Played For Both: Leeds United & Luton Town | OneFootball

Daniel Farke's men return to Elland Road on Wednesday evening as we prepare to face Luton Town in the Sky Bet Championship.

Ahead of the fixture, we have taken a look through our history and selected a Starting XI of players who have featured for both sides.

GOALKEEPER:

Ben Alnwick

The shot-stopper joined Luton Town on loan from Tottenham in September 2007 but was recalled just a month later. He made four appearances in his short spell with the club and three years later, he put pen to paper with Leeds. The Whites were among the long list of clubs that Alnwick had joined on loan, however, he failed to make an appearance for the club. He was named on the bench for two games but soon returned to his parent club and was shipped out on loan again.

DEFENDER:

Paul Shepherd

The full-back made just the one appearance for Leeds back in October 1996 in a 3-0 defeat away to Arsenal at Highbury. Shepherd then had a couple of loan spells before permanently departing Leeds in 1999. In 2001, he made the move to Luton where he made seven appearances for the Hatters.

DEFENDER:

Cody Drameh

Ex-Leeds United defender Cody Drameh made 19 appearances for Luton on loan from the Whites during the 2022/23 season, helping them on their way to the Premier League. The full-back made a total of 10 appearances for Leeds United in all competitions between 2021 and 2024.

DEFENDER:

John Faulkner

Don Revie signed Faulkner in 1970 from Cray Wanderers but only made a handful of appearances for the Whites. He made two appearances before suffering a knee injury which halted his progression with Leeds and only made two further appearances until his departure in 1972. He directly joined Luton Town where he spent the next six seasons of his career. Faulkner racked up 209 appearances for the Hatters and scored six goals before leaving in 1978.

MIDFIELDER:

Vince Hilaire

After seven years with Crystal Palace, Hilaire had a loan spell with San Jose Earthquakes and then had a stint at Luton Town in 1984. He played nine games in all competitions for the Hatters before joining Portsmouth the same year. Leeds United secured his signature in 1988 and the midfielder played 49 times in his debut year but just twice during the 1989/90 promotion campaign as he left for Stoke City at the start of the season.

MIDFIELDER:

Chris Kamara

Part of the 1989/90 Second Division title winning side, Kamara played 11 times in his debut season with the Whites but after injuring his Achilles tendon, he appeared sparingly through out the following season. Kamara later made a further four appearances during the 1991/92 First Division title winning campaign but left for Luton in November ’91. Overall, he played 24 games for the Whites and scored one goal. The midfielder then spent the next two seasons with the Hatters and racked up 54 appearances in both the First Division and second tier.

MIDFIELDER:

Matthew Spring

Spring came through Luton Town’s academy and between 1997 and 2004, he racked up 289 appearances and netted 30 times for the Bedfordshire side. Spring then made the direct move to Leeds who secured his signature ahead of the 2004-05 campaign. He spent just the one season at Elland Road and played 15 games before joining Watford in the summer of 2005.

MIDFIELDER:

Andros Townsend

Former Tottenham winger Townsend made the move to Yorkshire on loan in January 2012. During his short time with the club, he made 7 appearances and scored one goal. After spells with Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Everton, he then signed for Luton Town in 2023 ahead of their first ever Premier League campaign. He played 32 times for the club and netted one goal before joining Turkish League side Antalyaspor.

MIDFIELDER:

Kevin Nicholls

Nicholls joined Luton in 2001 and spent the majority of his career at Kenilworth Road and won two promotions with the club. After five years with the Hatters, he played 175 games and scored 30 goals before signing for Leeds in 2006. Injuries kept him out of action a number of times during his only season with Leeds as he played 15 times for the Whites in all competitions before departing for PNE.

FORWARD:

Ryan Hall

Hall reunited with his former Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock in October 2012 when he joined Leeds on loan from Southend. The deal was later made permanent but Hall made only nine appearances in total for the club before being released from his contract in 2013. He later had spells with Bromley, MK Dons, Rotherham and Notts County before signing for Luton in 2015. The winger racked up 20 appearances with the Hatters before being released at the end of the 2015-16 season.

FORWARD:

Enoch Showunmi

The former Nigeria international began his career with Luton Town in 2003 and spent three years with the club. During his time there, he played 102 games and scored 14 goals for the Hatters. Following spells with Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday, he joined LUFC in the summer of 2008. Showunmi remained with the club until January 2010. He was mainly used as an impact substitute during his time with the Whites as he started just seven times. Overall, he scored six goals in 28 appearances.