Barling Magna
President⭐🦐
On Saturday 27th May Luton Town, former National League club, meet Coventry City in the Championship Play Off Final. Here's part of an article about their remarkable journey from the slough of despond. Ring any bells with anyone? Will Southend United follow their journey........?
Ahead of the 2008-2009 season Luton were on the receiving end of a 30 point deduction.
Kevin Harper, the media director for the Luton Town Supporters Trust says “The people involved at the time had left. They had just left the club basically to rot and go out of business. And the people that were trying to take over were the ones that were left to pick up the pieces.”
Luton’s difficult decade reached its lowest point when their relegation to the Conference was confirmed. This came eight days after winning the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in front of 40,000 fans at Wembley. It was the first time the club would play outside of the Football League in 89 years. But many fans expected the team to bounce back into the Football League quickly.
“It was arrogance probably rather than confidence,” says Harper. “As recently as 1992, Luton were playing in what is now the Premier League. Now we’re in non-league and we shouldn’t be here anyway. But we got a rude awakening in the Conference. It was harder than any of us thought it would be.”
Luton spent five seasons playing non-league football. But this time allowed the club to reset itself, and make sure that past events did not repeat themselves. In 2007 the fan-backed Luton Town Football Club 2020 Consortium, led by Gary Sweet, purchased the club when it went into administration.
The Supporters Trust was then given 50,000 club shares by the new owners to ensure greater fan representation and input. The two entities then began to address the issues at the club to ensure long term stability.
“They had to clear out all of the issues they had inherited,” explains Harper. “The club off the pitch was having to do everything the right way. There were debts that they had to manage. But gradually, the ship steadied. We still had some days in the sun that made everyone realise that we could be a fantastic club again.”
The time Luton spent in the Conference has brought those associated with the club closer together.
Since Luton were promoted in 2014 after they won the Conference title under John Still, the team has gone from strength to strength. Their rapid rise through the leagues included back-to-back promotions to return to the Championship in 2019.
Harper explains that there have been several developments that have allowed the club to make this push. All while having a clear wage structure that the club will not break.
He points out that building a state-of-the-art training ground has allowed the club to attract better players.
Ahead of the 2008-2009 season Luton were on the receiving end of a 30 point deduction.
Kevin Harper, the media director for the Luton Town Supporters Trust says “The people involved at the time had left. They had just left the club basically to rot and go out of business. And the people that were trying to take over were the ones that were left to pick up the pieces.”
Luton’s difficult decade reached its lowest point when their relegation to the Conference was confirmed. This came eight days after winning the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in front of 40,000 fans at Wembley. It was the first time the club would play outside of the Football League in 89 years. But many fans expected the team to bounce back into the Football League quickly.
“It was arrogance probably rather than confidence,” says Harper. “As recently as 1992, Luton were playing in what is now the Premier League. Now we’re in non-league and we shouldn’t be here anyway. But we got a rude awakening in the Conference. It was harder than any of us thought it would be.”
Luton spent five seasons playing non-league football. But this time allowed the club to reset itself, and make sure that past events did not repeat themselves. In 2007 the fan-backed Luton Town Football Club 2020 Consortium, led by Gary Sweet, purchased the club when it went into administration.
The Supporters Trust was then given 50,000 club shares by the new owners to ensure greater fan representation and input. The two entities then began to address the issues at the club to ensure long term stability.
“They had to clear out all of the issues they had inherited,” explains Harper. “The club off the pitch was having to do everything the right way. There were debts that they had to manage. But gradually, the ship steadied. We still had some days in the sun that made everyone realise that we could be a fantastic club again.”
The time Luton spent in the Conference has brought those associated with the club closer together.
Since Luton were promoted in 2014 after they won the Conference title under John Still, the team has gone from strength to strength. Their rapid rise through the leagues included back-to-back promotions to return to the Championship in 2019.
Harper explains that there have been several developments that have allowed the club to make this push. All while having a clear wage structure that the club will not break.
He points out that building a state-of-the-art training ground has allowed the club to attract better players.
