Ranked: The top 10 best players Luton Town have produced from their academy – Do you agree? | OneFootball

It’s been a decent season for Luton Town with them looking to stabilise further in the Championship and then think about building up in the seasons to come.

After getting back into the second-tier for last year, they had a real fight to stay up but it was one they were successful in and this campaign has shown real signs of progress.

They’ll be hoping to keep that up in the years on the way, then, and it’ll be interesting to see what young players come through to help them out.

That in mind, then, we’re taking a look at some of the best players that have been at the academy with the Hatters in the past, and using transfermarkt to help rank them from 10th place to 1st place.

Let’s take a look at 10 of the best now, with some eye-catching names among those to have been at the club in their youth…

Tyreeq Bakinson is seen as one of the bright youngsters at Bristol City but it is at Luton Town where he started his career.

He made just one league appearance for the Hatters before moving to the Robins with him growing up in north London as a child.

He’s had loans to the likes of Plymouth Argyle and Newport County in his time at Bristol City and will be eager now to be stamping his authority at Ashton Gate.

Indeed, he’s been a real regular in the side this season for the Robins and, though the campaign as a whole has underwhelmed for the team, he’ll be delighted with the way that it has gone on a personal level.

Jay Dasilva is from Luton and started off in their youth set-up between 2007 and 2012.

The defender is also at Bristol City now but actually came through further at Chelsea, first, as one of their many good young players that just didn’t get a chance at Stamford Bridge.

Loans at Charlton earned him good EFL experience before Bristol City took him on a temporary basis and liked what they saw, with them completing a permanent move soon after.

He’s made over 60 league appearances for the club since arriving and will be eager to keep that up in the seasons to come at Ashton Gate. Cauley Woodrow had time at Tottenham and Luton as a kid but never made a senior appearance in the league for the Hatters.

He’s obviously best known for coming through at Fulham but appearances there were limited too and we now find him in the Championship with Barnsley.

During his time at Craven Cottage between 2011 and 2019, he spent several loans in the EFL at various clubs.

The likes of Burton Albion, Southend United and Bristol City all had him for a spell before the Barnsley loan stuck.

Indeed, he’s now looking to help the Tykes get into the Premier League. Daryl Murphy has played for various clubs in his long career and one of the early ones he was on the books at was Luton Town.

His youth career saw him at Southend United and then the Hatters with him not managing to make a senior appearance for the club before leaving for pastures new.

Since then, he’s played for the likes of Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town, Celtic, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Bolton Wanderers, so there are certainly some big clubs on his CV and, with that, top experiences.

An Irish international, he’s now playing for Waterford – the town in which he was born over the other side of the Irish Sea. Kevin Foley is another Irish international to have been on the books at Luton Town as a youngster.

He was there between 1995 and 2007 as both a youngster and a senior professional, making over 150 league appearances for the Hatters during that time – he turned a first-teamer in 2002.

After Luton, he moved to Wolves where he again racked up the appearances – totalling over 190 in the league – as the Old Gold returned to the Premier League whilst he was there.

Since, then, he never really featured for a club on a long-term basis with spells at the likes of Charlton, Coventry, Ipswich Town and FC Copenhagen perhaps most interestingly.

He’s now the assistant at Tampa Bay Rowdies in America.

Jack Wilshere is perhaps the most naturally talented player on this list but injuries have hampered his career and so we’ve had to put him here for now.

He’s obviously best known for his time at Arsenal and many Gunners claim him as one of their own but it actually started for him briefly at Luton in 2001 before his move to the Premier League side.

The Hatters obviously can’t take too much credit for his development as he was taken at the age of 9 but it’s obvious they spotted him as having talent.

His career highlights have been playing in the Champions League and playing for England but injuries have unfortunately dogged him, with him now at Bournemouth in the Championship.

Matt Taylor had a fine career and kicked it off with Luton Town.

He made over 120 league appearances for the club between 1999 and 2002 before moving on to embark on a career that was largely based in the Premier League.

Indeed, in the years to come he featured for the likes of Portsmouth, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers with him scoring some spectacular left-footed goals along the way from ridiculously long range.

Time at Burnley brought an end to his spell in the Premier League as he then moved down the leagues to play for Northampton Town and Swindon Town. Curtis Davies is another to have had a fine career up near the top levels of the game.

He spent time both at Wimbledon and Luton Town in his youth team days with him with the Hatters’ academy between 2001 and 2003.

He turned a senior player for them in 03 and turned out over 50 times in the league between then and 2005 before sealing a big move away to West Bromwich Albion.

Indeed, spells in the Premier League would follow for the likes of the Baggies, Aston Villa and Hull City with him then joining Derby County in 2017, bidding to help them get promoted to the Premier League.

Of course, that’s not happened yet and he’s been hit by injuries at times but he’s still a reliable, experienced pro that the Rams can call upon. Matt Upson was another centre-back to come through at Luton.

He was on the books at Ipswich Town to start with having grown up in Suffolk but Luton took him in in the mid-90s.

However, he featured very little for the Hatters as Arsenal came calling in 1997 to spark a six-year association with the Gunners, though he never really managed to get into the first-team regularly given the talent they had there during that period.

A good player, however, spells at Birmingham City and West Ham United showed what he could really do with him earning over 20 England caps between 2003 and 2010.

He also played for the likes of Leicester City and MK Dons towards the end of his career.

John Hartson joined Luton Town when he was 16 and that launched his career.

He made over 5o league appearances for them between 1992 and 1995 before, as with Upson, Arsenal were knocking on the door.

Making over 50 appearances for the Gunners, he then joined West Ham United and then Wimbledon, before a brief spell at Coventry City.

Celtic, though, was where he made his name under Martin O’Neill as he scored 88 league goals in 146 league games as the Hoops enjoyed fantastic success during that period of the early to mid-00s.