BAZ'S SEASON REVIEW

Some people may say I'm greedy but I wanted nothing less than promotion at the start of the 2001-2002 season after the Hatters were relegated to the League's basement Division for the first time in Thirty years. Having seen the Hatters relegated three times in twelve years last season, it was a bitter pill to swallow. The team having been managed by three different managers during the campaign were simply not good enough despite the hope that Joe Kinnear installed within the first few weeks of his appointment in February. And it was depressing. At the Rotherham game, in which sealed our fate of relegation, it not only marked 13 years ago to the day of the most memorable day in the club's history but personally I felt "why do I bother coming to watch this?" That Tuesday was a miserable day - not only did it rain and we were relegated - but the small team from South Yorkshire which visited Kenilworth Road eventually went on to clinch promotion to the First Division only a year after they were promoted as runners-up from the Third Division. The Rotherham players and their fifteen-hundred-odd supporters were delighted as they took a massive step towards promotion whereas the rest of the sparse Kenilworth Road crowd sat dejected watching the celebrations in the pouring rain.

I first went to see Luton play in October 1990 in the Old First Division. Hard to think now that is what is now called the Premiership. Fast-forward twelve years on and I'm watching my team play before a crowd of two-thousand people on a Tuesday night in Halifax. But that's what supporting a team is all about. Coming to terms with the disappointments and celebrating the successes, of course there'll be the bad times, but that's natural. There haven't been many good times associated with Luton Town Football Club over the last twelve years but this season, and in particular those scenes at Swansea on March 30th 2002 will be remembered forever.

Getting rid of the those cold and uninspiring memories of last season was down to one man - Joe Kinnear. Kinnear had already turned the club on its head during the first couple of weeks of the new season, bringing in Luton legend Mick Harford as his assistant and appointing former gold medal winning Olympic Decathlon Champion Daley Thompson as a fitness coach. His main priority though was to build a completely new team and cut the wage bill by releasing the players he didn't think were good enough to hold down a place in the squad, let alone the first-team. Kinnear released nine players from the club in July:- Goalkeeper Nathan Abbey; Defenders Julian Watts, Paul Shepard and Gavin McGowan; Midfielders Friedrich Breitenfelder and Andre Scarlett; and Forwards Tresor Kandol, Mark Stein and Rocky Baptiste. Kinnear tried hard to retain the services of skipper Paul McLaren but he opted for more money at First Division Sheffield Wednesday and Finnish International Petri Helin opted also for a move north to join Stockport County. During the season Kinnear managed to release a further seven players : Stuart Fraser, Liam George, Jude Stirling, Kent Karlsen, Peter Thomson, Dean Standen, and Dean Brennan.

Kinnear was promising a new team but the fans were perhaps a bit skeptical seeing as he had released virtually half a squad and no new faces had arrived. However, the opening Friendly at Boreham Wood saw Kinnear name a squad containing four new faces. Adrian Forbes arrived from Norwich City, Carl Griffiths - a proven lower-league goal scorer - arrived from Leyton Orient and former Colchester goalkeeper Carl Emberson rejected Plymouth Argyle to sign for the Hatters from Walsall on a free transfer, and finally Aaron Skelton re-joined the club he left for Colchester in 1997.

August Friendlies over QPR, Norwich and Premiership Tottenham saw even more new faces, although the majority of these were triallists never to been seen again. However Kevin Nicholls made his first appearance of the season in a game against Norwich as Kinnear continued to piece together a squad of his own capable of getting out of Division 3 at the first attempt. Central defender Russell Perrett arrived on a free transfer from newly-promoted Cardiff City.

Here started a fantastic journey of Division Three football, 46 games to get out of the Third Division. On a personal note I was going to visit every single one of the 46 before University.

With the pre-season over it was time for the opening league game away to Carlisle. Having spent £250 on a season ticket with great seats in the Kenilworth Road end, the most expensive away journey of the season was thankfully on the opening day. Surprisingly, our return train ticket from Milton Keynes to Carlisle cost a very respectable £15 and arriving in Carlisle at 11am after a very very early 6am start we supped a pint or two, had a bite to eat and watched the Hatters triumph 2-0 after a goal-less and disappointing first-half with goals from debutants Paul Hughes, who had arrived from Southampton on a free transfer, and Carl Griffiths.

Joe Kinnear surprised all of us by giving a debut to Ian Hillier in the opening home game at Kenilworth Road against Cheltenham Town. Hillier, on-loan from Tottenham, was the captain of the Spurs reserves side and was an Under-21 International with Wales. And the youngster made an excellent debut at right-back as the Hatters kept up a 100% start by winning 2-1 despite having Kevin Nicholls red-carded and a late fight back from the visitors.

The following Tuesday at around 10pm most of us fans were thinking "here we go" after a 4-0 exit from the League Cup at Reading where the angry Town boss locked his players in the dressing room for over 2 hours. A young Reading side were ruthless in their finishing as the Town put up little resistance and had barely tested the home goalkeeper.

Four days later Joe Kinnear reverted to a 3-5-2 formation where the only two 100% teams in the Division met at the Memorial Stadium. After their relegation from the Second Division with the Hatters, Bristol Rovers had won all three of their games with wins over Scunthorpe, Torquay and impressively at Wycombe in the League Cup. The Hatters though were far from impressive in a patchy performance which saw the last of the 3-5-2 and Jude Stirling. Rovers were 1-0 and 3-1 up as the Hatters tried to get back into a match they just about deserved to draw. Matthew Taylor smacked the equaliser for 1-1 before Lee Mansell grabbed a late second but by then it was too late.

A buoyant Southend side visited Kenilworth Road on the Bank Holiday Monday and after their display were unlucky not to go back to Essex with a point at the very least after missing a first half penalty and defending stoutly for eighty minutes. But they eventually surrendered as the Town continued press with a scrappy goal claimed by Carl Griffiths breaking the deadlock, and Andrew Fotiadis netting the second two minutes later.

