to become the division's top scorer. Luton were nearly promoted, but finished in third place on goal difference and then lost to Crewe Alexandra in the play-offs. The summer of 1997 saw a Luton Town teenager with only two games under his belt, Matthew Upson, sold to Arsenal for £2 million. To make matters worse, star forward Tony Thorpe was sold to Kevin Keegan's Fulham for £800,000. Just one place off the bottom of Division Two on deadline day, Luton looked doomed – but David Pleat, now Tottenham's Director of Football, handed Luton a lifeline – Rory Allen, who had just returned from injury, was sent on loan to the club to complete his recovery and fill Thorpe's boots Allen would do more than that, scoring six goals in his eight matches to keep Luton up. 1998–1999 saw a 12th-place finish, and a run to the quarter finals of the League Cup. Just before the 1999–2000 season, the club was sold to Cliff Bassett, while player sales continued to balance the books. Young duo Kelvin Davis and Chris Willmott were sold to Wimbledon for £900,000, and Lawrence was forced to sell Gary Doherty late on in the season, but he successfully kept an inexperienced Luton side up once again. Mike Watson-Challis then purchased the club in 2000, and Lawrence was sacked to be replaced by former Luton player Ricky Hill. Hill was dismissed in November after winning only two games, and in turn was replaced by another former player, Lil Fuccillo. Former Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear was brought in, initially, as Director of Football, but his first act was to demote Fuccillo and install himself as manager. Kinnear brought towering forward Steve Howard to the club for only £50,000, but despite his best efforts, the club was relegated to the bottom division of The Football League for the first time since 1968. Resurgence (2001–2006) Joe Kinnear set out his plan for Luton – they were to go back up at the first attempt. He oversaw a complete overhaul of the squad during the summer, building a team that was Luton's finest for some years. Midfielder Kevin Nicholls signed from Wigan Athletic for £25,000 and would go on to become a key figure in midfield, earning the club captaincy; a role he would hold for the next five years. Australian defender Chris Coyne signed from Dundee, again for a small fee