Cliff Bassett

Vice President

With Luton in sever financial trouble during the 1998-99 season, Cliff made the decision to place the club in receivership.  The club were in such financial trouble that they were forced to sell the star players such as Sean Evers, Graham Alexander, Chris Willmott and Kelvin Davis despite the pleadings of team manager Lennie Lawrence to keep them at the club.

If this news wasn't bad enough for the club and supporters, club chairman David Kohler had a petrol bomb put through his house letterbox and refused to be the club chairman any longer.  The receivership dragged through the entire summer, with many consortiums linked to buying the club but nothing ever coming to fruition.  The Football League authorities threatened to stop the club from playing any competitive matches while they were still in receivership and it was an extremely nervous time for all associated with the club.  A deadline was set for midnight the day prior to the clubs first match of the season, away to Notts County.  With just a minute until the deadline, Cliff took the clubs future into his own hands and a deal was completed that saved the club and effectively made Cliff the chairman.

With the immediate future of the club now secure, the side could look forward to another season in professional football.  However, Cliff was quick to point out that it was not his intention to remain as the chairman and he was always looking to sell the club.  Eventually this happened after a hard season for the club and for Cliff.

On May 23rd 2000, Mike Watson-Challis took over as the club chairman with the majority shareholder Cliff Bassett selling his shares and relinquishing his position.

Former club director Watson-Challis bought out Cliff for an undisclosed fee and it appeared as if the Hatters had secured their long-term financial future.

Cliff was to stay on as a director of the club, and Challis praised him for his hard work to save the club, "Cliff has been a terrific supporter of the club and I cannot speak highly enough of his endeavours over the past few months," he said. "It's through his efforts that the club survived a very difficult period."

Cliff once again showed his passion for the club when he expressed his relief at how the club's future had been secured, "I did not buy into the club in the best of circumstances. As a board, there were only three of us so we were a bit thin on the ground and that made it harder," he said.
"But I'm seriously pleased with how its turned out now," he added.

He was also quick to reassure the Hatters supporters that the club's new owners are true football fans, "The new ownership consists of people who are astute business people whose initial interest is football.  The deal has been done. Its worked out as good as we could have possibly hoped for," he added.

After leaving his position as chairman, Cliff joined the board of directors at Kenilworth Road, and, after witnessing the Hatters gain promotion to Division Two - the first promotion season for 20 years - he became a vice president of Luton Town and he will always be remembered with gratitude for saving the club on that eventful Friday night.

In April 2007, Cliff sold his company Universal Salvage, which he founded himself in 1968, to US counterpart Copart.  Universal Salvage manages the collection and disposal of vehicles, typically ones damaged in accidents or of low value, for a broad range of clients including motor insurers, car dealers and local authorities. It netted Cliff a windfall of £6 million.

Profile By:  James Garley