Luton Town FC was set up in 1885 and it is currently playing in the EFL Championship. The team's home ground is Kenilworth Road and its nickname is “The Hatters”. The club has a place in history as being the first club in the south of the country that turned professional.
History of Luton Town FC
The club was first started in 1885 and it began paying some players in 1890. It was the first club the following year to be completely professional in the south of England. It was then a founding member of the Southern Football League that started in 1894/1895. In the first two seasons of this league, Luton Town finished in second place.
The team joined the Football League in 1897/1898 and moved to a new home ground called Dunstable Road. It was in 1905 that the club moved to its current ground at Kenilworth Road. In the first few decades of the 20th century, Luton Town was relegated on a few occasions before earning promotion once again.
A great era: key dates
1950s
One of the club's best teams came around in the 1950s. The team had a good few international players. They got to the top flight for the first time in the cub’s history for the 1955/1956 season after finishing in second place in the Second Division. Luton Town FC has a few years of solid results in the First Division and got the FA Cup final in 1958/1959 but lost out to Nottingham Forest.
1964
The club was relegated the next season and was playing fourth-tier football by 1964/1965. Eventually, Luton Town got back to the First Division by the 1973/1974 season but quickly got relegated once more. David Pleat took over the team and he revolutionized the club and they started to see some success.
1986
They got back to the First Division and it was in 1986.1987 that Luton Town had its best finish in the First Division after a 7th place finish. Luton Town won the League Cup in 1987/1988, is a serious achievement at the time. The club lost the League Cup final to Nottingham Forest in 1988/1989.
Up and down
The club was relegated from the top tier after 1991/1992 and fell down to the Third Division within a few years. The club went into administration in 2003 but managed to recover. It won the League One title in 2004/2005. However, it went into administration once more and was docked 30 points for the 2008/2009 season. The club fell down into the Conference Premier in 2010/2011.
One of its memorable days recently came in the fourth round of the 2012/2013 FA Cup when they beat Premier League team Norwich City, being the first non-league team to beat a top tier side in the competition since 1989. The club clawed its way back up the leagues and got promoted to the Championship after a twelve-year absence after the 2018/2019 season.
Luton Town fan base
The nickname of the club comes from the town's historic hat-making trade. It has a strong supporter base and always had higher attendances on average when it was playing in the lower leagues than the vast majority of their opponents.
Luton Town FC plans to move away from its current stadium as it got planning permission from the Luton Borough Council in January 2019 to build a new stadium in central Luton Initially, this will have a capacity of 17,500 with the possibility of expanding to 23,000 seats.
The main rivalry for Luton Town is with Watford. While Watford has been ahead of Luton Town in recent years, Luton Town still has the upper hand in the head to head record.
Notable Luton Town players
The Luton Town team had international players speckled in over the years, such as:
- Syd Owen,
- George Cummins and
- Billy Bingham.
In subsequent years, the likes of Mal Donaghy, Paul Walsh and Mick Harford lined out for the club.
Betting on Luton Town
Luton Town has a lot of pride and has clawed its way back up the ranks in English football. There are always plenty of betting options for Luton Town games. This allows you to take a flexible approach to your betting. To see what the best football betting sites on the market today are, you can have a look at the reviews on Roger.com.
