The dramatic rise of Luton City, the stadium team that visitors enter through the backyards of neighboring houses

At Wembley, the cathedral of English football, to select Third promotion to the Premier League We had to wait until the penalty shootout, in which he was left with the victory Luton Town. The club offers a complete curiosity: It has a playground, which is entered through the courtyards of the neighboring houses. after 1-1 in regular timewon 6-5 on shots at Coventry Cityin “Party of Romantics”.

Luton Town took the lead in the 23rd minute with a goal from Jordan ClarkThe competitor is fair at 21 in the second stage, thanks to a goal from the nationalization of the Dutch Brazilian Gustavo Hammer And the series of penalties was perfect for both of them in the first five shots. After what Daniel Potts He converted his team’s sixth and that Vankati Dabuwhich he had to record to prolong the suspense, He fired his shot over the crossbarMadness broke away from Luton.

Introducing the third promotion to the Premier League

More than 70,000 almost evenly distributed fans filled the biggest temple of British football for a final as unexpected as it was emotional, beforehand and in the induction. The ticket was taken by a club that was in third place in the standings and had a story as intriguing as getting to its home stadium. Luton finally came to the conclusion of the Championship in 1992, the year of the transformation of the English leagues (including the birth of the Premier League); They fell 2-1 to Notts County, who were already doomed to relegation, also dropping out of the tier. That experience 31 years ago was the last of the great experiments of the Hatters (“Hatters”), representative of a town about 47 kilometers northwest of London which in the 17th century was distinguished for the production of hats and is known for having one of four alternative airports to Heathrow. main in the United Kingdom.

Because of this defeat, Luton were not part of the group recognized as founders of the Premier League. On the contrary, he could hardly show some small conquests in the promotion categories, in a long cycle of bad drinks. In 2014 he played in the Conference League, a semi-professional class that equals the first Argentine D.C. Its gradual collapse began in 1996, with financial problems and its first relegation to the First League (third category). It seemed to salvage the hole with a tentative return to the championship in 2005, but since 2007 the regression has been astonishing. That year a poor campaign put the team back in third place. the next The cancellation of 10 points for non-payment of debts led to the fall of the second league (Category Four) In 2009, the Federation applied the largest sports penalty in the history of English football to the club: 30 discount points. The result was exile to the fifth national category.

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Getting back to the starting point was an ordeal. Five seasons with three losing finals on the way back to League Two, and another four years for promotion to the next division. On the one hand, the transition from the First League to the Championship was immediate: in 2019 the Hatters returned to second place. Four promotions in nine years. This is the story of the disappointments and joys behind the dream of a gift.

Access to the Luton Town kiosks

And now Luton Town is back in the top British category with the privacy of its own home. Gary SweetLuton Town chief executive admits it bluntly: “It was our playground Built in 1905 And the truth is that Not much has changed all this time.” Kenilworth Road it is undoubtedly, One of the most bizarre scenarios in English football. so much that Entrance for the visiting public requires traversing the gardens and backyards of neighboring homes. he have It can accommodate 10,000 people, and the club knows it must build a grandstand within three months to adapt to the Premier’s requirements. This will cost us between 8 and 10 million pounds [10 a 12 millones de dólares]a more monumental task than building a new stadium, ”says the leadership Headquarters of the future Already approved: it will be in the city center, it will be 23,000 locationswill ask for an account $120 million And it will end, at best, in order Season 2025/26.

The third promoted team, who joined Burnley and Sheffield United – they did it directly – started the tournament with a lead Nathan Joneswhich is the history of the house that coached the team until his departure Southampton On date 19, and ended with Rob Edwards, who started the league at Watford. But the line of play has hardly suffered any changes. Luton have little interest in possession, but they voraciously press in someone else’s court when they lose the ball. Their attacks are direct, almost always on the flanks, where the full-backs are Cody Drama And Alfie Doty Launch centers looking for powerful bosses Carlton Morris (1.85 m) f Elijah below (1.93).

Luton Town is the premier’s next protagonist, which was not in the bookies’ accounts.