The following season started promisingly, with players such as Marco Gabbiadini and Jamie Forrester pushing the Cobblers towards a play-off place before the club eventually finished in 18th place due to a large number of injuries in the second half of the season. Kevin Wilson was sacked in November 2001, to make way for his assistant Kevan Broadhurst, who steered the Cobblers from relegation to a remarkable survival with a game to spare after losing only one home game from mid-January. The next season was the worst since the early 1990s, both financially and on the pitch. Early on they were forced into a 'Save our Season' campaign to keep afloat until the end of the year. It was required after the collapse of ITV Digital and much publicised takeover attempts by John FashanuConn, David (28 December 2001) Northampton brought back to reality The Independent. Retrieved 2010-01-21. and Giovanni Di StefanoConn, David (22 May 2002) Arkan's lawyer has ambitions to take over Northampton The Independent. Retrieved 2010-01-21. had failed and left the club with huge debts. They were taken over by a consortium run by Andrew Ellis, who sacked Broadhurst in January 2003, when Northampton were struggling at the foot of the division. He was briefly replaced by former England player Terry Fenwick who was sacked after a winless spell of seven games. This was, at the time, the eighth-shortest managerial reign in English football history. Martin Wilkinson, the new manager lasted little longer, being dismissed in October 2003 in favour of former Scotland and Tottenham Hotspur defender Colin Calderwood.Calderwood joins Cobblers BBC Sport. 2003-10-09. Retrieved 2010-01-21. Calderwood led Northampton to the play-offs in his first season, where they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Mansfield Town after a penalty shoot-out. In the 2004–05 season, Northampton finished seventh, again in the play-offs, where they were defeated by Southend United. Following this, the manager made substantial changes to the squad, bringing in experienced players such as Ian Taylor and Eoin Jess, and they enjoyed a successful 2005–06 league season. On 29 April, the Cobblers clinched promotion to Football League One, with a 1–0 win at home to Chester City. On 30 May 2006, Northampton announced that Calderwood was leaving to join Nottingham Forest as their new manager,Calderwood named new Forest boss BBC Sport. 2006-05-30. Retrieved 2010-01-21. and he was replaced by John Gorman on 5 June. On 20 December, Gorman resigned due to "personal issues" with the side 18th in the table, with Ian Sampson and Jim Barron briefly taking care of first team affairs.Gorman exits as Northampton boss BBC Sport. 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2010-01-21. He was replaced by former Southampton boss Stuart Gray on 2 January 2007.Northampton name Gray as Manager BBC Sport. 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2010-01-21. The Cobblers were relegated from league one on the final day of the 2008–09 season, after suffering a 3–0 defeat away at Leeds United and other results went against them.
