The 2008–09 season was the 123rd season in the history of Luton Town Football Club. The team's 23rd-place finish in the 2006–07 Football League Championship and 24th-place finish in 2007–08 Football League One meant the club competed in League Two. The club was docked 30 points at the start of the season; 10 by The Football Association for irregular matters involving player transfers, and 20 by the Football League for breaking the rules on exiting administration. As a result, the club finished at the bottom of the league and was relegated to the Conference Premier. The season was not, however, without success – Luton beat Scunthorpe United 3–2 at Wembley to win the Football League Trophy for the first time.
This article covers the period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.
Background
Kevin Blackwell's Luton team had a woeful 2007–08 season, due in no small part to the chaos behind the scenes at the club. Chairman David Pinkney, who had only months before taken over the club promising success, took the club into administration on 22 November 2007, stating he would fund the club's overheads. The club had ten points deducted as punishment. Meanwhile, an FA probe on transfer irregularities dragged on, described by Pinkney as "a storm in a teacup".
On 12 January, Kevin Blackwell and his assistants Sam Ellis and John Carver announced their intention to resign from the club on 9 February. This came after the administrator had sold captain Chris Coyne to Colchester United and midfielder David Edwards to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £350,000 and £675,000 respectively. Blackwell had managed to guide his team to an FA Cup replay against Liverpool at Anfield, which assisted financially, but failed to prevent further sales. On the same day as the replay at Anfield, 15 January, the administrator awarded "preferred bidder" status to Luton Town Football Club 2020, a consortium fronted by broadcaster and Luton Town supporter Nick Owen. 2020 loaned money to the club to keep them operating and, in return, were granted exclusive negotiation rights until the end of February 2008. Blackwell and his assistants were all sacked by the administrator on the same day, following a 5–0 defeat to Liverpool, to be replaced by former player Mick Harford, with Warren Neill installed as his assistant. On 26 February, the 2020 consortium had their bid for the club conditionally accepted by the administrator. This meant that they were now custodians of the club until the end of the season, and that the Football League would have to negotiate terms to return the Golden Share to Luton Town for the 2008–09 campaign.
Luton were relegated to League Two following a 2–1 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on 12 April. The defeat left the Hatters rooted to the bottom of the table on 33 points, three points behind fellow strugglers Port Vale, who were also relegated on the same day. Luton lost all of their remaining league games and finished the season in bottom place and 17 points adrift of safety.
On 3 June, the FA's probe finally finished, and Luton were found guilty of 15 misconduct charges. The club was handed a ten-point deduction for the 2008–09 campaign, and a £50,000 fine. However, the situation soon went from bad to worse as, since the club had violated Football League rules by leaving administration without having made a Company Voluntary Arrangement with its creditors, the Football League only offered to return the Golden Share (that would allow the club to compete) to Luton on the condition that they play with a further twenty-point deduction. Luton appealed against the decision, but their appeal was thrown out. As a result, Luton Town began the 2008–09 season with an unprecedented −30 points, the biggest point deduction on record in the top four rungs of English football. The Hatters faced a mighty fight merely to avoid relegation from the Football League for the first time in their history.
Review
Pre-season Following the player sales in the previous season, Luton manager Mick Harford needed to practically rebuild his squad from scratch. A Football League-enforced transfer embargo that was in place until 48 hours before their first game of the season handicapped Harford further. Once the embargo was lifted on 8 August, the club signed nine players: former player Kevin Nicholls returned from a spell at Preston North End to captain the team; Claude Gnakpa joined from Peterborough United; Asa Hall signed from Birmingham City; George Pilkington arrived from Port Vale, and many others were signed including Michael Spillane and Chris Martin, both on season-long loans from Norwich City.
August and September Luton made an indifferent start to the season, beating Plymouth Argyle in the League Cup, before going down 5–1 in the next round at Reading. By the end of September, Luton had reached −19 points in the league. This included an opening day home defeat to Port Vale, but narrow away victories over both Gillingham and Exeter City.
October Luton's form soon slumped – after a draw away at Bradford City and a penalty shootout win over Brentford in the Football League Trophy, they lost two home games in a row. First Darlington inflicted defeat with a last minute winner in front of the Oak Road, then Luton were beaten 2–1 at home by Accrington Stanley in the first ever meeting between the two clubs.
Meanwhile, manager Mick Harford continued to try to regenerate the squad – Irish winger Garreth O'Connor was drafted in from free agency, as was former Coventry City forward Wayne Andrews. A spate of injuries did not help matters – talismanic captain Nicholls had not played since August, forward Sam Parkin was struggling with a recurring ankle injury, and defender Pilkington was out after becoming injured in early September. Harford introduced several younger players into the squad, including 16-year-old left-back Jake Howells from the youth team, 19-year-old Harry Worley on loan from Leicester City and 20-year-old striker Tom Craddock on loan from Middlesbrough.
