We are at the stage of the year where the memories of last season begin to fade and the extreme anticipation of the new campaign is growing by the day.
One of the down sides of a season ending is that players inevitably leave a club, men who have become heroes to many, not least to a club like Luton who achieved something massive over the previous campaign.
Although it was announced who will be staying at Kenilworth Road and who will be departing the club earlier in the month, it is today where the trio of Sonny Bradley, Henri Lansbury and Harry Isted officially leave as their contracts expire.
It is always sad to see good men leave but all three go with the gratitude of every Luton fan for the efforts they gave and the parts they played in leading us to the promised land of the Premier League.
In terms of matches on the pitch, the role Isted played was a small one but disservice to the efforts he gave in training and as a squad player for six years in our rise from League Two to the Premier League certainly shouldn’t be downplayed. He has now joined Charlton Athletic after spending the second half of last season at Barnsley.
Lansbury was much more active on the pitch in the two seasons he had with us, leaving us with memorable moments from THAT kick against Swansea City to that wonder strike away to Hull City.
Town keeper James Shea revealed this week that the midfielder is retiring. If that is to be true, he ends his career as a truly brilliant technician, the like we thought was out of our reach until he arrived and while he may not have played as much as he would have liked the longer last season went on, his experience and the impact it had shouldn’t be forgotten.
Lastly we have club captain Sonny Bradley who has given five fantastic years of service and is rumoured to be joining Derby. The excitement when he arrived at Luton ahead of the League One campaign reached fever pitch at times and the commanding centre-back certainly didn’t fall short of expectations.
While we had to wait a whole season for his first goal for the club, when it arrived it in the Championship curtain-raiser against Middlesbrough was special and even now it is one of the goals I remember most from our spell in the second tier.
Bradley was brilliant in his own defensive duties on the pitch and as a captain he was a natural leader who captained the club to the Premier League. It goes without saying his impact on our club will never be forgotten.
While over the coming weeks we will all get excited about the players arriving ahead of the new season, the three who leave shouldn’t be forgotten as without them Premier League football might still be a dream rather than an impending reality.
As their contracts with the club officially expire today I thank all three for their wonderful efforts and wish them lots of success in their futures.
Very well said and best wishes to Harry, Henri and Sonny – they were brilliant Hatters and always will be!