Luton Town, as the name suggests, is a football club based in the town of Luton which was founded back in 1885. They were the first club in Southern England to turn professional and joined the football league in 1897 however had to leave in 1900 due to financial problems but returned 20 years later  Their nickname is the Hatters due to Luton’s rich history within the hat-making trade and their home ground is Kenilworth Road which has been their home for 118 years becoming famous for the away end as to enter it you have to walk over somebody's back garden. In the club’s long history there have been many promotions, relegations and periods of time where they have been in financial trouble but have still managed to come through at the top level. They’re now at the top level however they don’t have a ‘rich’ history in either context with their only major trophy being the League Cup, which they won in 1988, where they shocked defending champions Arsenal with a 3-2 victory at Old Wembley stadium in front of a crowd of 95,000 fans.

As of the 2023/24 season Luton Town are back in the Premier League after a arduous 31-year wait. Luton’s quick rise back to the top division came as a surprise to most due to the fact they were playing National League (non-league football) just 13 years ago, this means they were playing at a level below the likes of Scunthorpe United and Aldershot Town whom are now both playing 5 and 4 divisions below, respectively. This means within 13 years Luton have gained 5 promotions which is incredibly rare in modern football. It’s not just Luton breaking records but their midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu is the first player in English football history to go from the Vanarama National League to the Premier League with the same club, a feat that nobody else will be achieving anytime soon. It sounds even more incredible when you realise that Mpanzu is still only 29 years old. 

Last season Luton recorded their highest ever championship finish, placing 3rd by the end of the season having the 2nd best away record in the league only behind title champions Burnley. Throughout the championship season Luton had gained many admirers to how much they were punching above their weight throughout the season beating some of the championship’s biggest sides like Norwich City; twice, Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and their biggest rivals Watford in what is called the M1 Derby. These sort of results were what got people, like myself, engaged in the football club as 10 years ago they wouldn’t have dreamed of evening being at this point let alone the premier league now.

After the overwhelming league campaign Luton came up against fellow dreamers Sunderland whom many neutrals also would have loved to see make their return to the top flight after their 8 year absence. Hearts sank at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland came out 2-1 winners in the 1st leg of the tie. Many people were then worried that the dream for Luton might be over and we could have to potentially wait another year to see them but the club still had hope. With the 2nd leg to play, they returned home to Kenilworth Road with utter determination to keep their dream alive and this showed on the pitch. Luton had turned the tie on its head, they came out 2-0 winners therefore with the aggregate scoreline being 3-2 they were headed to Wembley for the play-off final. Little did the players know at this time they were 120 minutes away from being titled as a Premier League side. All that stood between them was another team fantasising about a top flight return, Coventry City. It all started well for the Hatters as they took the lead 23 minutes into the game through Jordan Clarke who was set up by Adebayo after a fantastic solo run however their goal was cancelled out by Gustavo Hamer in the 67th minute of the game, from then on it was a really tense battle with neither side being able to score the winner despite Luton hearts melting when they scored in 27th minute of extra time but the goal was disallowed due to a handball in the build-up. Then the game got taken to a penalty shootout, for a place in the top division of English football. Luton stepped up first and took the lead and it was a tense shootout with every penalty going in, that was until Coventry City’s 6th penalty where Dabo skied it over the bar.