Two relegations later: Will Luton bounce back?

BBC News

2 days ago

Having completed a remarkable rise from non-league to the top tier in just 10 years, Luton Town's fans were made to wait for their first taste of Premier League football at Kenilworth Road in 2023.The club had been unable to bring the iconic stadium up to standard in time for their first home game scheduled in August, so West Ham were first to run out at a ground that had hosted the likes of Barnet and Forest Green Rovers in League Two six years prior on September 1. Less than two years later and after two consecutive relegations, Kenilworth Road will raise the curtain on the 2025-26 season on Friday.They will face newly-promoted AFC Wimbledon in a repeat of the 2011 Conference play-off final, which the Wombles won on penalties at the end of a tense 0-0 draw.The Hatters' rise was steep and inspiring. The drop has been sheer and shocking.
'Three crazy years' - how did we get here?
Luton's penalty shootout victory over Coventry City under the arch at Wembley in May 2023 in the Championship play-off final will already feel a distant memory to some.Fankaty Dabo missed the decisive spot-kick for the Sky Blues to send the Hatters back to the top tier for the first time since 1992.Their last season at the top table was also the last of the old First Division before the formation of the Premier League.In the 31 years that followed, the Bedfordshire club dropped down the leagues and fell out of the EFL altogether after they were docked points for financial reasons in 2008-09, before becoming the first club to climb from the fifth tier to the top in the Premier League era.Since Luton lost to Wimbledon in the Conference [now the National League] play-off final 14 years ago, the Hatters have been on a rollercoaster of four promotions and two relegations.For BBC Three Counties Radio commentator Simon Oxley, the experience has been a "whirlwind"."There's rarely ever any middle ground – it's either a relegation scrap or promotion," Oxley told BBC Sport."This last three years has been crazy. To be back in League One is again really strange – they went through League One in one season on the way through. Overall it's been a whirlwind."
The clubs who have suffered consecutive relegations
Four clubs have have experienced back-to-back relegations from the Premier League to League One:Swindon Town [1993-94, 94-95],Wolverhampton Wanderers [2011-12, 12-13],Sunderland [2016-17, 17-18],Luton Town [2023-24, 24-25].
What has changed at Luton this summer?
Following a respectable showing in the Premier League in which the Hatters finished 18th, six points adrift of safety, last season began with a lot of promise but quickly descended into a nightmare.Having been in charge of arguably the biggest day in the club's history less than two years before, Rob Edwards left Kenilworth Road with Luton 20th in the Championship and on the back of four straight defeats in January.Matt Bloomfield was brought in, having impressively guided unfancied Wycombe Wanderers up to second in League One and into an unexpected promotion battle with big spenders Birmingham City and Wrexham.The Chairboys would ultimately fall short and lose to Charlton Athletic in the play-offs, while Bloomfield was unable to keep Luton in the Championship as they went down 5-3 to West Bromwich Albion on the final day of the season.Seven players have left this summer, including the likes of Amari'i Bell and Alfie Doughty, while eight have been brought in as they prepare for an unexpected return to League One."It looks like horses for courses; players who know the division or have played in the division higher - players to do a job, which is to get straight back up," Oxley said."There can't be any less ambition than that. They've got to get back to the Championship. There's a lot of players there Matt Bloomfield either knows through Wycombe connections on ones he feels can do the job."
'We believe we can challenge at the top'
Luton spent only one season in League One after their promotion from League Two, going straight up to the second tier as champions under Mick Harford in 2018-19.After months of change on and off the pitch, Harford, who is now head of recruitment at the club, feels they can bounce back at the first time of asking this time round."I would say so [promotion has to be the expectation], with the players we've brought in, the players who are still here from Premiership days and Championship days, you can never predict but we believe, we hope that we'll be challenging at the top of the league and trying to get out of the league," he said."We're in a really good position and we believe we'll be challenging."Kevin Harper, who is on the board of directors for the Luton Town Supporters' Trust, agreed automatic promotion had to be the aim for the season given the club is still receiving parachute payments and has a wealth of Championship-calibre players."It would be unacceptable to be out of the top six, but we should be looking at going up automatically," he said.
A repeat of the 2011 Conference final
"There is absolutely no way of dressing last season up; it was disappointing. We should have at the very least consolidated [our position] in the Championship, if not done the sort of thing that Burnley and Sheffield United did."All we can do is put it right this season." Having had early-season Friday night matches against West Ham and Chelsea two years ago, the Hatters will kick off the EFL season against AFC Wimbledon on Friday, who have spent the past three years in League Two.It is a club Harford knows well.He made 79 appearances for Wimbledon FC in a four-year spell from 1994 to 1998 and the current club is one he has a lot of respect for."It's going to be great [to host them at Kenilworth Road]. I've got total admiration for them for the way they've built the football club," he added. "They've done amazing. The chairman, the board, the players and the staff deserve every accolade they get because it's an amazing achievement, what they've done."