Another journey along the M4 saw the Town travel west again to meet Exeter City for the first time in nearly thirty-years. After managing to creep through the turnstiles as a junior smelling of beer we witnessed another gutsy performance from the Hatters having gone down to ten men early in the second half. A scorching summer's day ended in a 2-2 draw with Matthew Taylor netting both the goals. Supporting the Hatters though has its drawbacks and without any television on board the Bobbers coach we had to listen to the Five Live commentators telling us England were beating the Germans 5-1 in Munich. So, we had missed one of the greatest footballing performances by our National side all because we followed Luton Town to Exeter, when arriving back to Westoning my home village, happy, drunk people were slightly miffed by the fact I'd missed the match to go to Exeter.

Joe Kinnear was re-united with his former side Oxford United a week later in a game best remembered by the swirling wind which had denied both teams the opportunity to play any kind of football. Phil Gray's dramatic dive on the edge of the Luton area saw a twice taken free-kick beat Carl Emberson by Andy Scott - one of Kinnear's signings during is time at the then Manor Ground. Kevin Nicholls nodded home the equaliser soon after and that was the way it stayed in a disappointing affair.

The game at Bootham Cresent will be best remembered by the incident involving Steve Howard, but more of that later. Lee Nogan's time at Kenilworth Road last season under Lil Fuccillo will be best remembered for the infamous 'Hand of Nog' against QPR, but enjoying time playing for York he managed to silence the boo-boys amongst the 850 strong Luton following by converting Michael Proctor's cross to give the Minstermen the lead. However the Hatters, missing Matthew Taylor through injury got back in the game and before the break Carl Griffiths nodded home is fourth goal of the season. The second half exploded into action almost immediately where substitute Stuart Douglas was hacked down inside the area and the Hatters were awarded a penalty. Desperate to notch his first goal of the season Steve Howard stepped up, only to see his shot saved. However the Linesman indicated that a York defender had encroached in the area and the referee awarded the penalty again. Howard, this time desperate to make amends decided he would take it again despite the fact Aaron Skelton was the chosen penalty taker. An argument ensued for five minutes before the striker wrestled the ball away from his team-mates, took the penalty and duly missed to the disgust of his fellow players, manager and us, the fans. Howard was booed off by myself and many others, I very rarely boo Luton players but this was unacceptable. The incident took the gloss off a memorable strike by Ian Hillier which eventually won the Hatters the game.

Howard apologised as Kinnear thought about what action to take, and many supporters thought that the game would be his last. And in hindsight Kinnear was more than right to keep Howard at the club.

Howard though was dropped for the midweek clash against Lincoln City. Central defender Chris Coyne made a sound debut after arriving from Dundee for what turned out to be a bargain £50,000 but it ended in frustration as Lincoln went home with a point as the Hatters failed to turn chances into goals, especially after being well on top in the opening half. Coyne's impressive debut was marred by the own-goal he scored four minutes from time. The general consensus amongst Town fans was that the dropped Steve Howard was reason for the failure to beat the Imps. And Howard was duly restored to the Town side for the next fixture at home, this time to struggling Torquay.

Howard's inclusion and performance was much better against the Gulls. However his performance and the performances of the rest of his team-mates were nothing quite that of a virtuoso performance by one Luton player that day who was making his debut. The name? Jean-Louis Valois, a little known Frenchman snapped up by Joe Kinnear on a free-transfer from Lille - who had just competed against Manchester United in the Champions League at Old Trafford - with this little known Frenchman, Valois, on the bench. Maybe it was the beer making my sight blurred or something but that long haired player with 28 on the back was skinning every single Torquay defender! Stop it! Somebody cried behind me. Valois was no ordinary player and was taking on defenders two at a time and whipping in crosses left, right and centre. He immediately struck up a partnership with young Matthew Taylor which saw the youngster improve dramatically over the course of the season. Carl Griffiths was the first person to benefit from the excellence of Valois, heading in a hat-trick of headers, and seeing another effort hit the bar with the ball rebounding nicely for Steve Howard to silence the boo boys and net his first goal of the season. Little did he know that he'd get many more later in the season. Valois had a hand in the opening three goals showed a willingness to run and take on opponents at will but the Town faithful had yet seen him strike a shot towards goal. However after running rings around two defenders he smashed in an unstoppable 35-yard screamer that hit the top right hand corner of the goal to leave many inside Kenilworth Road in ecstatic awe. Valois went to take a corner by the new stand shortly after his wonder strike and was greeted by a rapturous ovation. Griffiths headed home the fifth goal of the afternoon as the Town began to run riot, and even the visitors consolation was a headed own-goal by Kevin Nicholls.

The awkward trip to Leyton Orient followed on a warm Tuesday night where two-thousand Hatters fans saw them top the table after another irresistible attacking performance. Dodging the long queue I managed to sneak through for the very last time as a junior and went in the ground to eventually paying through the nose to get something to eat. Orient had ex-Luton hero Scott Oakes playing for them and he and the rest of his team mates put on a surprisingly poor show considering their recent form. Matthew Taylor scored a wonderfully executed goal from an acute angle to give us the lead and within minutes of the second half Jean-Louis Valois curled into another beauty to make it two and end the speculation as to whether he was a one-game wonder. The improving Steve Howard nodded home a Valois corner to make it three and despite a late penalty scored by ex-Hatter Scott Houghton the Town had won and sat on top of the league.

The trip to Plymouth saw the introduction of the sweepstakes on the Bobbers Travel Club. The 'sweeps' which it is now commonly known, replaced the original raffle which despite its great prizes (including a free coach journey) was ignored by the younger element of the coach. Comedy moments also were produced where members of the coach would open emergency exit doors in spite of signs that say "emergency exit, only open in case of emergency". The building site that was Home Park was an intimidating one, with rival Argyle fans to the right and above us. However with the Cornish Pasties being passable we watched the Hatters take a early lead through debutant Dean Crowe who arrived on loan from Stoke and had in August been on-loan with Plymouth. Crowe replaced the injured Carl Griffiths who had played his last game for the Hatters, ironically at his former side Orient. Argyle had Mickey Evans sent off for an elbow on Chris Coyne but that seemed to fire the hosts up as before the break they managed to net twice with the Hatters defence looking some-what unorganised for the first time in a while. The Hatters though had a number of chances with a Valois free-kick rattling the crossbar and Howard having two headers clawed away by Romain Larrieu. With the Hatters run of seven matches without defeat the plucky Pilgrims managed to go on and record a 19 match unbeaten run and put them in pole position for the title.

