Matt Bloomfield’s “personal and team-building qualities” were what made Luton Town swoop to make him their new manager, Hatters chief executive Gary Sweet has said.
The 40-year-old has today been named as the successor to Rob Edwards, who left the club by mutual consent last week, while the departure of his two assistants, Richie Kyle and Paul Trollope, was confirmed today.
Luton had to pay a compensation package to prise Bloomfield away from Wycombe Wanderers, where he’d led the Chairboys to second in League One.
Under him, the Buckinghamshire club bagged 87 points in League One during the 2024 calendar year, scoring 107 goals in all competitions and reached the EFL Trophy final, in which they were runners-up to Peterborough United at Wembley.
His last action as Wanderers boss, having previously played over 540 games for them, was to knock Championship side Portsmouth out of the FA Cup third round on Friday night.
Bloomfield will now prepare for his first game in the Kenilworth Road dugout when Preston North End come to Bedfordshire for Saturday’s Championship clash.
Sweet said: “Over the years in which we as a club have risen up the EFL, we encountered Matt at every step as a respected captain of his team, and together they have always shared our hunger and desire to improve and get to the next level.
“Since returning to Wycombe as manager we have been hugely impressed with his work in leading them back towards the top of League One, and especially in how they have done it in such an entertaining way, forging a reputation for front-footed attacking football.
“We identified Matt’s personal and team-building qualities as the outstanding candidate to fit in with the culture we have long established here at Luton Town, and I’m sure every supporter will join me in welcoming him, along with Richard, Lee and Ben to Kenilworth Road.”
The CEO had indicated last week that Town’s search for a new manager would not be limited to candidates out of work and he praised Wycombe for their handling of the deal.
“I would like to thank Wycombe for their co-operation in ensuring a swift and smooth transition,” Sweet told the club’s website.
“It may be flattering to be on the receiving end, it’s never pleasant, but we have made sure that we’ve gone above and beyond to compensate Wycombe to secure his services, along with his trusted coaching team.”
And in highlighting the work done by Luton’s recruitment team, Sweet added: “I’d just like to thank the immense amount of work and attention to detail our recruitment team have put into identifying the best candidate and impressing him in meetings, along with the fantastic, as ever, and unanimous support of the board in arriving at a quick decision after interviewing Matt.”
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