Luton Town F.C. Managers
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Luton Town Football Club is an English
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
club, based in the town of
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
,
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
. The club was founded in 1885, and will compete in
League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...
during the 2025–26 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. The club appointed an official
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
for the first time in 1925. George Thompson took up the role in February, but left after eight months, "scalded by his experience". Thompson was not replaced until 1927, when former player John McCartney took charge. Harold Wightman worked during the early 1930s to build a team to challenge for
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
, but was sacked early on in the 1935–36 season. Without a manager, the team finished as runners-up in the
Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...
, before topping the table in 1936–37 under
Ned Liddle Edward Liddle (27 May 1878 – 22 November 1968) (sometimes Liddell) was an English football player, manager and scout. He played in the Football League for Gainsborough Trinity, Clapton Orient, with whom he spent the majority of his playing c ...
.
Dally Duncan Douglas "Dally" Duncan (14 October 1909 – 2 January 1990) was a Scottish football player and manager. A left-winger, Duncan joined Hull City from Aberdeen Richmond in 1928 and spent his entire professional career in English football. He joine ...
was appointed in 1947, and during his 11-year tenure he took Luton into the
First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...
for the first time. 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 The 1959 FA Cup final was contested by Nottingham Forest and Luton Town at Wembley. Forest were playing in their second FA Cup final, while Luton were making their first final appearance in their history. Forest won 2–1 to win their second tit ...
. Poor spells under four managers resulted in relegation to the Fourth Division by 1965. Allan Brown became manager in November 1966, and Luton won the division in 1967–68. Brown moved on halfway through the next season, and
Alec Stock Alec William Alfred Stock (30 March 1917 – 16 April 2001) was an English footballer and manager. He briefly managed AS Roma, between long spells at Leyton Orient and Queens Park Rangers. At QPR, he won successive promotions, leading the club ...
continued the revival, winning promotion to the
Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
in 1969–70. 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.
David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English association football, football player turned manager (association football), manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He ...
became manager in 1978, 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 The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...
a year later under
Ray Harford Raymond Thomas Harford (1 June 1945 – 9 August 2003) was an English footballer, better known for his successes as a coach and manager than as a player. He is considered to have been one of the top coaches of his generation. During his playi ...
. 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, Luton were relegated in 1991–92. Pleat left again in 1995, and a five-year spell under
Lennie Lawrence Robin Michael Lawrence, commonly known as Lennie Lawrence, (born 12 December 1947) is an English football manager. He is assistant manager and non-executive director at National League side Hartlepool United. Lawrence was a semi-professional a ...
then saw Luton drop to the third tier. 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 The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
for the first time since 1968.
Joe Kinnear Joseph Patrick Kinnear (27 December 1946 – 7 April 2024) was an Irish professional football manager and player. As a defender, Kinnear spent the majority of his career spanning ten seasons with Tottenham Hotspur and one with Brighton & H ...
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. Mike Newell was appointed as manager, and his side became
League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...
champions in 2004–05. Internal troubles at the club started to intensify during the summer of 2006, as the club's
chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
was revealed by Newell to be making illegal payments to
agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...
s—after writing a scathing letter to the board, Newell was sacked in March 2007.
Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English professional football manager, executive and former player who is currently the technical director of Ekstraklasa club Lechia Gdańsk. Playing career Blackwell was born in Luton an ...
was appointed in his stead, but was also sacked less than a year later on 16 January 2008; former player
Mick Harford Michael Gordon Harford (born 12 February 1959) is an English football manager and former professional player. He is the chief recruitment officer at Luton Town, a club where he has spent a large portion of both his playing and non-playing career ...
was made Luton Town's new manager the same day, 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 The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...
for 2008–09, Luton were relegated to the
Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...
; however, the club claimed a
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
victory during the same season. After two months of the 2009–10 season, Harford left the club by mutual consent, to be replaced a month later by
Richard Money Richard Money (born 13 October 1955) is an English former footballer and manager who was most recently manager of National League club Hartlepool United. Before this, he managed Cambridge United, overseeing the side's return to the Football Leag ...
. Money's assistant,
Gary Brabin Gary Brabin (born 9 December 1970) is an English former professional footballer, coach and manager who is the assistant manager at club Oldham Athletic and the sporting director at club The New Saints. A midfielder with a 12-year career in t ...
, replaced him in March 2011, and managed the club until he was sacked a year later. His replacement,
Paul Buckle Paul John Buckle (born 16 December 1970) is an English football manager and former player. He has previously been the interim head coach of San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the manager of Torquay United, Bristol ...
, took charge in April 2012, and was himself replaced in February 2013 by
John Still John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...
. Still took Luton back into the Football League in his first full season as manager, breaking a number of club records in the process. 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. He was replaced by Nathan Jones in January 2016, who took on his first ever managerial role. 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 Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...
. He left Luton with the highest Football League points per game ratio of any manager in their history. Mick Harford returned as caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, leading Luton to promotion to the Championship.
Graeme Jones Graeme Anthony Jones (born 13 March 1970) is an English professional association football, football manager and former player who works as the joint assistant at Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United along with Jason Tindall. His playing ca ...
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. Nathan Jones was reappointed in May 2020 and guided Luton to Championship safety on the final day of the season, and led them to 12th place the following season with their highest points total in the second tier since 1981–82. After he led Luton to the play-offs in 2021–22, in which they were beaten 2–1 on aggregate by
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...
in the semi-final, Jones left in November 2022 with the club ninth in the table to take over at
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
club
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
. He was succeeded by Rob Edwards, who led Luton to promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, with a
penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
victory over
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...
in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
, marking the club's return to the first tier after a 31-year absence. Luton spent one season in the Premier League before being relegated back to the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
. Edwards was later sacked in January 2025, with
Matt Bloomfield Matthew James Bloomfield (born 8 February 1984) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of club Luton Town. A product of Ipswich Town's academy, Bloomfield would join Wycombe on a free transfer ...
joining the club days later. Luton later faced further relegation to League One at the end of the season where Luton will compete during the 2025–26 season.


Managers

:''All first-team matches in national or international competition are counted, except the abandoned
1939–40 Football League The abandoned 1939–40 season would have been the 48th season of The Football League. The kick-off in all divisions took place on Saturday 26 August 1939.Ian Laschke: ''Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79''. Macdonald ...
season and matches in wartime leagues and cups. Names of
caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...
s are supplied where known, and periods of caretaker-management are highlighted in italics. Win percentage is rounded to one decimal place. Statistics are complete up to and including the match played on 13 April 2024.'' Key M: Matches played W: Matches won D: Matches drawn L: Matches lost


Footnotes

:A.  Secretary-manager :B.  The club was managed by a committee during these times, made up of the club's trainer and directors. :C. 
George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...
was appointed as coach on 1 August 1939, and promoted to manager on 4 December 1944.


References

General *''Dates and match statistics sourced from:'' *''Dates and match statistics sourced from:'' *''Club honours sourced from:'' Specific {{featured list
Managers Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administr ...
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...