Darlington visited Kenilworth Road the following Friday as England - inspired by David Beckham - sneaked through by the narrowest of margins on the Saturday to beat Greece - sending the pints of the nation onto the floor amid crazy celebrations. The chequers, in Westoning, sadly never recovered. Anyway Darlington were flying high in the table - only thanks to their impressive home record - but a Carl Emberson miss-kick presented Danny Mellanby with the simplest of chances to open the scoring. Matthew Spring hit a thunderous equaliser and Howard nodded the Hatters in front moments into the second half. However Darlo replied with another fortunate strike this time from Neil Wainwright, but after that the Hatters stormed back to hit another five goals at home. Dean Crowe fired home the third, Kevin Nicholls smacked home a penalty for number four and Valois brought the house down with another sumptuous 30 yard effort. 

The trip to Walsall, sorry, Scunthorpe saw the Hatters pick up another away win and top the table. The 'getting in for a kid' act nearly caught me out this time. The steward asks me "how old are you?" and after hearing another 'child' say he was 16 and refused entry I go "15". I do look young for my age but looking 15 is perhaps a little too young. Anyway counting my coins I just scraped enough money together to get, in while Dave had to scrounge money off Bobbers Travel Club members to get in with Johnny Pyper being the one to get 'young David' out of jail. Glanford Park's resemblance to the Bescot Stadium Walsall is uncanny. From the outside its grey shell looks more like a DIY warehouse until we see the large 'Welcome to Scunthorpe United' sign above the main entrance. Joe Kinnear had made another signing during the week with Ahmet Brkovic arriving on a free-transfer from Leyton Orient and he took his place on the bench. Peter Beagrie was the Iron's main threat and in the opening half caused the Hatters all-sorts of problems. However the second half was much better with the Hatters on top for the majority of the time which saw them score twice. Firstly Adrian Forbes ran clear down the right to fire a accurate shot and then Russell Perrett slammed home from close range to double the lead. The trip to Scunthorpe though will be best remembered for the introduction of "Hey Hey Baby...ooh ahh...Big Fat Joe's....Gonna take us up...ooh ahh". Apparently Joe didn't like the chant but by the end of the season he was loving it!

The win at Scunny saw the Town top the table as Rochdale could only manage a draw at home to Rushden but the following week saw the Town entertain Rochdale in the first big game of the season. Unfortunately the Hatters failed to break down a strong and determined Dale side, who after sneaking in front just before the break held on to their lead and return to top spot at the Town's expence. Disappointment was there for all to see as the Town lost their unbeaten home record to a team that had been playing in the same division for nearly thirty years.

A horrendous coach journey up the M1 to West Yorkshire saw us arrive two minutes into the action at Halifax. Running through the turnstiles and to the front to buy a programme, we saw Paul Harsley knock in the opening goal for the struggling Shaymen. But the Hatters despite that early set back went onto score twice before the break through Dean Crowe. His second goal I missed queuing up at that rather funky refreshment kiosk that was selling a great range of food and drinks, including chips and chilli sauce, I may have been mistaken but there may have been candy-floss on sale there to! But the Shaymen equalised to the disgust of the Town fans with fifteen minutes left but an inspired substitution from Joe worked straight away. Firstly a neat move resulted in Kevin Nicholls slotting home the third with four minutes left and then substitute Adrian Forbes cut inside from the right and sent a flashing drive into the bottom right hand corner to seal the three points with minutes to spare.

An incredibly easy victory over Swansea kept up the race for promotion with Swans putting up the worst performance by any opposing team this season. Dean Crowe opened the scoring before he worrying limped off, and in the second half headed goals by Adrian Forbes and Russell Perrett completed an easy day's work, although Kinnear complained afterwards that should have won by more.

"I was one of the 330 at Dagenham" is my claim to fame I said after the defeat at the hands of the conference leaders. We were stuck in traffic on the A1(M) and M25 turn-off and perhaps it would have been wise to turn back and go home as the Hatters reserve team failed to take their chances and progress in the LDV Vans Trophy - which was eventually won by Blackpool. The Victoria Road club had seen plenty of upsets in the past, taking Premiership club Charlton to a replay in last season's FA Cup and had already seen off Leyton Orient in the LDV earlier in the month. The ground itself was typical non-league and much could be said about that of the Town's performance. The bugle in the home terrace just added to the comic performance as former first team regulars under Lennie Lawrence and Ricky Hill failed to compete with an already under-strength Dagenham side. The hosts took the lead before goals by Dean Brennan and Peter Thomson put the Town in front. Liam George and Andrew Fotiadis wasted several good chances with George missing what looked like an open goal and as a result the Daggers equalised to send the tie into unwanted extra time. "can we go home yet" was a cry on the away terrace, and their prayers were answered three minutes into golden goal extra time as Ashley Vickers pounced on the loose ball after Mark Ovendale failed to hold the ball following a set piece.

November was a month to forget for Town fans as their team slipped out of the race for automatic promotion with a miserable run of results. This started at fellow promotion chasing Mansfield.

After drinking in the aptly named 'Early Doors' pub prior to kickoff we headed for the club shop where the most attractive female we had seen on our travels so far beamed at us in a quite remarkable superman top. And once in the ground we were joined by many of our friends who had seen the gem in the shop. We were joined by a further two-thousand odd Luton fans who had made the easy journey up the M1 to watch another big game. Mansfield boss Billy Dearden included hit-man Chris Greenacre in their starting eleven, Greenacre being at the centre of a well publiced link to the Hatters played a blinder, scored two and missed a penalty on an afternoon well the Hatters were out classed by their Nottinghamshire counterparts in every department, with Greenacre, Disley, Lawrence and Corden playing out of their skins. Dean Crowe netted a late consolation but by then the Town were already 4-0 down. For once the Hatters chief held is hand up and said that his team had been outclassed - easy now Joe! However despite losing only five more times after this game that Hatters were never out-classed like they did at Field Mill.

An unconvincing but important victory over promotion chasing Shrewsbury followed the Friday afterwards with Matthew Spring firing in the all important winner with just over fifteen minutes left. The visitors were perhaps unlucky to head back to Gay Meadow pointless as veteran midfield Nigel Jemson fired a cracking free-kick which cannoned off the bar.

