Luton town in the big time

[Caitlyn]

A thread for all us hatters, in the Premier league.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Nicely done, although I fear we will be talking amongst ourselves this season!

 

[Caitlyn]

Nicely done, although I fear we will be talking amongst ourselves this season!

There are a lot of us here, a few anyway and the other Championship teams (with some ambition) may contribute.

 

[Enchantress]

How long will you stay in the PL do you think? I remember Malcolm McDonald playing for you and David Pleat as coach. Welcome back anyway.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Almost certainly only one season and I don’t think any Luton fan will have any problem with that whatsoever

With what happened to our club, in many ways we’ve already won

 

[Kenneth E End]

Can't notice the amount of rubbish I've already seen on YouTube from "influencers".

One particular bloke thinks we're going to spend the whole £100M on transfer fees, go and spend £15M on a goalkeeper and sign Donny van der Beek! And then simulates the season where Adebayo and Morris score 38 goals between them.

If that happens, or similar, I will do an Elstrup and sit in the centre circle at Kenilworth Road naked.

 

[Super_horns]

Good news about Tom Lockyer .

Luton's Lockyer given all-clear after heart surgery

Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer says he has "been given the all-clear" to resume his career after having heart surgery.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Caitlyn]

How long will you stay in the PL do you think? I remember Malcolm McDonald playing for you and David Pleat as coach. Welcome back anyway.

In Days or weeks?

 

[Caitlyn]

Almost certainly only one season and I don’t think any Luton fan will have any problem with that whatsoever

With what happened to our club, in many ways we’ve already won

Yes agree, the season in the Premier league is all about secureing the money for the new stadium, staying up would be good but being a competitive side in the future with a new stadium is the priority.

 

[TractorBoys]

Really hope Luton give it a bloody good go next season, would be some achievement to avoid the drop.

 

[oakroader]

Step 1…

Bobbers Stand renovation - Bye bye old Executives Boxes ️ Follow for updates The WALT Podcast: https://bit.ly/3NgDTEr ⬅️ | By We Are Luton Town | Facebook

Bobbers Stand renovation - Bye bye old Executives Boxes ️ Follow for updates The WALT Podcast: https://*/3NgDTEr ⬅️

www.facebook.com

 

[Kenneth E End]

The Executive Boxes are no more! Never thought I'd see the day!

 

[oakroader]

Real reactions…

hansh on TikTok

Imagine if they never got that takeover#luton #city #ucl #championsleague #playoffs #fans #celebration

vm.tiktok.com

 

[Enchantress]

In Days or weeks?

In seasons?

 

[masi51]

Would not invest a penny in the Premiership
Take the money and the parachute money the following years and build the club for future generations.
Nothing wrong with the squad or there business model

 

[Caitlyn]

In seasons?

We can dream, so possibly.

 

[Caitlyn]

Would not invest a penny in the Premiership
Take the money and the parachute money the following years and build the club for future generations.
Nothing wrong with the squad or there business model

I agree but the moaners will try and put the pressure on. However, they club have stated exactly what you have written so yep, totally agree. The club has too come first.

 

[oakroader]

1st game...brighton away...

 

[oakroader]

Luton Town 2023-24 Premier League fixtures​

Just now
Sponsored by

@LutonTown

2918 views
Luton Town will kick off their first ever Premier League campaign with an away match at the AMEX Stadium against Europa League side Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday 12th August.
The Hatters have beaten the Seagulls in both of their first division matches against each other and most recently played Albion in the 2009 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy semi-final. Town advanced and won the trophy that season.
The first top-flight fixture at Kenilworth Road since 1992 will be the following weekend against a fellow promoted side, Championship champions Burnley.

 

[oakroader]

Out of the teams we played last season…who would you fancy us to poach fellow Lutoners…???
Chong definitely for me

 

[Kenneth E End]

Luton set to sign Asmir Begovic.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Feels like we’ve been linked to every 35 year old + keeper with some PL experience so far so surely some smoke to some of these fires.

