The move for Coyne to Colchester sees the last of the 2001-02 promotion winning side depart Kenilworth Road, with the exception of Matthew Spring who departed and returned to Luton. Coyne joined the club under Joe Kinnear in September 2001, and his first contribution was to score an own goal in a disappointing 1-1 home draw against Lincoln City. He made 33 appearances overall that season, forging a superb defensive partnership with Russell Perrett that helped the Hatters win promotion, and the centre-back also scored three goals, all in resounding home victories for the Town. He remained in the team for the next season, despite getting sent off at Plymouth Argyle early on in the season, and Coyne made 44 appearances with one goal that season. His peformances saw him pick up numerous official end of season rewards for Player of the Season Coyne kept his place in the team under Mike Newell in 2003-04, missing just two league games in the whole of the season. The highlight of that season for Coyne was arguably his goal in extra time in the League Cup Second Round against Charlton Athletic, where he equalised in extra-time in a thrilling 4-4 draw to take the match to penalties. However, Coyne saw his spot kick saved by future Hatter Dean Kiely which saw Luton out the competition. Throughout this season, he worked superbly with Emmerson Boyce before the young defender moved to Crystal Palace in the summer.
2004-05 was the season that saw Chris Coyne take his place in Luton history. With yet another centre-back partner, Curtis Davies in defence, Coyne became the rock that Luton's team was based around as the Hatters won the League One title, thus gaining promotion to England's second tier for the first time in just under ten years. There were also crucial goals along the way from Coyne. He headed in the equalising goal at Tranmere in a morale boosting match in October that kept Luton unbeaten. Just before Christmas, Coyne headed in the opener at Ashton Gate, which set Luton on their way to a brilliant victory at Bristol City. A goal at Hartlepool helped Luton end Hartlepool's unbeaten home record in February, with Coyne making a run from the halfway line and volley into the bottom corner that Marvin Johnson himself would have been proud of. At Wrexham, the day Luton won the league, Coyney scored the winning header after Curtis had scored his first goal for the club. His defensive ability that season was never in doubt either, and he won a place in the official League One team of the season at the end of the year.
Newell started the returning season in the Championship with Curtis Davies and Marcus Heikkinen at the back, but with the sale of Davies, Coyne took his place again. He didn't play quite as many matches in the Championship as he had played in previous seasons, with 33 matches under his belt and 3 goals to his name. The emergence of Leon Barnett the next season and problems with Coyne's knee meant he was further restricted to just 22 appearances the next season, which saw Luton relegated and off the field problems began to rear their ugly head again. His problems with injuries may even have played a part in the relegation that season. His winning goal at Brentford in the FA Cup this season proved to be his last goal for Luton, and his last game was against Liverpool in the FA Cup, where, by keeping Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt quiet and helping Luton to a replay, he may have played a big part in our survival as a club.
Although Coyne was probably not the best defender ability wise in his time at the club, with the likes of Curtis Davies, Marcus Heikkinen, Emmerson Boyce and maybe Leon Barnett better than him when on form, he was still nevertheless an excellent defender in Division Three and League One for us. Furthermore, he went about his job quietly and very consistently, doing little wrong from game to game up until he started to pick up injury problems. If the rumours of the last few days are to be believed, he didn't want to leave Luton, but factors such as having to pay a mortgage and bills and having to support his wife and children were probably far more important matters weighing on his mind, and no one can blame him for that. It's just a shame that the club were forced into selling one of its best players for a long time. After all, although there have been better centre-backs at Luton, few in recent times have shown similar loyalty to Luton than Coyne, who stayed at the club for six years (even though other clubs could have offered more money), through two administrations, three managers, two promotions and a relegation. Around ten centre-backs came and went in Coyne's time at the club, and Coyne stayed for six years, which is rare in this day and age.
Thanks Chris Coyne for the commitment you gave to Luton, and thanks for your great performances over the last six years.