Injury and suspension a week later saw the Hatters field a weakened side for the First Round FA Cup trip to Southend. With the Shrimpers in good form, especially at Roots Hall it would be another test for the Town players given a chance due to the casualties. Adrian Forbes sent us wild with an early goal rounding the keeper but the Hatters make-shift back line began to wobble and conceded a sloppy goal before and soon after the break as the hosts took advantage and led 2-1. However a spirited fight-back from the Hatters saw Ahmet Brkovic cheekily nod home an equaliser with fifteen minutes left as the Croatian barged his marker out of the way and duly celebrate his looping header despite furious Southend appeals. However perhaps justice was done as Southend managed to score a winner after a goal mouth scrabble resulted in Tes Bramble to acrobatically win the tie for the jubilant Shrimpers.

It continued to get worse as a big crowd gathered to watch another six-pointer at home to fellow promotion chasing Hull. After failing to convert numerous first half chances the Hatters fell behind to another sloppy goal scored by ex-Hatter Rob Matthews, six minutes into the second half. We were getting restless as chances were missed and passes went astray. Hull walked away with the three points as - for the first time this season - boo's were heard amongst the Kenilworth Road at the final whistle.

But it could all be put to rest if the Hatters beat bottom-of-the-table Macclesfield four days later. Couldn't it? For some reason Joe Kinnear plays three clearly unfit players - Jean-Louis Valois, Kevin Street and Aaron Skelton. This, understandably, as a bad affect on the team. Street was never seen again as his short loan spell saw him head home for Crewe while Skelton remained injured and out of the picture for the remainder of the season. Macclesfield are a bit of bogey team for us and this was illustrated again as they some-how managed out play us, out tackle us and completely take the micky! Steve Howard nodded home an equaliser after we had gone behind earlier on and with the score at 1-1 at half time I personally thought we would go on and win because we looked much fitter (bar Street, Skelton and Valois - who all were withdrawn) and we looked a better team on paper. But as we all know, football isn't played on paper. Goalkeeper Carl Emberson strays off his line and bang, the ball sails over his head the drops in the goal - 2-1. Goalkeeper Carl Emberson strays off his line and bang, the ball sails over his head the drops in the goal - 3-1. Andrew Fotiadis is clean through with the keeper to beat - and hoofs it over the bar from twelve yards. What's going on?! In stoppage time another long range effort on goal takes a wicked deflection, leaves Emberson stranded - 4-1. More boo's emerged from the away terrace which had early seen many fans sample some tasty and cheap food. But the smiles had turned angry faces with team captain getting involved in some unsavory fracas at the end, confronting angry supporters about the manner of defeat. It was hard to tell which team were pushing for promotion that day and honestly I can say that was the lowest point of the season as I genuinely believed that it would need something special to get us out of this awful run. We were now 5th in the table, slipping fast. Joe Kinnear cancelled all days off and the players would return for training on the Sunday morning. "Shambolic" was just one word which the Hatters boss described the debacle.

However didn't need anything special to haul ourselves out of this bad patch. Every team goes through a bad patch through the course of the season and perhaps the breather the club had for two weeks did them good, even though most of them were ill tucked up in bed. 

24 players were ruled out of the clash at Kidderminster which should have seen the Hatters start December in Worcestershire for the first time in their history. Manager Joe Kinnear asked for the game to be postponed and the game was controversially called off which didn't go down with the men in grey suits at Aggborough, who demanded the game played because it had cost them to hire police, make pies and print programmes etc. The matter was eventually rectified by the Football League with the Hatters fined £20,000 and were asked to pay Harriers £10,000 compensation. The game was rescheduled for a Tuesday night in January and no points were deducted.

So lucky perhaps was on the Town's side but perhaps the last place they wanted to go after a flu bug was Hartlepool on a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon in early December. However with another great refreshment kiosk selling great pies (but awful hotdogs) the only let down was the "wafer-thin" programme. But despite the quality of the programme the Town put in a great performance to return back to Kenilworth Road with three points after being reduced to ten men early in the second half. Dean Crowe and Super Matty Taylor gave the Hatters a 2-0 interval lead before being pegged back mid-way through the second half after the dismissal of Ian Hillier. The game ended with a lovely sunset in the sky above the ground as the Hatters eventually held on towards the end to win 2-1.

The victory earned in the North-East paved the way for an impressive December and led onto an unbeaten run of nine games which ironically ended in the North-East.

But after the win against the Monkey Hangers the Hatters saw off improving neighbours Rushden & Diamonds by the single goal despite another less than convincing performance, but hey, a wins a win and the Hatters were making progress erasing any memories of an awful November.

Hartlepool United this time made the journey down to Kenilworth Road looking to avenge the defeat by the Hatters earlier in the month. And they nearly managed to do it too. The Hatters looked seemingly in control after Steve Howard headed home but a mistake by Mark Ovendale led to a Pool equaliser on the stroke of half time. With the Hatters missing chance after chance, Hartlepool bagged a second goal on the break as they looked threatening on the counter-attack. With chances going a begging the Hatters looked beaten until, from the most unlikely source they equalised with eight minutes left. Minutes earlier a number of Luton fans were cursing Joe Kinnear for bringing on veteran club-captain Marvin Johnson. But after swapping passes with Matthew Taylor the ball broke loose for Marv to side-foot home to send the players and fans crazy. We were out of jail and a point was a fair reflection of the game that could have seen either side win, especially after Steve Howard marauded through on-goal only to see his shot saved by the legs of the keeper - leading to some unsavory comments aimed at the former Hartlepool front man.

However the disappointment of the draw at home to Hartlepool before Christmas was erased in great style the other side of the 25th. Boxing Day saw the Town roll into the Kassam Stadium, Oxford as the Oxford public turned out in their droves to see their side try and overhaul Luton - managed by their former Director of Football - Joe Kinnear. Kinnear had put on record what he thought of the Oxford fans - labelling them as muppets and the chairman - who he called an idiot. So with a enormous Town following of nearly 2,700 the Kassam Stadium was virtually full as just over eleven-thousand squeezed in. With people watching in the trees behind one of the goals because they couldn't get tickets, the hosts took the lead through Andy Scott who raced through after a dreadful mistake by Nicholls and slot the ball in past Ovendale. The Town's response however was typical of recent matches with Taylor and Valois playing some neat stuff down the left. The Hatters bagged a well worked equaliser through Dean Crowe before the break and minutes into the second period the Hatters went in front. Another well executed move resulted in Matthew Spring firing the visitors ahead for the first time. In truth the Hatters should have easily won by two goals as Howard missed two decent opportunities. Oxford rarely threatened as the Town cruised to victory despite what would seem a close game judging by the scoreline. Joe Kinnear in his post match comments wished Mr Kassam "A Happy Christmas" and said he was glad lots of people turned out to watch the game as the people of Oxford would have seen some decent football for the first time this season!

