List of Luton Town F.C. seasons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
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]