Not hugely keen on it but the recruitment team have rarely been wrong. Given that I dont think there’s much pressure to pull up trees this season I had hoped we wouldn’t get tempted by the old “PL experienced archetype” and bring in some younger players as the squad is lacking in that 20-23 age bracket at the moment and we’ve got some money and a stage to pitch to that sort of player that we’ve not had before.

I guess “only” a keeper and some experience wouldn’t go amiss

 

[oakroader]

i would like..gyokeres and hamer from coventry
akpom and archer from middlesbrough
cooper from millwall
diaz from blackburn
all impressed over the season..
just to name but a few...

 

[Caitlyn]

Out of the teams we played last season…who would you fancy us to poach fellow Lutoners…???
Chong definitely for me

Mads Anderson.

And obviously Marvellous Nakamba

 

[oakroader]

24 Jun16:34

Luton's Osho considered by Nigeria national team​

Luton Town centre back Gabriel Osho is being considered by the Nigeria national team.
Talks continue with Luton over a new contract after a one year option was triggered earlier this month.
Osho scored in Luton’s Championship play-off semi-final win over Sunderland last month.

 

[oakroader]

‘30 points who gives a fuck' - Luton Town’s rise from the deathbed​

When Luton Town were relegated into the conference in 2009 after the single biggest points deduction in English Football League history, you could’ve been forgiven for thinking the Hatters were dropping out of the 92 never to return.



Fast forward 14 years and thanks to a penalty shootout victory under the Wembley arch, Luton have completed one of the greatest stories in club football, going all the way from non league football to the Premier League.



As the Hatters scramble to prepare their beloved Kenilworth Road to welcome the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool next season, it’s important to remember Luton’s voyage to the promised land has been far from plain sailing.

Luton Town’s rise from rock bottom​

Ironically, the day Luton Town sank lower than ever before was just a week after one of the great days in the club's history (post 2000). Victory over Scunthorpe United at Wembley in the Johnstone Paint Trophy symbolic of the fact Luton Town would never die despite the assassination attempts of the FA and EFL.



Just 8 days after this great triumph, the Hatters were condemned to the inevitable, a 0-0 draw with Chesterfield ending the Town’s 89 year stay in the Football League.



What followed was four years of disappointment and frustration. Arrogance quickly turned to realisation that the Conference was an unforgiving division. Defeats to Hyde, Braintree and Barrow were humbling, play off failure against York (twice) and AFC Wimbledon detrimental.



The Hatters were in dire need of a saviour, and their knight in shining armour came in the form of John Still. Reverting back to basics, the experienced Still led Luton to the Conference title in his first full season in charge.





To this day, Still is seen as a hero around Kenilworth Road, praised with helping the Hatters take their first step on the stairway to the Premier League.

John Still celebrates promotion to the Football League | Photo by Gareth Owen



All good things must come to an end though, and Still was replaced by Nathan Jones midway through the Town’s second campaign in League Two. The Welshman would go on to stamp a high pressing, free flowing identity on the Hatters that still remains 8 years later.



In his first full season in charge, Jones led Luton to a play off semi final against Blackpool, where a cruel last minute own goal in the second leg sentenced the Town to yet more play off heartbreak.



However, the pain was short lived. The following season saw the Hatters promoted to League One in second place, with 8-2, 7-1 and 7-0 wins along the way.



Under Jones the club was in a fantastic place, and come January of their first year back in League One, Luton surprisingly found themselves in the automatic promotion place.



By now though Town fans had learnt the road to success always had a few bumps along the way. In the middle of January, Jones unceremoniously left to join Stoke City, even posing in his new Stoke tracksuit whilst claiming the manager of the month award he had won with the Hatters.



The reigns were handed to club legend Mick Harford, who guided Luton to important draws against Sunderland and Blackpool and scintillating wins against Pompey and Accrington to name a few. Harford by his own admission changed very little after Jones’ departure, and the strategy worked as Luton were promoted as champions of League One.