After the Oxford refreshment kiosk failed to deal with the long winding queue of Town fans, running out of all things hot, it was nice to visit Southend again three days later where the food is quite nice, especially sitting in the cosy cafe style room. The Hatters were slightly more recognisable since their last visit to Roots Hall but Southend still managed to take the lead early in the second half, after a first half which had seen the Hatters all over Southend like a rash. The Hatters though stepped up the pressure and at times oozed class. Taylor fashioned an opening for Dean Crowe to equalise and then Taylor himself bagged the winner to send 1,700 of us bonkers to snatch a deserved win with ten minutes left, thus ommiting any bad memories from our previous visit to Essex's finest.

January started with two home games that were called off due to inclement weather with the home fixtures between Exeter on New Years Day and Bristol Rovers called off. Just as well the game against the Grecians was frozen off as I woke up New Years Day slightly worse for wear.

But the opening game of 2002 saw the Town travel to Aggborough, Kidderminster for a fixture that should have been played on December 1. Many of the Aggborough faithful and playing staff had talked about the possible action the FA would take against the Hatters with many saying that we should be deducted points. So if the league decided to deduct three points, then it was imperative for us to get three points from this match. Kidderminster had a non-league feel to it with the small stands and terraces, atmosphere and great home made refreshments like the famous Aggborough Soup which many of my friends sampled with delight. I opted for a simple coffee with no sugar as nearly a thousand Town fans squeezed into the terrace behind the goal making a great atmosphere. After a blank opening forty-five minutes Harriers took the lead with a fortunate strike before the Hatters took command. Firstly Matthew Taylor struck the first with the ball bobbling under Kiddy keeper Stuart Brock's legs then Taylor sent Spring clear with a peach of a long pass. With Brock for some reason outside of the goalmouth Spring clipped the ball round the keeper to send us delirious. A Nicholls shot was spilled by Brock five minutes later which was snapped up by Steve Howard for goal number three, and an amazing evening was complete with Matthew Spring curling a shot round Brock for number 4. Great night, great food, great programme and a nice trip home.

The following Saturday saw the Hatters, in form themselves, travel to Cheltenham Town a side also in great form. Watching from possibly the worst away end in the league, veteran striker Tony Naylor smacked in a wonderful goal to give the Robins the lead at the interval as the Hatters defended doggedly and were unlucky not to score on the counter attack. The second half was much the same but the turning point came when Naylor missed a great chance to put Cheltenham 2-0 up. From then on the Hatters took control with Steve Howard running through to knock the equaliser. Adrian Forbes had a great chance to win it for the Hatters but a draw was a fair result as two in form sides could have both snatched a victory.

A disappointing home draw with Carlisle followed in another game that both sides could have won. The Hatters were a little nervy and anxious once Steve Soley knocked in the opener after the Town defence were at sixes and sevens trying to defend a corner. However Kinnear made a substitution immediately bringing on Adrian Forbes. Russ Perrett nodded home the equaliser following a Valois free kick and Forbes and Howard went close, Forbes hitting the woodwork. The Hatters again thwarted and frustrated at home with the Hatters boss saying Carlisle had "the luck of the Irish".

January ended on a disappointing note as the long trip to Darlington yielded no points after at one stage it looked as though the Town would get three of them. In a great opening half the Hatters should have been in front despite their dominance. Steve Howard headed the the visitors in front and at 1-0, Dean Crowe missed a great chance to double the lead. However a deflected free-kick flatted-footed Mark Ovendale and Darlington were level going into the break. The free kick took a wicked deflection off Jean-Louis Valois and he then put the Town back in front with a great right-foot strike on the volley. The locals were getting restless chanting "you don't know what you're doing" at their manager Tommy Taylor as he took possibly their best player - Barry Conlon - off for 17-year old youth-team striker Mark Sheeran. And with the Town defence beginning to wobble in the absence of Perrett, Coyne and the suspended Bayliss Darlo leveled things up with Sheeran nodding home after the Town had failed to deal with a freekick. And minutes later Sheeran then bagged the winner firing home from close range after Mark Ovendale failed to hold onto a fierce shot from Hodgson. 1-0 and 2-1 with ten minutes left it was a long way home. Plymouth had won as did a number of the chasing back. Two points collected from a possible nine and who were next...? Plymouth.

The game was a sell out a week or so prior to the game with Argyle having sold their 1,900 allocation well before. Argyle were sitting pretty at the top and had defied all the odds to remain their and continue to be unbelievably consistent. Of course the Hatters weren't at all like that with great forward play and  a leaky defence underlined by the number of goals scored and conceded. Compare that to Argyle who had hardly scored any but didn't let into many getting the tag of "boring Plymouth" people needed to count the number of clean sheets and 1-0 victories with the use of both fingers and toes it was so many. But for a top of the table team they were absolutely disgraceful. The game was almost like a cup final, especially for the visitors whose fans were partying and even brought loads of balloons. The Hatters though were irrestible and manager Joe Kinnear quite rightly stated that it was a "2-0 massacre". Massacre indeed. Argyle got eight men behind the ball and wasted time at every opportunity, something which frustrated the Hatters fans and players, especially skipper Kevin Nicholls who was definitely up for this. After a goalless first half which saw a perfectly good goal by Steve Howard ruled out, Plymouth continued to defend in depth in an effort to hit the Town on the break. And with the match seemingly drifting to the most one-sided 0-0 you'll ever see, Matthew Taylor's surge into the box is ended by a reckless tackle and the referee points at the penalty spot without any hesitation despite desperate Plymouth appeals. Kevin Nicholls doesn't miss penalties and he didn't this time, lashing the ball past Larrieu to send us crazy. Minutes later after a resurgent Plymouth fight back (where they hit the bar) the Hatters seal the points when Forbes heads a Taylor header across goal for Steve Howard to firmly nod home 2-0, goodbye.

