Luton Town broke their play-off hoodoo, winning a tense penalty shootout 6-5 to make history and book their place in the Premier League as Fankaty Dabo missed his spot-kick in sudden death in front of 36,000 delirious Hatters at Wembley.
Town had taken the lead in a dominant first half through Jordan Clark, though they lost skipper Tom Lockyer early on after he collapsed and had to be taken to hospital. The Welshman is OK and his dad posted a photograph on Twitter of the defender celebrating the victory from his hospital bed with family surrounding him.
Gus Hamer equalised for Coventry in a second period that the Sky Blues were on top and that was after Town twice had the ball in the net in regular time. Gabriel Osho and Elijah Adebayo both had their goals chalked off, but there was more drama to come as the game ticked into extra-time.
At the death substitute Joe Taylor thought he’d won it with his first-ever goal for Luton but VAR ruled it out for a handball in the build-up and that meant Town had to face penalties for the second Wembley visit in a row.
The last time, they failed to get out of the Blue Square Premier, but this time they scored all of theirs and made it to the Premier League – the only club to ever go from the non-league to the top flight. They’ve achieved that in nine sensational years.
For a club that came seconds away from not existing in 2008, but were rescued by the current fan-led 2020 board only to be hit with a 30-point penalty that relegated them to the non-league, this is one of the most remarkable stories in sport.
And now, 31 years after they were relegated from the top flight, the old First Division, having voted for the creation of the Premier League, they’ll finally get to play in the biggest league in the world.
And now Kenilworth Road, their 118-year-old home, loved by Lutonians, and mocked by everyone else, will get to host the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool as it did in the Hatters’ 1980s heyday.
But today, at Wembley Stadium, a new era for Luton began – one that proves fairytales really do happen. For 15 years, the fans have sung of the FA and the Football League that they “tried to kill us off”, but now the world will know the name Luton Town Football Club.
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