in the Second Division in 1977–78, and though his replacement, Alan Durban, managed to improve results, Conroy was not suited to Durban's new playing style. Durban asked Conroy to play as a midfield player rather than as a winger, and told Conroy he was free to look for a new club at the expiry of his contract. Stoke won promotion at the end of the 1978–79 campaign, though Conroy was limited to just seven league appearances.