The Euphoria and relief of beating the league leaders once again turned into disappointment a week later in Rochdale. There is something about Rochdale. The name itself conjures up images of the lower leagues and many people expect the place to be a bit of dump, but that was far from the truth. In fact the small Town in Manchester was a very nice place indeed with many of us impressed. We were later impressed by female talent on show in the chip shop across the road, ideally placed opposite the away turnstiles. After the 1-0 home defeat by the Dale in October it was revenge and David Bayliss also returned to his old club that had left him in the dark despite being one of their better and loyal players. The match was one to forget as the Town fell behind to a deflected and wind-assisted effort and then had a dozen chances to equalise or even win the game but were denied by poor finishing or inspired goalkeeping. Bayliss was sent off for seemingly having a shot but despite furious protests was still shown his marching orders. And the normally cool, calm, collected Bayliss reacted to a comment made on the Rochdale bench and he went for them. 1-0 again. Plucky old Rochdale. Nice place, nice ground, shame about the team. It was a miserable ride home for the second away journey in a row.

The following Saturday saw the first of three consecutive home games, starting with play-off chasing Scunthorpe United. Peter Beagrie maybe 36 years of age but he still has the enthusiasm and technique of a 20 year-old. And this was highlighted as he played a major role in plotting the downfall of the Hatters. Beagrie set up the first and scored the second as the Hatters equalised before going in 2-1 down at the interval. The second half was much the same with the Hatters looking great going forward but susceptible at the back. The equaliser eventually came from the left boot of Matthew Taylor but the ever-green Beagrie and his Scunthorpe colleagues had other ideas and Matthew Sparrow crashed home the winner -  after the Town failed to clear a free kick - in the last minute. Dejected and frustrated figures trooped off the pitch and likewise those in the stands while the 350 visiting fans celebrated a crucial win. Would this be the turning point in the Hatters season? Boo's and jeers greeting the final whistle suggested so. The Town dropped to third in the table, a massive thirteen behind leaders Plymouth. Hard to think that the Town had played them off the park two weeks ago. Instead of talking about the championship race two weeks ago, the fans were now muttering about the playoffs - the scene of heartbreak in 1997 when the Hatters blew their chance of automatic promotion. I for one wasn't happy and up until Tuesday I was a depressed man.

A midweek game against Bristol Rovers was conveniently re-arranged with the Hatters eager to try and erase recent bad memories and resurrect their promotion hopes. Themselves and Rovers were relegated last season from the second division. Rovers still have the same players while Kinnear bought a whole new team. Rovers were 89th in the football league, three places from the unthinkable...relegation to the conference. Rovers were on a recent bad run themselves and the Hatters picked their game up after a goalless first half to fire in three second half goals to send 5,500 fans home happy - a notable attendance after the debacle on Saturday. Steve Howard notched the first minutes into the second half, and that was followed by another goal from Howard and a penalty from Kevin "he's never going to miss" Nicholls. A miserable night weather-wise but the Hatters certainly put on a treat, Howard and in particular Matthew Taylor were very impressive, albeit against a surprisingly poor Rovers.

Up next were York City. Of course all eyes focused on in-form striker Steve Howard whose antics in the previously meeting in York nearly cost him his job. Joe Kinnear also bought in a new face - Alan Nielsen from Fulham via Grimsby and Lennie Lawrence. In an impressive debut Nielsen lined up at centre back along with Chris Coyne and would soon play a major role at right back for the remainder of the season. However the Hatters fell behind to a quality strike from Michael Proctor, curling in a beauty past a statue-esqe Carl Emberson. The Hatters are renowned for their combacks and a minute later Steve Howard rose the highest to nod home an important equaliser. Still at 1-1 at the break some fans were not happy with a few boo's resulting in some unsavory comments. However minutes into the second half Howard got number two, somehow knee-ing in from close range totally bamboozling the 'keeper. Howard could have sealed a hat-trick but the Hatters ran out worthy winners in the end as City failed to theaten and the Town poured forward looking for more.

Kinnear threw the gauntlet down. "We have to remain unbeaten and just keep winning". With twelve games left many fans thought Kinnear was drinking something different to the tea served in most homes around the country. But with the matches coming up think-and-fast with midweek games coming up every week the Hatters could really put a great run together.

With twelve matches left it was the historical city of Lincoln that the Town visited next. Arriving in Lincoln we immediately drew our attention to the cathedral which looks mighty impressive, over-looking the rest of the city. A pint in the very nice supporters club was the ideal tonic before some magnificent chips from the nearby chip shop and then into the ground which was quite unusual given that there was a small stand to our left that wouldn't look out of place in the non-league, whilst opposite that was a giant all-seated stand. And opposite where we sat was a stand that had green seats...Lincoln play in red, hence the confusion. The match itself was a bit of a blur really with both sides having plenty of possession but failing to call either goalkeeper into action. The winning goal came from a speculative effort from Matthew Taylor which caught the goalkeeper out who had slipped in the goalmouth. Taylor though should have had a hat-trick, blazing to shots high and wide and another one which cannoned off the bar. Lincoln failed to threaten the Hatters. Kinnear had gone to win the game by grinding the result out playing a defensive midfield and keeping the flair players on the bench. As a result the defence stood tall with Perrett and Coyne comfortable at centre back and likewise with Nielsen at right back. Three games, three wins, eleven to go.

Eleven became ten four days later for the last trip down to Devon for a a meeting with struggling Torquay United. Torquay is just a great place. Somehow it always manages to shine when we go there, the chips are always good and the area in around the football ground is pleasant and to top it all off the club have their very own pub "Boots and Laces". And of course we manage to pick up three points and leave for home come 5pm with everyone smiling. I bet Torquay fans don't smile often though. They were awful. After going behind to a well-worked goal from Ahmet Brkovic, Torquay failed to test Carl Emberson all afternoon. They were restricted to long range efforts that harmed the corner flag more than anything. The Hatters strolled to victory in this game and it could have been more if it wasn't for good goalkeeping and again, poor finishing. But again a wonderful day, thirteen-hundred Luton fans certainly thought so anyway.

Plymouth conceded a last minute equaliser at Macclesfield as the Town moved with eight points of the consistent greens.

