Around this time, the club had debts of 20 million pounds following relegation and the collapse of ITV Digital. The players went months without being paid, and manager Mick Wadsworth was sacked in January 2003, only to be reinstated because the club did not have any money for his pay-off. Wadsworth was eventually sacked in March and replaced by Mel Machin, who oversaw relegation to the fourth tier. The club was put into administration, but Ken Davy bought the club in the summer of 2003 and rescued Town from liquidation. Manager Peter Jackson only had four senior players on the books before the beginning of the 2003–04 season, after which many youngsters from the academy setup were added. Huddersfield finished in a surprising fourth place, and defeated Mansfield Town in the play-off Final to return to the third tier.