List of Luton Town F.C. managers

Rob Edwards
Luton Town were promoted to the Premier League under Rob Edwards in the 2022–23 season.

Luton Town Football Club is an English association football club, based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire. The club was founded in 1885,[1] and will compete in the Premier League during the 2023–24 season.

The playing staff were originally organised by a trainer, and chosen for matches by a committee made up of directors led by the club's secretary.[2] The club appointed an official manager for the first time in 1925. George Thompson took up the role in February, but left after eight months, "scalded by his experience".[3] Thompson was not replaced until 1927, when former player John McCartney took charge.[4] Harold Wightman worked during the early 1930s to build a team to challenge for promotion, but was sacked early on in the 1935–36 season. Without a manager, the team finished as runners-up in the Third Division South, before topping the table in 1936–37 under Ned Liddle. Dally Duncan was appointed in 1947, and during his 11-year tenure he took Luton into the First Division for the first time.[5] After Duncan was sacked early in the 1958–59 season, the club's board of directors managed the team to the 1959 FA Cup final.[6]

Poor spells under four managers resulted in relegation to the Fourth Division by 1965.[7] Allan Brown became manager in November 1966, and Luton won the division in 1967–68.[8] Brown moved on halfway through the next season, and Alec Stock continued the revival, winning promotion to the Second Division in 1969–70.[9] Luton won another promotion in 1973–74 to return to the top division under Harry Haslam, but Haslam was unable to prevent relegation during the following season.[10] David Pleat became manager in 1978,[11] and built a team that took the 1981–82 Second Division championship. Though Pleat moved on in 1986, success continued—Luton finished seventh during 1986–87, and won the Football League Cup a year later under Ray Harford. Managed by Jimmy Ryan, the team avoided relegation in 1989–90, and repeated that feat during the following season. When Ryan was then sacked in favour of a return for Pleat,[11] Luton were relegated in 1991–92. Pleat left again in 1995, and a five-year spell under Lennie Lawrence then saw Luton drop to the third tier.[12] A disastrous 2000–01 season—in which three managers took the helm at the club—saw Luton fall into the bottom division of the Football League for the first time since 1968.[13][14][15][16][17]

Luton regained their Football League status following promotion to League Two under John Still in the 2013–14 season.

Joe Kinnear took Luton back up at the first time of asking, but was sacked by the club's new owners following a takeover in May 2003.[18][19] Mike Newell was appointed as manager,[20] and his side became League One champions in 2004–05. Internal troubles at the club started to intensify during the summer of 2006, as the club's chairman was revealed by Newell to be making illegal payments to agents[21]—after writing a scathing letter to the board,[21] Newell was sacked in March 2007.[21][22] Kevin Blackwell was appointed in his stead,[23] but was also sacked less than a year later on 16 January 2008;[24] former player Mick Harford was made Luton Town's new manager the same day,[25] and he was unable to prevent the club's relegation in 2007–08. After being deducted a total of 30 points by the Football League and The Football Association for 2008–09,[26] Luton were relegated to the Conference Premier;[27] however, the club claimed a Football League Trophy victory during the same season.[28] After two months of the 2009–10 season, Harford left the club by mutual consent,[29] to be replaced a month later by Richard Money.[30] Money's assistant, Gary Brabin, replaced him in March 2011,[31] and managed the club until he was sacked a year later.[32] His replacement, Paul Buckle, took charge in April 2012,[33] and was himself replaced in February 2013 by John Still.[34] Still took Luton back into the Football League in his first full season as manager, breaking a number of club records in the process.[35]

Nathan Jones
Nathan Jones oversaw Luton's promotion to League One in the 2017–18 season.

Still guided Luton to a comfortable finish in their first season back in League Two, but was sacked by the club in December 2015 following a poor run of form.[36] He was replaced by Nathan Jones in January 2016, who took on his first ever managerial role.[37] Jones led the club to promotion to League One in the 2017–18 season, before departing in January 2019 to join Championship club Stoke City.[38][39] He left Luton with the highest Football League points per game ratio of any manager in their history.[40] Mick Harford returned as caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, leading Luton to promotion to the Championship.[41] Graeme Jones was appointed as permanent manager in May 2019, though left the club by mutual consent before the end of the 2019–20 season with the club 23rd in the table.[42][43] Nathan Jones was reappointed in May 2020 and guided Luton to Championship safety on the final day of the season,[44][45] and led them to 12th place the following season with their highest points total in the second tier since 1981–82.[46] After he led Luton to the play-offs in 2021–22, in which they were beaten 2–1 on aggregate by Huddersfield Town in the semi-final,[47] Jones left in November 2022 with the club ninth in the table to take over at Premier League club Southampton.[48] He was succeeded by Rob Edwards,[49] who led Luton to promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, with a penalty shoot-out victory over Coventry City in the final, marking the club's return to the first tier after a 31-year absence.[50]