The following Tuesday saw Leyton Orient visit Kenilworth and once again the Hatters turned on the style, romping to another 3-0 home win. Manager Joe Kinnear said we'd now begin to play "sexy football" at home whilst be more defensive minded on their travels. Orient had some early chances that they missed and after the opening fifteen minutes the Hatters started to get a control of the game. Chris Coyne volleyed home the opener and that was followed in the second half by two more goals this time from Dean Crowe - who ended his ten-match goal drought and Adrian Forbes. It could have been more but another win saw the Town chalk up their fifth straight win.

Saturday saw the Hatters make the short journey up the A6 to meet new neighbours Rushden & Diamonds who had been promoted from the conference last year. I was intend on making a weekend of it and after playing championship manager with Dave til 1am, stinking of beer we woke up early in shock thinking we'd missed kickoff...it turned out to be only 10am. Tickets for this encounter were at a premium with the Hatters selling their 1,400 allocation a fortnight before the game. Rushden announced that they too had sold all their tickets and that the match was a must win for them. Arriving a blustery Nene Park 'complex' we met the lads and went in to have a pint amid the impressive decor in the concourse underneath the stand where there were even tables and chairs, a proper queue for food and a bookies...even the toilets were clean. The match wasn't helped by the wind which the Hatters kicked into in the first half. A goalless half was more noted for the lack of atmosphere generated by the home fans. The second half was minutes old when the Hatters conceded a soft goal scored by Paul Hall. But with the wind behind them the Town surged forward and at times were looking so good I couldn't believe it was actually players in Luton shirts that were stringing together some fine moves. One such move resulted in the Town's equaliser with Matthew Taylor playing out of his skin, crossing for Dean Crowe to stab home. Taylor and Crowe went close to putting the Town in front before Taylor again supplied a magnificent cross right onto the head of Steve Howard whose thunderous header sent us going bananas. And that was win number six on the spin.

Exeter City were the visitors the following Tuesday and the return of Jean-Louis Valois to the starting line up resulted in the return of "sexy football". Indeed, sexy was the word with the Hatters cruising to yet another 3-0 midweek home victory this time with Steve Howard scoring twice and Matthew Taylor heading in the third. Taylor and Howard were now the men on form and the Hatters had a great chance on equaling a club record nine straight victories as the fixture list read two consecutive home matches against Kidderminster and bottom of the table Halifax. Win number seven was another easy performance from the hosts who quite clearly hadn't even stepped into top gear.

Win number eight was duly recorded four days later with - despite what the scoreline suggests - another comfortable 1-0 win over Kidderminster. Paul Hughes's strike early in the first half was enough to see the Hatters home with Kidderminster looking more likely to win the FA Cup than this match, as was the standard of their attacking play.

With the defence now a rock and the forward and midfield play irrestible the Hatters now had the perfect team, that also was unbelievably high on confidence.

The confidence was shown a week later when the Hatters entertained bottom-of-the-table Halifax Town as the Hatters looked to equal a club record nine straight victories. With the visitors on a good run which had seen them string to wins together for the first time since 2001 manager Joe Kinnear cautiously played down any suggestions that the Hatters would walk it. What was Joe talking about? The Hatters coasted to victory, and even though Halifax were the worst team that i've ever ever seen, it was a joy to watch Luton players have the confident and cheek to try fancy passes and long range efforts and so on. At half time the lead was 2-0 and by full time the score 5-0. Yes five goals but it could and should have been another five. This was great stuff with almost every player cheered and clapped everytime they touched the ball. I'd never seen this sort of behaviour from Luton fans or play that Luton players did that day, before...and the younger element of the crowd, me included, were loving it. News came through that both Mansfield and Cheltenham had slipped up so with fingers poised over the calculator it worked out that a win against Swansea next week would guarantee the Hatters promotion.

The alarm went off on my television around 8am, waking up in a dazed state with the sunlight peering through the hole in the curtains. It was Saturday and that meant one thing. Football. This time it was no ordinary match - I'd been to many matches before although this one had slightly more importance to it that no other had had in the past. This Saturday was March 30th 2002, a day which could mark the proudest moment in my twelve year love affair with Luton Town Football Club. I wasn't the only one though, as I was joined by eleven-hundred others who made the trek along the M4, into Wales, and into Swansea. And in the mad rush to get ready me and my companion Dave nearly missed the supporters coach. The journey may have been quite a long one but the jovial atmosphere at the back of the coach and, dare I say it...alcohol (which is banned from the coach) made for a pleasant journey. Add to that the other Luton fans waving at each other down the motorway and the added bonus of warm weather made it quite a journey. 

We arrived in Swansea around 1.30 and were instantly told by the Police to "get in the ground" as they had coned off the road around the corners where various pubs were situated. The ground itself was pretty run down had looked very awkward, especially the stand opposite that was a two-tier affair with a huge upper deck of faded black - now grey seating and a small bunker like terrace below. What made us all laugh was the 'thrown' type facility at the very back of the stand where you would expect a king or queen to be sitting, and it looked a little out of place. The other stands beside the pitch were simple constructions, one being a rickety old main stand and the other a wide covered terrace. The terrace that the Town contingent was allocated looked more like a barn where you'd expect hay and chickens running about. We paid through the nose to purchase food from a bizarre looking refreshment kiosk that was surrounded in wrought iron to protect the poor souls serving the away fans and then took up position about half-way down the terrace to the right of the goal as we looked it. And as the players came out there was a huge reception. The words 'here we go' sprang to mind as we kicked off in the orange and blue away kit, kicking towards us.

An within half an hour the eleven-hundred Town fans were jumping about, hugging, kissing anyone and everyone who was beside them. Matthew Taylor leaping like a salmon out of water to nod down firmly past Roger Freestone after a great cross from Steve Howard. And with the banter between the Swans fans getting even funnier (i.e. Luton fans laughing at Swansea fans attempts to try and annoy us, chant racist remarks...some even made a run for us - which they were thwarted by a member of the local constabulary) the Hatters continued to do the business on the pitch. Swansea had a few half chances, nothing more and midway through the second period promotion was secured when Peter Holmes rifled into a 20-yard shot to send us all delirious for the second time. "The Town are going up" was the cry from every Hatter as they began to chant all the names of their eleven heroes on the pitch and of course Joe Kinnear and Mick Harford. Unbelievably Howard scored a third as the Town threaten to run riot against a seemingly poor Swansea defence. Spring and Crowe could have added a fourth and Swansea got a late consolation but in the end the referee blew which signalled the start of the real celebrations. The players came over before leaving. Would that be the last we saw of them on this sunny day in south Wales?

