Relegation from the second tier in 2002, following arguably the club’s glory years around the turn of the century, preceded a sharp decline that included financial turmoil and six seasons at National League North level from 2013 to 2019.
But now, following promotion back into the Football League in 2022, then into League One as fourth-tier champions in 2024, the near quarter-of-a-century journey back to the second tier is one game away from completion.
It is a league, in its current guise at least, they have never competed in – the second tier was still named Division One when the Hatters were last in it.
Challinor added: “It’s not lost on me how well everyone has done to get us to this situation, but I know that if things don’t go our way and we don’t get promoted, there’s always going to be a sense of disappointment.
“We’ll take all the pats on the back for getting this far, but we now have the biggest game of the season in front of us, and it’s about how we perform on that day.”
County have already been to Wembley this season, losing the EFL Trophy final to Luton Town and Challinor is hoping that experience will help his team when they face either Bradford City or Bolton Wanderers on Sunday, 24 May.
“We’ll go into the game knowing that if we do perform to our best, we have a good chance of being promoted,” he added.
“If we don’t, we know the disappointment could be there again. We certainly don’t want to feel that.
“You should always be better prepared in the fact that the players have now all experienced it before. They know what disappointment feels like.
“We have a week leading into a game which is nice. It’s a massive occasion to look forward to, but we’re going there to win, and that’s the most important thing.”