Craddock made a big impact in his second game – scoring two goals in a 2–2 draw at Grimsby Town. Craddock earned and scored a penalty after Grimsby had taken an early lead, and then, deep into injury time, crashed the ball into the far corner from long range to secure a vital point for Luton. Luton Town history was made in this game as striker Jordan Patrick pulled on the number 29 shirt to become the club's youngest ever player – at 16 years and 7 days, Patrick came off the bench to set up Craddock's equaliser. Craddock scored again in a 2–1 win against Bury to quickly establish himself in the team. Parkin, one of the club's highest earners, returned from injury during this game, but failed to score. He was sent out on loan to Leyton Orient days later, with a view to a permanent deal. Three days later, a Tuesday night game against AFC Bournemouth at Kenilworth Road was abandoned after only eight minutes due to bad weather.
November Luton's form was interrupted – a 3–0 annihilation followed that Saturday at Shrewsbury Town, putting a dent into Luton's charge for safety. A win in the Football League Trophy, against League One club Walsall, was the exception rather than the rule. Ahead of the next game, at home against Dagenham & Redbridge, Luton were boosted by the news that Craddock had extended his loan from Middlesbrough by a month. However, when Craddock injured his groin only days later, Luton were forced to bring in another striker – former Queens Park Rangers player Kevin Gallen was signed on loan for a month from MK Dons. Results did not improve, with consecutive losses to Rochdale and Brentford. An exit from the FA Cup followed, as Southend comfortably beat Luton 3–1 at Roots Hall.
December December saw a revival in fortunes, as the Hatters went the entire month unbeaten. After a thrilling 3–3 draw at Kenilworth Road in the rescheduled game against Bournemouth, Luton beat Barnet 3–1. A 0–0 draw at top-of-the-table Wycombe Wanderers followed a week later, before Luton beat Colchester United in the Football League Trophy to earn a place in the Southern Area Final against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Craddock extended his loan from Middlesbrough by another month soon after. Luton's unbeaten run continued on Boxing Day; Ian Roper's goal six minutes into injury time sealing a point at Chesterfield. Two days later came a home win against Lincoln City, Roper scoring again after Martin had put Luton 2–0 ahead – the match finished 3–2. Luton were now only one point away from cancelling out their 30-point deduction.
January Winger Ian Henderson, available as a free agent, signed on New Year's Day and Gallen's loan was also extended. To make room on the wage bill, O'Connor and Kevin Watson both left after short careers as Luton players. The club then had a bad run of results, including a 5–1 defeat at Darlington. Before the Darlington game, Luton signed Colchester United forward Akanni-Sunday Wasiu on loan for a month, while extending goalkeeper Conrad Logan's stay for a further month and signing Gallen on a permanent deal. Andrews was released soon after.
In the first leg of the Football League Trophy Southern Area Final on 20 January, Luton travelled to Brighton & Hove Albion and battled to a 0–0 draw, giving them a slight advantage for the second leg at Kenilworth Road. A controversial 3–3 draw with Bradford City saw both teams' managers, Mick Harford and Stuart McCall, and Luton captain Nicholls all set dates for FA hearings following a bizarre refereeing performance from Trevor Kettle.
Craddock signed an £80,000 permanent deal on 27 January, with Drew Talbot leaving for Chesterfield on loan to make room on the wage budget. Luton's poor run of league form continued.
February A series of postponements due to adverse weather meant the club did not play for another two weeks and, when they did, they lost 2–1 to Dagenham & Redbridge.
17 February saw Brighton & Hove Albion return for the second leg of the Football League Trophy Southern Area Final. Luton took the lead after 59 seconds through Craddock, following a defensive mix-up. Brighton equalised with a Nicky Forster goal before David Livermore was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Spillane. Neither club made a breakthrough in the remainder of the match, which went to a penalty shoot-out. Luton's on-loan goalkeeper from Derby County, Lewis Price, saved from Jason Jarrett and Chris Birchall to take Luton into the final against Scunthorpe United on 5 April at Wembley Stadium. This appeared to have given Luton something of a confidence boost as they then went four games unbeaten in the league. Craddock scored again against Shrewsbury Town as Luton won 3–1, and carried on his scoring form over the next month.
March The next major game was on 17 March against relegation rivals Grimsby Town. Grimsby boss Mike Newell, formerly manager of Luton Town, was suing the club for unfair dismissal. Newell received an angry reception, which turned to jeers when Hall scored a last minute winner to give Luton the three points.
Macclesfield Town then visited Kenilworth Road, and a Craddock penalty was enough to secure a 1–0 victory for Luton – the first time the club had secured two straight wins all season. Meanwhile, the club announced they had sold out their allocated 30,000 tickets for the Football League Trophy final almost immediately, and were given another 8,500 which went just as fast – setting a record for the most fans at Wembley Stadium from one club. However, Luton were told they would not be given any more due to "segregation issues". As a result, the final saw 40,000 Wembley seats empty.