No. "We want Joe We Want Joe" demanded the jubilant Town fans. The Swansea ground staff didn't take pleasure in being stuck in the Vetch Field more any longer and even the Public Address announcer asked for the Hatters fans to leave! Did we budge? What do you think? The only response the PA announcer got was "We want Joe" from the Hatters fans. Chairman Mike Watson-Challis, the man who had made this day possible emerged from the touchline to which he got an incredible standing ovation from the travelling hordes decked out in blue, white and orange. Then from the corner of the ground the players started to emerge with bottles of champagne and flags...they were coming for us. And slowly Joe and Mick shortly followed as the jubliant players mixed with the fans. Matthew Spring opened his magnum of champagne and duly sprayed it all over me and my new top which I vowed never to clean it again. Kinnear then just calmly handed his bottle to someone as the players then lined up for photos with the "we're going up" banner which was given to a mate of mine. I then asked if I could buy it off him and he rejected my £50 bid saying "it's priceless". Kinnear was then held aloft by Mick and Aaron Skelton as the players and management shook hands with the lucky fans that got up the fence at the front. The players then slowly made their way back to the dressing rooms and the fans took one last look at the Vetch Field stadium the scene of the Hatters first promotion in 20-years before departing for a long and happy trip home.

After the celebrations in South Wales the Hatters entertained Mansfield Town two days later in early kick off on Easter Monday looking for revenge. And there was the small matter of the championship to be decided as well. Many people had forgot amid the celebrations at Swansea that the team had won ten successive games - a new club record, and the eleventh victory was recorded in style again in front of the fans who couldn't get to Swansea. The sexy football returned and in the process yielded five goals in an 8-goal thriller in which Mansfield looked nothing like a team also challenging for promotion. But the Hatters were already up and showboating in the process as another awesome attacking display saw the Hatters 4-2 up at half time with both defences guilty of some bad defending. Valois smashed home the first before a mix up allowed the visitors to level and then a three goal blast from the Hatters made it 4-1 with goals from Howard, Crowe and a penalty from Nicholls before a admirable strike from veteran Scott Sellars reduced arrears. Howard notched his second goal of the game early in the second half to make it 5-2 before Chris Greenacre made it 5-3 in injury time to finish off another thrilling encounter and further cement the Town's chances of the championship.

Victory number twelve was recorded in similar fashion the following Saturday as the Hatters put on another scintillating performance at Boothferry Park, the home of the bookies pre-season favourites Hull City. Another fantastic day out that had everything in which the Hatters won 4-0 away from home for the first time in twenty-odd years. The ageing Boothferry Park was bathed in April sunshine as the home fans welcomed a new manager - Jan Molby for his first game in charge. Molby's record as a manager against Luton this season has been very good and he continued to do us a favour as the Tigers put on a toothless display - the main reason why they lie in midtable. Taylor and Valois were playing out of their skins again as the Town eased into a 2-0 lead with goals from striking duo Howard and Crowe, both set up with brilliant passes from the impressive Taylor. Howard bagged a third for the Hatters from another Taylor cross midway through the second period, and then Howard - who had been denied hat-tricks five times this season - grabbed his hat-trick with a well taken fourth, calmy rounding the keeper to make it 4-0. Plymouth surprisingly drew at home to Southend and the Hatters were top of the league!

However the Town's title aspirations took a turn for the worse a week later at the hands of one of their bogey teams - Macclesfield Town, who were the only team the Hatters had never, ever beaten. And with the luck being against them they were left to curse the unlucky 13 as it was April 13, Macclesfield were 13th in the table and no team had kept a clean sheet at Kenilworth Road in 13 games. And sure enough the curse continued to frustrate the Hatters and Macclesfield spoilt the party by defending in depth and secured 0-0 draw to take back to rural Chesire. The Hatters had plenty of chances but it was a day when it just wouldn't fall for them. Oh, and by the way this was game number 13 in the sequence...just in case you've lost count. 

And so with Plymouth winning their games in hand they were crowded Champions but the Hatters were well worth their 94 points, enough to win the league in any normal season. The end of a long and happy road came to an end in the quaint Town of Shrewsbury. The game still took on massive importance as the home side needed a victory to guarantee themselves a playoff spot. This time it was the Hatters turn to spoil the party with a comfortable victory leaving the Shrewsbury players and fans dejected, I know how they feel because us Luton fans have seen it all. An own goal got the ball rolling in the second half and with the Town defence as strong as ever Steve Howard scored his 24th goal of the season to clinch the game and the golden boot in the sixth minute of injury time. Two-thosand Luton fans were joined by Kevin Nicholls, Peter Holmes, Lee Mansell and David Bayliss in the terrace behind the goal and the party atmosphere was underlined by great scenes at the end with the players in a line saluting the travelling faithful. The season was over the Hatters were promoted. Howard's last minute goal was the Town's 100th goal of the season as they finished on a remarkable 97 points and yet even more remarkable was that they finished second.

The end of the season which the Hatters celebrated a first promotion in twenty years. Spending in excess of £1,200 I feel it was well worth it. The run of fourteen games without defeat with thirteen of those victories is incredible, especially when you consider that the football league record is fourteen straight wins. I guess some people will be disappointed with us not finishing as champions and no doubt followers of other teams will see that Luton "only" finished in second place, but us, the fans know that we were good enough to win the league. We may well have seen the likes of Matthew Spring and Matthew Taylor for the last time but this season will be one to remember. The turn of fortunes for Steve Howard was also the main reason for success. His goal tally at Christmas was five goals and in the following nineteen games he scored nineteen goals. Lets not forgot what Joe Kinnear has done bringing in a whole new team fit for this division because without him we would not have been promoted. Simple as that. So, til next season, where hopefully we'll be singing this ditty again "Hey Hey Baby, ooh-ahh, Big Fat Joe's, Gonna take us up!". And in the words of Vinny Jones "Its been emotional".

Andrew Barringer.