Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu is motivated by the chance to make individual and club football history on Saturday with the Luton club he calls “home”.
The midfielder did join, initially on loan in 2013, and he helped John Still’s Town out of the non-league after five years in the wilderness.
That was the first of three promotions with Luton for Mpanzu, but if he earns a fourth against Coventry on Saturday in the Championship play-off final, he’ll become the first ever footballer to have played for one club in every division from the Blue Square Premier to the Premier League.
One more promotion on Saturday will see Luton complete the journey from the non-league to the top flight of English football in less than a decade of remarkable success.
“No-one’s done it yet. Hopefully, this is the first,” said Mpanzu, adding: “There’s one more 90 minutes, one more game to go and by Saturday, 7pm, we’ll drink some champagne.”
On the chance to set some personal history, Mpanzu said: “It’s nice. It can motivate sometimes, but for me, even if I didn’t come in the National League or League Two, to get to the Premier League is something special.
“Whatever club I would have done it with would have been nice, but coming from non-league to the Premier League is crazy, especially with one club, so in those terms it can motivate a little bit.”
But first impressions weren’t instantly good for the DR Congo international, who said of his first visit to the Hatters: “I came, saw the training ground, saw the stadium, and I was like, oh man, this is different from Upton Park and training at Chadwell Heath with West Ham.Everything worked out in the end, got promoted straight away.”
He added: “Did I want to come? Absolutely not. This is not what I’m familiar with, but sometimes you’ve got to take the risks.
“I’ve got to thank John (Still) for signing me as a loan where I am now, so it’s been a risk, but it’s been worth the risk.
“Here we are, moments away from touching the Premier League, so it’s been a good experience I don’t want it to end on Saturday.”
Mpanzu is Luton’s longest serving player and this season he surpassed 300 games for the club and he said: “It is now home as I’ve been here so long and I don’t really know anything else, being at West Ham put me in a good stead to achieve this, but Luton is what I know, I know the team, know the surrounding areas and it’s been a big part of my life.”
Asked if he envisaged ever having a shot at the Premier League when he switched from West Ham to Luton four divisions below, Mpanzu said: “Yes, in the fact of I knew my ability would get me there. “Obviously, you’ve got to have a great team around you, support, and football is not a one-man team, unless you’ve got people like Messi and Ronaldo, it’s a bit different.
“But when you’ve got belief, you know you can rise back to the top and Luton have done that in a short space of time, 10 years.
“It does seem a long period of time, but in football that’s a real quick rise and yes, I did (think I’d get to the Premier League).
