Gary Brabin has praised Luton’s 2020 Board for turning the club around from the dark days of the non-league to their current purple patch in the Championship.
The 48-year-old returned to Kenilworth Road in the summer as manager Graeme Jones’ assistant, having spent two years in the hotseat until he was sacked in 2012.
Brabin suffered the heartbreak of a Conference play-off final penalty shootout defeat to AFC Wimbledon eight years ago, which consigned Town to a third season in the non-league. Worse was to come under Brabin’s successor, Paul Buckle, before John Still started the revival, getting the Hatters back to the Football League in 2014.
Back-to-back promotions have followed in the last two campaigns and Town travel to QPR on Saturday on the back of two league wins on the spin. Now, finally, the club feels like it is back where it was before a 30-point punishment from the game’s governing bodies – over the mismanagement of previous owners – signalled their near demise and slide out of the Football League altogether.
Brabin remained on good terms with the board, despite his release, and, having watched from afar as the club rose up the leagues, he believes 2020 deserve huge credit.
“A club like Luton are really fortunate that it’s got British owners who really genuinely support the football club…”
“I think everyone’s seen how much everyone has progressed and learnt from the experiences,” he said, adding: “A club like Luton are really fortunate that it’s got British owners who really genuinely support the football club, and don’t want any financial gain from it, they just want the club to do well.
“I think it’s a rare thing to have in English football and I think, now, all them bad experiences, if you like, should be turned into good experiences.
“It makes this occasion now all the more special that they’ve had to really work hard, the whole club, the supporters the people behind the scenes, the players, they’ve all had to work really hard to get the club back to where at the very least it belongs.”
It’s a stark contrast compared to one of Brabin’s former clubs, as Bury were last month expelled from the Football League, with the future uncertain for the Shakers.
“I think a lot of people are taking over clubs for the wrong reasons,” said the Luton number two.
“Fans don’t know. People are sending out messages via social media, and stuff and it’s a bit of a guess whether you back by person or not, because nobody knows the behind-the-scenes story of what’s really going on.
“When you see the demise of clubs, I think there should be more of a punishment or penalty, towards the person who’s got the club in that state, as opposed to making thousands upon thousands of people suffer.
“Football clubs suffer because someone is going in with the wrong agenda, puts the club in the state it’s in, they leave scot-free and everyone else seems to suffer.”
