List_of_Luton_Town_F.C._seasons

List of Luton Town F.C. seasons

List of Luton Town F.C. seasons

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Luton Town Football Club is an English football club, founded in 1885.[1] After becoming the first professional team in the south of England in 1891,[2] Luton joined The Football League in 1897 before leaving three years later.[3] The club rejoined the League in 1920,[4] and reached its top division in 1955–56.[5] After losing the 1959 FA Cup Final 2–1 to Nottingham Forest,[6] a period of decline saw Luton in the Fourth Division by 1965.[7] After a swift revival the club was back in Division Two by 1970.[8] Luton earned another promotion four years later, returning to Division One for the 1974–75 season, in which Luton were relegated back to the Second Division.[9]

Luton Town Performances from 1897 until 2023

Financial crises during the 1970s led to the sale of important players[10][11] and it was not until David Pleat, a former Luton player, was appointed in 1978 that Luton started to recover.[12] Pleat's team achieved promotion in 1981–82, and remained in Division One until 1992. Luton won the League Cup in the 1987–88 season with a 3–2 victory over Arsenal, but it marked the beginning of decline.[9] Inconsistent performance and financial uncertainty meant that Luton rose and fell through the divisions from season to season,[13][14][15] and in 2007 a collapse began that would result in three successive relegations.[9] The club claimed a Football League Trophy victory in 2009,[16] but with it came the relegation to the Conference Premier made inevitable by 40 points deducted in two seasons.[17][18] Luton contested five years in non-League football, including three unsuccessful play-off campaigns, before winning promotion to League Two as Conference Premier champions in the 2013–14 season.[19] The club were promoted to League One after finishing second in League Two in 2017–18,[20][21] and the following season they won a second successive promotion to the Championship after winning the League One title.[22][23]

Key

Champions Runners-up Promoted Relegated

Top scorer and number of goals scored shown in bold when he was also top scorer for the division
Division shown in bold when it changes due to promotion, relegation or reorganisation
League results shown in italics for abandoned or wartime competitions

Seasons

More information Season, League ...

Footnotes

  1. The League Cup competition started in the 1960–61 season.
  2. Luton Town were founder members of the Southern Football League.
  3. Luton Town left the Southern League to become founder members of the United League.
  4. Luton were elected to the Football League Second Division. They continued to field a second side in the United League for two more seasons.
  5. Luton resigned from The Football League and rejoined the Southern League.
  6. Luton Town started to enter a team into the Western Football League as well as the Southern League in 1907, but this arrangement only lasted two seasons. 1907–08 was spent in Division 1B, 1908–09 in Division 1A.
  7. Luton were elected to the Football League Third Division.
  8. Because of the outbreak of the Second World War, the 1939–40 season was abandoned in September and all results annulled. Three matches had been played.
  9. During the first season after the Second World War, 1945–46, the Football League was not contested and all FA Cup ties were played over two legs.
  10. Luton Town's first appearance in a major final. Luton lost 2–1 to Nottingham Forest.
  11. The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win.
  12. Highest finish in the English football pyramid.
  13. Luton Town were disqualified from the 1986–87 League Cup for refusing to admit away fans following the 1985 Kenilworth Road riot.[24]
  14. Defeated Arsenal 3–2
  15. Lost 4–1 to Reading
  16. Lost 3–1 to Nottingham Forest
  17. Upon its formation before the 1992–93 season, the FA Premier League became the top tier of English football; the First, Second and Third Divisions then became the second, third and fourth tiers, respectively.
  18. Lost in the play-off semi-final to Crewe Alexandra, 4–3 on aggregate
  19. Before the 2004–05 season, Football League re-branded Division One as the Football League Championship. Divisions Two and Three became Leagues One and Two, respectively.
  20. 10 points deducted for entering administration[25]
  21. 30 points deducted—20 by the Football League, 10 by the FA—for various financial irregularities under past owners[26]
  22. Defeated Scunthorpe United 3–2 after extra time (2–2 after 90 minutes)
  23. Lost in the play-off semi-final to York City, 2–0 on aggregate
  24. Lost in the play-off final to AFC Wimbledon, 4–3 on penalties (0–0 after 90 minutes and extra time)
  25. Lost to York City in the play-off final, 2–1
  26. Lowest finish in the English football pyramid.
  27. Lost in the play-off semi-final to Blackpool, 6–5 on aggregate
  28. Lost in the play-off semi-final to Huddersfield Town, 2–1 on aggregate
  29. Won in the play-off final to Coventry City, 6–5 on penalties (1–1 after 90 minutes and extra time)

References

General

  • Collings, Timothy (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. Luton Town F.C. ISBN 0-951067-90-7.
  • Bailey, Steve (December 1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. Soccerdata. ISBN 1-899468-10-2.
  • "Luton Town". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  • Hayes, Dean P. (November 2002). Completely Top Hatters!. The Book Castle. ISBN 1-903747-27-9.
  • "Soccerbase". Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 April 2009.

Specific

  1. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 1–2.
  2. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 3–4.
  3. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 11–13.
  4. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 26–27.
  5. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 70–74.
  6. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 78–82.
  7. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 95–98.
  8. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 108–111.
  9. Rundle, Richard. "Football Club History Database – Luton Town". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  10. Vernon, Leslie (1971). "May 1971". Rothman's Football Yearbook 1971–72. The Queen Anne Press.
  11. Vernon, Leslie (1976). "December 1975". Rothman's Football Yearbook 1976–77. The Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-362-00259-2.
  12. "David Pleat's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  13. "Winners and Losers". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. 6 May 1996. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  14. Haylett, Trevor (25 April 2001). "Rotherham on the rise as Luton fall". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 24 May 2009.[dead link]
  15. Brown, Geoff (1 May 2005). "Round-up : Coventry end with demolition Derby". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  16. Fletcher, Paul (5 April 2009). "Luton 3–2 Scunthorpe (aet)". BBC. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  17. Solhekol, Kaveh (16 July 2008). "Luton Town lose appeal against points deduction". The Times. London: Times Newspapers. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  18. "Luton 0–0 Chesterfield". BBC. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  19. "Luton Town win Conference Premier and Football League spot". BBC Sport. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  20. Simmonds, Mike (21 April 2018). "Luton seal promotion to League One with Carlisle draw". Luton Today. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  21. "Luton Town 3–1 Forest Green Rovers". BBC Sport. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  22. "League One roundup: Luton seal title as Plymouth go down on goal difference". The Guardian. London. 4 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  23. Hayes (2002). Completely Top Hatters!. pp. 7–8.
  24. "Luton suffer 10-point deduction". BBC. 22 November 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  25. "Luton to face 30-point deduction". BBC. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2009.


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