Ricky Hill

JACK GAUGHAN AND JOE BERNSTEIN: Coincidence or not, Brian Horton suggests meeting at The Kenilworth, his hometown in a suburb just south of Manchester, where he has lived for 30 years. Punters make a point of saying hello as the landlord comes over for a chat. He is fondly remembered here after almost two years as the devil-may-care Manchester City manager who was sacked in 1993. He does the supporter branch gathers in the north, with regal tales of how Franny Lee tried to impress Luis Figo. He is often seen at the Etihad in the chairman's lounge. However, he was also the opposition captain on one of City's worst days, when Horton's Luton Town sent City down in a relegation shootout on the final day of the 1982-83 season.

At Kenilworth Road, the developers have arrived. As industrial vehicles return to place to complete heavy lifting and scaffolding bedecks the outer perimeter of England's tightest ground, jutting as the stadium's maze of terraced houses winds on Beech Road and Oak Road. Tarpaulin covers the pitch that will host West Ham next month as £10 million of work is completed to bring the stadium up to par. Welcome to the Premier League. Luton Town are the team that appears to have blagged their way through security to gatecrash the elite club. Luton has been in administration three times, near to extinction, and has been suspended 40 points in total since being out of League for five years, and the first flight was 1992-92, but the top flight was in 1991-92. They are also back. So where do you start with their rise and fall and rise again? Given the Hollywood giants' football fairy tale, it could have been ten years ago at Wrexham in the fifth-tier National League, with Luton at their nadir.