Nathan Jones says that whatever happens with the European Super League controversy at the elite end of football, Luton Town will emerge in a stronger position because of how the club is run.
Football has been rocked in the last 48 hours by the announcement that six clubs from England – Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham – have joined three each from Spain and Italy in wanting to form a breakaway midweek league.
But was has sparked a furious backlash has been both was the sudden unveiling on these proposals, without consultation with supporters, plus the fact that all 12 founding club would always qualify, effectively making it a closed shop competition.
Part of the reaction in England has been around the effect this could have on the sporting integrity of domestic competitions, with many fearing it could be the end of the pyramid system as we know it.
Luton, who seven years ago were in the non-league and now sit eyeing a top ten finish in the Championship, have long-term plans to return to the top flight, having been a founding member of the Premier League but never having played in it.
But boss Jones, who slammed the Super League proposals as a “selfish idea” is confident that any fallout proposals will not damage the Hatters’ ambition.
“All I can say is that we’re a fantastically run club,” he said, adding: “I know that because, obviously, my relationship with the chief exec, so I know we’re a fantastically-run club and, whatever happens, because of our infrastructure, because of how we go about our work, I know we’re in a stronger position than other clubs.
“Because of how we run our club, we don’t try to sell anyone out, we don’t try to exploit anyone, or overspend, or try to climb and, to coin Gary’s (Sweet – chief executive) phrase, ‘leave trap doors’. We try to do everything safely.”
The plans have also been widely condemned due to the pressure the coronavirus pandemic has put on football clubs, with the proposals seen as a greedy power grab by clubs, many of whom have never even won a European title.
Clubs in the EFL have suffered more than Premier League clubs who are insulated to a certain extent by television sponsorship money.
But this month Town are set to post a slight profit for the year 2019/20, when their accounts are filed, and though the bigger impact of Covid will be felt in the following year’s finances, the club pride themselves on prudent management.
“We’ve got a close-knit thing here because we’ve asked the fans to back us and asked them to make the sacrifices they’ve done for the good of the club,” said Jones.
“So, I think it means that, whatever happens, we’ll come out of it in a strong position, just because of the way we’re run and the fact that the people we have who control the club.
“We’ve been through tough times before, 2020 came in with a vision and a way of moving forward and we’ve managed to implement that.
“Now, we’re in the second or third phase of our development. In God I trust, but in football matters here, we’ve got good people who control our club.
“So, we think we’ll be a good position, moving forward, whatever that is.”
The fan-run 2020 board behind the club has always kept a close tie with the Luton community and the plans to start building their new Power Court stadium by the end of this year, ready for 2024, are testament to that.
Not only will it provide the Hatters with a long overdue new stadium to help the club compete with big spending rivals, but it will be delivered debt free and be central to a wide regeneration project to transform Luton Town centre to the tune of around £250million annually into the local economy.
As well as their work in the community and close ties to supporter groups, it marks the Hatters out with motives that are the complete antithesis of those shown by the money-hungry six English Super League breakaway rebels.
“Absolutely,” said Jones. “There was a lot of opposition put up towards the thing (Newlands Park, from the owners of The Mall shopping centre), but the retail element, housing, or whatever is going up, finances Power Court for the good of the club. It comes back into the club and back into the community, back into the town to further Luton.
“That’s the great thing about us. Even though they’re football fans (the 2020 board), they’re shrewd businessmen, shrewd people that have invested time and money in making a football club better.
“We’re all aligned here. That’s the beautiful thing about us, we’re all aligned. I remember Dave Brailsford, when he started the Sky thing (cycling team), they had that blue line down the middle and that was their ethos, that was their sign, and that’s what Luton are like.
“We are aligned in terms of our goals, what we do and how we want to further the football club, and that’s the good thing.”
