Luton Town – From the Conference to the Championship | OneFootball

As Luton Town’s official website states, at Kenilworth Road ‘there’s been ups, there’s been downs – but it’s never been dull.’ Although fans will be hoping for more ups than downs in the New Year as the team hang treacherously above the drop zone in the Championship. Championship odds 2019/20 put the Hatters as second-favourites for relegation, which would be a shame considering the side’s recent triumphs.

The doom and gloom

Six seasons ago, the side were in the Conference Premier after what were a few heart-wrenching years. Football fans watched the side relegated in three consecutive seasons after the club was hit by a financial crisis.

At the end of the 2006-07 season, Luton Town were relegated from the Championship after finishing 23rd in the table with a poor record of winning 10 games from 46.

At the beginning of the 2007-08 season, the club entered administration and were deducted 10 points – potentially a sign of the bad weather to come. The hurt didn’t stop there, and the Hatters were relegated once more, this time from League One after finishing at the bottom of the table. The side finished the season with 11 wins and 33 points, but it was nowhere near enough to survive – they needed a whopping 18 points to make it out of the relegation zone.

It’s bad enough being relegated in back-to-back seasons, but in the 2008-09 season, Luton were sent down once more, after being docked 30 points at the start of the season. Although it wasn’t all bad, the season did have one positive note in that the Hatters won the Football League Trophy – although most fans would have traded the cup to rid all of their financial worries and secure the club’s future in the Football League.

Conference Premier

Non-League football wasn’t familiar territory for the club, after enjoying many years in the top tiers of football, everyone was shocked when Luton disappeared from the 92. After almost bouncing back after their first season but losing to York City 2-0 on aggregate in the play-off semi-finals, they would go on to spend five seasons in the Conference.

In the following two seasons, the Hatters lost in the playoffs. First to AFC Wimbledon in 2011 and then once more to York City. In 2013 the side didn’t even make the playoffs, after sacking Paul Buckle at the end of February for failing to win a game since the 8th of January, the side turned to John Still. Although the manager didn’t manage to get them into the playoffs that season, he did help the side to become champions the following year – finally putting the Hatters back in the English Football League.

The only way is up

After four seasons dancing around the top half of League Two and losing in the playoffs in 2017, Luton Town managed to secure automatic promotion in 2018. Nathan Jones stood at the helm from 6th January 2016 to 9th January 2019, over three years – an impressive feat for modern-day managers.

In his three years, he helped to secure the side two promotions to land the club back in the Championship. Although he left the club to join Championship side Stoke City midway through the season, he had already put the club in good stead to claim the title ‘Champions of League One’ earlier this year.

The Championship

It’s been a tough season for Luton so far. Graeme Jones’ men aren’t quite out of the competition yet, but they’re getting a little too familiar with the relegation zone. Having lost their previous four games with only two league wins this season, fans are getting nervous about history repeating.

In an article from Luton Today, Jones has admitted the side ‘need to get stronger in the January transfer window’. Currently one point clear from relegation, it’s going to be a battle for the rest of the season to save the success they’ve fought for in their more recent campaigns.