John Carver

Ex-Head Coach

John joined Luton Town as a first-team coach at the end of March 2007, linking up with his former Leeds United boss Kevin Blackwell, who had just been appointed as the new Luton Town manager following Mike Newell's sacking.

Brought in with seven games of the Championship season remaining, and the Hatters sitting second from bottom of the Championship table - only above John's former club Leeds United on goal difference - it was hoped that along with Blackwell and fellow coach Brian Stein, the trio could save the Hatters' Championship status.

Born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne on January 16 1965, John became assistant manager to Sir Bobby Robson at his hometown club, Newcastle United.  However, in September 2004, Robson was sacked and John was appointed as the caretaker manager, guiding the Magpies to a 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers, a win that he later dedicated to Sir Bobby Robson.

Following the appointment of Graeme Souness at St. James' Park, John was sacked as Souness opted to bring in his own backroom staff.  Some ten months later, John was back in a job, joining Leeds United as their head coach to replace Adrian Boothroyd, who had left to become Watford manager.

In June 2006, John was asked to become the new manager of Carlisle United, who had lost their manager Paul Simpson to Preston North End.  However, after much thought and deliberation, John decided to turn down the opportunity and he was rewarded by Leeds the following month by being promoted to the role of assistant manager.

Just two months after becoming assistant manager to Kevin Blackwell at Elland Road, John found himself in a caretaker manager role once again as Blackwell was sacked as Leeds boss.  A 3-2 victory over Birmingham City marked John's first game in charge, but a series of heavy defeats - including a 1-5 loss at Kenilworth Road against Luton - saw Leeds chairman Ken Bates appoint Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet as the new management team and in October 2006, John left Leeds United.

Brought to Luton Town by his former colleague Kevin Blackwell as Head Coach, John was hoping that he could help the Hatters to gain promotion from League One at the first time of asking, having been relegated from the Championship during the previous season.

Unfortunately for John and the club, things didn't go quite as planned - in fact, that would be a huge understatement!  The side's form at the beginning of the season was patchy, the Hatters impressive at home, but extremely poor on their travels, winning only one away League game under new manager Kevin Blackwell in 2007-08.

An impressive run in the League Cup - where both Sunderland and Charlton Athletic were beaten - ended in an extra-time home defeat to Everton in the Fourth Round and gave Blackwell and his staff some much-needed pressure relief, but in the League the Hatters were struggling in mid-lower table of League One.

Then came a bombshell as Chairman David Pinkney stepped down from the Club and put Luton Town into administration in November 2007.  At the same time, Directors John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot also resigned under extreme pressure from the Hatters fans, who were extremely aggrieved at numerous player sales and with the pair under investigation from the Football Association for financial irregularities.  John, assistant manager Sam Ellis and Blackwell were understandably upset by the developments and Blackwell stated many times that he felt "cheated" and that he'd been brought to the Club under "false promises".

The club were automatically deduced 10 points by the Football Association, which saw the Hatters plummet to bottom place in League One.  However, the off-the-field activities seemed to galvanize the players who produced some excellent displays on the pitch.  Although Luton remained in the relegation places when John was dismissed from his position in mid-January 2008, they had clawed back a good few points to give themselves a fighting chance of staving off the threat of relegation.

The Club also gained huge praise and worldwide recognition when they were drawn at home to Premiership giants Liverpool in the FA Cup Third Round in January 2008.  A superb 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road in front of the live Sky television cameras earned a money-spinning replay at Anfield.  However, it was at this point that things went from bad to worse for John and his fellow staff members.  The administrators decided to sell two key players - central defender and club captain Chris Coyne and midfielder David Edwards - for £350,000 and £675,000 to Colchester United and Wolves respectively.  Manager Kevin Blackwell stated that he felt the decisions had been made without his say-so and that he was no longer managing the Club.  Blackwell, his assistant manager Sam Ellis, and John all subsequently resigned, but said they'd stay at the Club until February, thereby giving a month's notice, even though they weren't required to do so.  However, just days later, after the decimated Hatters were bravely beaten 0-5 at Liverpool in the FA Cup replay, the administrators announced that they had terminated the trio's contracts with immediate effect and they duly appoint Hatters legend Mick Harford as the new Luton Town manager.

It brought an end to John's nine-month spell at Kenilworth Road, but he left with the best wishes of all Luton Town supporters for the work he had done under extremely difficult circumstances.

However, just three weeks after leaving Kenilworth Road, John was back in football, taking over as head coach of US Major Soccer League club Toronto FC, where he replaced former Scotland international Mo Johnston.  Johnston will still be on the side line during games, but has said that John will have control over who plays, game strategy and training sessions.

Profile By:  James Garley