This period of renewed stability unravelled in the years following 2015. Despite finishing as runners up in the 2019 Scottish Cup Final, the club could only achieve mid-table placings in 2017, 2018 and 2019. This decline took a turn for the worse in 2019–20, and Hearts were relegated after finishing bottom of the Scottish Premiership, having won only four matches across the course of the season (which had been truncated due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Their relegation was confirmed in June 2020, after league reconstruction talks instigated by Budge collapsed. The club confirmed that they would be pursuing legal action against the SPFL following their demotion to the Scottish Championship. The legal action failed, as a Scottish Football Association arbitration panel ruled that the SPFL had acted within its powers.