12–0 defeat of Bristol Rovers – as of 2013, Payne's achievement of ten goals in a match is still a Football League record. The directors recruited Ned Liddle to fill the vacant manager's position in August 1936 – the team finally won promotion on 1 May 1937 with a 2–0 victory over Torquay United. Payne scored both goals that day, and 55 goals in 39 games over the season as Luton Town won the Third Division South for the first time. The club also beat its traditional rival Watford, both at home and away. The clubs would not meet again in the league until 1963–64. The Second Division (1937–1955) The 1937–38 season was tough for the club: Luton's opening home matches were against Aston Villa, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Luton battled relegation for much of the season but finished 12th and reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, losing 3–1 to Manchester City. Late in the season, manager Ned Liddle left to join Chelsea (as a scout), as did star forward Joe Payne days later. Payne's replacement was local boy Hugh Billington, who scored 28 goals during the final season before the outbreak of war, 1938–39. The club finished in seventh place under new manager Neil McBain, but disagreements between McBain and the board saw the Scotsman leave after just one season. George Martin was appointed as coach; his Luton team was unbeaten over the first three games of the 1939–40 season and thus top of the Second Division on the day that the Second World War broke out. The Football League resumed in 1946–47 – Martin, who had been promoted to manager in 1944, brought in Dally Duncan, a former Scottish international, as player-coach. Martin moved to Newcastle United at the end of an inconsistent season, and in his place Duncan was promoted to manager. The next four seasons were a transitional period in which ageing pre-war players were gradually replaced by a younger generation, often by means of unpopular sales of the best talents: Hugh Billington, Frank Soo, Billy Hughes and Bob Brennan were all sold for big fees. In their place came the new breed of Luton player – South African forward Billy Arnison became a crowd favourite before injury forced him to return home, and home-grown talent such as Bob Morton and Gordon Turner saw a new Luton line-up start to emerge. After a