  1. ^ Collings. The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. p. 1.
  2. ^ Collings. The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 13–14.
  3. ^ Collings. The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 29–31.
  4. ^ Collings. The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 32–34.
  5. ^ Collings. The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 57–60.
  6. ^ Collings. The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 78–82.
  7. ^ Collings. The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 82–86.
  8. ^ Collings. The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 105–108.
  9. ^ Collings. The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 108–111.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Haslam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Pleat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lawrence was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hill was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Fuccillo is new Luton boss". BBC Sport. 16 November 2000. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kinnear was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Kinnear heads for the Hatters". The Independent. London. 8 February 2001. Retrieved 13 May 2009.[dead link]
  17. ^ Haylett, Trevor (25 April 2001). "Rotherham on the rise as Luton fall". The Independent. London. Retrieved 13 May 2009.[dead link]
  18. ^ Harrison, Lindsay (24 May 2003). "Kinnear parts company with Luton". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  19. ^ Lovejoy, Joe (12 October 2008). "Joe Kinnear: Still crazy after all these years". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Luton pick Newell". The Daily Telegraph. London. 23 June 2003. Archived from the original on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  21. ^ a b c "Exposed: The Chairman who paid agents £150,000 in bungs". Evening Standard. 15 May 2007. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  22. ^ "Struggling Luton sack boss Newell". BBC Sport. 15 March 2007. Archived from the original on 26 March 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  23. ^ "Luton unveil Blackwell as manager". BBC Sport. 27 March 2007. Archived from the original on 16 September 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  24. ^ Hooper, Andy (12 January 2008). "Kevin Blackwell resigns from Luton Town". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  25. ^ Hodges, Vicki; Caroe, Charlie (16 January 2008). "Mick Harford replaces Kevin Blackwell at Luton". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  26. ^ Solhekol, Kaveh (16 July 2008). "Luton Town lose appeal against points deduction". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  27. ^ "Luton 0–0 Chesterfield". BBC Sport. 13 April 2009. Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  28. ^ Fletcher, Paul (5 April 2009). "Luton 3–2 Scunthorpe (aet)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference Harfordgone was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference Moneyin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ "Club Statement". Luton Town F.C. 28 March 2011. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011.
  32. ^ "Club Statement". Luton Town F.C. 31 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012.
  33. ^ "Paul Buckle: the Town's new boss". Luton Town F.C. 6 April 2012. Archived from the original on 8 April 2012.
  34. ^ "John Still: Luton Town appoint Dagenham & Redbridge boss". BBC Sport. 26 February 2013. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  35. ^ "Football: 'The most remarkable season ever' – Luton Town boss John Still hails his record breakers". Bedfordshire on Sunday. Bedford. 27 April 2014. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017.
  36. ^ "John Still: Luton Town sack boss, Andy Awford named caretaker". BBC Sport. 17 December 2015. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  37. ^ "Nathan Jones: Brighton coach appointed Luton Town boss". BBC Sport. 6 January 2016. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  38. ^ "Luton seal promotion to League One with Carlisle draw". Luton Today. National World Publishing. 21 April 2018. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  39. ^ Wales, Keith (9 January 2019). "Nathan Jones confirmed as new Stoke City manager". Stoke-on-Trent Live. Local World. Archived from the original on 9 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  40. ^ "Club statement: Nathan Jones departs for Stoke City". Luton Town F.C. 9 January 2019. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  41. ^ "Luton Town: Mick Harford to remain manager for rest of season". BBC Sport. 12 February 2019. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  42. ^ "Graeme Jones: Luton Town appoint former Belgium and West Brom assistant as manager". BBC Sport. 2 May 2019. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  43. ^ "Graeme Jones leaves Luton by mutual consent". Sky Sports. 24 April 2020. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  44. ^ "Nathan Jones: Luton Town reappoint former Stoke City manager". BBC Sport. 28 May 2020. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  45. ^ Law, James (22 July 2020). "Luton Town 3–2 Blackburn Rovers". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  46. ^ Simmonds, Mike (2 June 2021). "Luton skipper Bradley: Beating 12th place will be our 'biggest challenge yet'". Luton Today. National World Publishing. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  47. ^ Woodcock, Ian (16 May 2022). "Huddersfield Town 1–0 Luton Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  48. ^ "Nathan Jones: Southampton appoint Luton boss as new manager". BBC Sport. 10 November 2022. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  49. ^ "Rob Edwards: Luton Town name former Watford boss as manager". BBC Sport. 17 November 2022. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  50. ^ Scott, Ged (27 May 2023). "Coventry City 1–1 Luton Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.