Luton Town’s board has admitted the club’s recent performances on the pitch have fallen far short of expectations after supporters raised concerns about the team’s direction and a perceived lack of communication from club leadership.
The comments were relayed by the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust after a series of face-to-face and email discussions over recent months with chief executive Gary Sweet and senior officials at the club.
The discussions took place after fans submitted questions about the club’s strategy, its communication with fans and the team’s struggles, following successive relegations from the Premier League to League One.
Back in September, Sweet said of this term’s third tier campaign: “Success for us, as an absolute minimum, is play offs. But our desire is to get automatic promotion and that’s our target.”
However, a top two finish is now mathematically out of the question for Luton, and they currently sit five points adrift of the top six, with just seven games left to play.
Summarising the club’s response to football concerns, the Trust said the board acknowledged the scale of supporters’ frustration.
“Results have been well below both the standards we expect and the standards our supporters deserve,” the club told the fan group.
“We understand the frustration, and we share it. Dark clouds have hung over us for too long and we’re not going to pretend otherwise.”
Despite the disappointing league campaign, the board insisted the club remains determined to turn its fortunes around.
“Jack [Wilshere], his staff and the players are determined to put it right. We care deeply about this club,” they said.
“We are honest about the challenges and the scale of what lies ahead – and we are determined to get this right on the pitch and off it.”
Communication with supporters has been another long-running source of tension, with some fans arguing the board has not been transparent enough about key decisions or the direction of the club.
In its response to the Trust, the board said: “We know communication hasn’t always been as clear or as regular as supporters would like and we are working to improve that.
“There is never any intention to keep things from fans but some matters – particularly where contracts or negotiations are involved – simply cannot be discussed until they are concluded.”
The club added that it intends to improve engagement with supporters going forward, with more news promised soon, saying: “We are committed to doing better on this front.”
The Trust said it is now working with the club to establish clearer processes to improve communication with supporters in future.
“The [club’s senior leadership] team also said that they remain available to answer questions and will provide updates on Power Court and the wider direction of the club,” the fan group told members.
“The Trust are in the process of agreeing formal communications processes, plans, and strategies to ensure that happens.”
Trust chair Paul Stephens said he hoped the discussions would lead to better information for fans in the months ahead.
“I was pleased to get some of those key questions answered, but please keep them coming,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to improved communications so we can bring you more information and more answers – more often.”
Back in January, questions were raised on the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust Podcast about a wide range of subjects fans had been asking. You can watch that episode here…
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