Kevin Blackwell signed eight players during the summer of 2007 in preparation for a tilt at promotion back to the Championship.
During the first month of the season it seemed that the Hatters stood a decent chance of doing so, after four wins from their first five league and cup fixtures including a 3-0 victory over Premier League Sunderland at Kenilworth Road.
However form began to tail off and had yet to win away from home but worse news was to follow when the club were deducted 10 points for falling to administration in November.
From being in a comfortable mid-table position the Hatters found themselves deep in a relegation battle but the first match following the points deduction the team rallied themselves to beat Southend 1-0 at Kenilworth Road.
Results began to pick-up in December and a FA Cup second round replay victory over NottinghamForest ensured the Hatters faced another cup clash with Liverpool at Kenilworth Road.
On Boxing Day the Hatters were involved in a highly-controversial match at Bristol Rovers where incredibly they held out to record a 1-1 draw despite having to play half the match with nine men and the last 13 minutes with only eight men on the pitch following three sending offs.
And in the last match of 2007 we saw the first away win of the campaign recorded courtesy of a last-minute strike from MatthewSpring.
With the administrator in charge however, the New Year saw the beginning of player sales which would go on to affect the team's performances later in the season.
But firstly the small matter of a game against Liverpool at Kenilworth Road in the third round of the FA Cup had to be settled and after going behind to a Peter Crouch goal, a John Arne Riise own goal 13 minutes from earned the Hatters a much needed money-spinning replay at Anfield.
At this point the administrator had been working on cutting the spiralling wage bill at the club and as a result club captain Chris Coyne was sold to Colchester United and midfielder David Edwards - only signed by Blackwell in the summer - was sold to Wolves.
Colossal Polish centre-half Jaroslaw Fojut returned to Bolton after his loan spell expired and would not return as the Hatters were unable to sign anybody while still in administration, which left the squad decimated, especially in defence.
Blackwell then decided to call it quits by saying he would quit the club following the replay at Liverpool.
Before the cup replay at Anfield it was announced that the administrator had chosen Luton Town 2020 Ltd as the preferred bidders to take over the club.
The consortium and was headed by famous Hatters fan and TV presenters Nick Owen and included former Hatters legends Steve Foster and Godfrey Ingram as well as other influential businessman all of which were Town supporters.
Buoyed by this news it made for an extra-special night at Anfield where almost 6,000 Luton fans out-sung the famous Kop for long periods before, during and after the game.
The team held on until the final minute of added on time in the first half before Ryan Babel struck the opening goal of the game to break the Hatters' hearts.
A Steven Gerrard hat-trick and a goal from Sami Hyppia in the second half cumulated in a 5-0 defeat but despite the scoreline the Hatters performance was far from embarrassing.
That was to be manager Kevin Blackwell's last match in charge of the Town as the administrator moved quickly to install legend Mick Harford as his replacement but despite a spirited display the team lost 1-0 in his first game in charge away to Leyton Orient on 19th January.
With the team struggling to find any form and with young players low on confidence, the side failed to win again until a 3-0 home victory over Oldham Athletic on 15th March, by which time they were already 12 points from safety.
But after picking five points from the following three games to give them hope the Town went onto lose all of their final six matches and relegation to League 2 was confirmed following the 2-1 home defeat to Brighton on 12th April.
With the new owners set to take full control of the club in the summer the only problem the Hatters prepared themselves for would have been beginning their League 2 campaign with 15 points deducted for failure to agree to a CVA (Company Voluntary Agreement).
However the Football League decided that because the club had been in administration for the third time in nine years, they would punish them further by deducting a further five points.
But worse news followed.
The club were still being investigated by the Football Association for the past financial irregularities that had been made public during Mike Newell's time at the club two years previously.
As a result the club had a further 10 points docked by the FA which meant the club had to start the season with an incredible 30 point penalty.
Both Bournemouth and Rotherham suffered a similar fate for recent spells in administration and were hit with 17 point deductions by the Football League.
Once the club was officially taken over a week before the season started, the club only had six professionals on the books leading up to the home game with Port Vale.
Harford though pulled off one of the biggest transfer coups in the club's history when it was announced that former club captain Kevin Nicholls was resigning for the club.
Nicholls was joined by 10 other news faces either signed on a free transfer or brought in on-loan, as the manager pieced together a team fit for the campaign ahead.
Despite a slow and inconsistent beginning to the season the Hatters ended 2008 just one point away from wiping out the 30 point deficit and were only 15 points away from safety.
The season was also brought to life by the club's run in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy which was won in superb style at Wembley with a 3-2 victory over Scunthorpe United in April.
However, the burden of the points deductions proved too much to shoulder and relegation out of the Football League was confirmed following a goalless draw against Chesterfield on Easter Monday.
It means the club will start life in the Blue Square Premier in 2009/10 after 89 years in the Football League.
In their first season in non-league football the Town finished second behind champions Stevenage but lost in the Play-Offs at the semi-final stage to York City.
During that campaign Richard Money took over from Mick Harford where the Town also reached the third round of the FA Cup.
The Hatters again suffered Play-Off heartache in 2010/11 and again there was a change in manager - Gary Brabin taking over from Money in March.
After finishing third this time around and beating Wrexham in the semi-finals the Town lost on penalties to AFC Wimbledon in the Promotion Final at the City of Manchester Stadium after the game ended goalless after 120 minutes.
Compiled by Andrew Barringer.