Luton celebrate League One triumph | Photo by Gareth Owen



Throughout this rapid ascent up the English football league system, the Luton board and owners had done very little wrong, recruiting players and managers impressively. However, the decision to appoint Graeme Jones as manager for the Town’s first season back in the Championship was a rare bad one.



Midway through March, the Hatters were cut adrift, 6 points from safety when the season was stopped due to Covid. Graeme Jones was sacked and when football did resume, there was a familiar face at the helm. Nathan Jones rejoined the Hatters to a mixed reception from fans after a torrid (and short) spell in charge of Stoke.



Football fans are a fickle bunch though and it was hard for Luton supporters to stay angry at Jones after he guided them to safety, the Hatters’ very own Great Escape achieved with 16 points from the last 9 games.



Over the next two seasons, Jones continued the upward momentum he’d established during his first spell at the club, steadily improving the team and their league position over the two campaigns. By the end of the 2021/22 season, the Town found themselves in an unlikely play off place, but with a squad blighted by injuries were unable to get past Huddersfield in the semi final.



Success like this doesn’t go unnoticed and Nathan Jones left Luton for a second time in mid November of the following season, once again struggling away from Kenilworth Road as he was sacked by Southampton after just three months in charge.



The task was given to Rob Edwards to complete the final chapter in Luton’s fairytale. Many supporters were concerned at losing one of the best managers in the clubs history, but with Rob Edwards at the helm the Hatters quietly got even better and reached the Championship playoffs for the second successive season.



It felt different this time around though, a fully fit squad and a feel good factor around the club, the underdog mentality from the previous campaign had been dispelled and their was firm belief the Hatters could finally reach the Premier League.



The semi final against Sunderland was tight, the Northern side were ravaged by injuries but still managed to take a 2-1 lead away from the Stadium of Light. The second leg was a completely different story however. The Black Cats had entered the lions den as Kenilworth Road was at its ferocious, frightening best, and the Hatters booked their spot at Wembley with a 2-0 win.



Then came Luton’s day in the sun, perhaps the clubs greatest hour. Under the Wembley arch, an army of orange was reduced to tears of jubilation and relief as they watched their side reach the Premier League on penalties.

Luton celebrate promotion to the Premier League | Photo by Gareth Owen



There were feel good stories everywhere, from Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu becoming the first player to go from Conference to Premier League with one club, to Rob Edwards winning promotion after being sacked by the Hatters arch rivals just 8 months prior.





However, what summed up Luton Town as a football club more than anything else was the support shown for Tom Lockyer at full time. The Welshman, who had been colossal at the back for the Town all season, collapsed just five minutes into the game, and watched the Hatters win promotion from a hospital bed. The squad held his shirt aloft during the celebrations and manager Rob Edwards was visibly emotional upon hearing the news that his captain was in a stable condition.





The jokes about Luton’s ‘traditional’ stadium have already begun, and many Premier League fans will condemn the Hatters to certain relegation before a ball has been kicked, but Luton deserve their place in the big time just as much as anyone else and they may just shock a few next season.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Getting ever so slightly concerned at our lack of pre season games. We only have 2 currently, Ipswich & Sheffield Wednesday. We can’t use Kenilworth Rd for obvious reasons but probably aren’t a big enough draw for some sides to host us as home friendly - and the usual local games like Hitchin etc just aren’t going to be the right preparation. Tough spot for us

 

[Enchantress]

Make hay while the sun shines etc etc.

 

[Super_horns]

I guess had Ashley Young signed he would have not got a great reception so maybe wise move not to ?

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I don’t think it was ever likely to happen, there seems to be this idea that we need to get “premier league experience” in and being linked with these aging players as a result. Not really who I want the club to be signing, much more our profile to sign players like Ogbene & Andersen. We’ve no need for an expensive aging left back with Doughty there, much rather a young and hungry type to challenge him if that’s what we so desire.

As for reception I doubt people would have been too harsh, there have been furious gnashing of teeth of Twitter that would quickly dissipate I imagine