HATTERS HERO HARFORD TURNS DOWN FOREST

Luton Town Director of Football and First-Team Coach Mick Harford is to stay at Kenilworth Road after turning down the opportunity to move to First Division Nottingham Forest to become assistant manager to new Forest boss and ex-Hatters manager Joe Kinnear.

Luton Town fans have been worrying since the end of last week when Kinnear was appointed as the new manager at The City Ground, with Hatters supporters certain he would try to persuade his good friend Harford – who worked alongside him at both Wimbledon and, of course, Luton – to become his number two again. Hatters boss Mike Newell confirmed shortly afterwards that Kinnear had asked Harford to join him at Nottingham Forest – and it left the Hatters faithful agonisingly waiting for Harford to make an announcement. That announcement has now come – and he has once again proved his loyalty to the club.

It's believed that his lengthy meeting on Monday was with members of Bill Tomlins' Consortium who are about to takeover the Hatters. Harford is likely to have asked for assurances that the club were set to come out of administration.

The news is not only a massive boost for the fans, but could also be a big bonus for the players, many of whom are out-of-contract in the summer and may now see that offers of new deals are on the horizon.

Harford said, “Joe is a very personal friend of mine and I've known him for a long time. He gave me a good chance in football and put me on the ladder in a managerial set-up.

“So I had to give him the courtesy to consider it but in all honesty when he first rang me I always believed I was going to stay at Luton. I’ve been at the club now for two-and-a-half-years and I’ve been involved in the set-up and the restructuring of the club along with Joe and with Mike and other people. It was a fantastic offer and it gave me a bit of security and it gave me the chance to work with Joe and at a fantastic football club, but it was the pull of Luton Town and I have a burning desire to succeed at Luton and my desire is to take Luton into the First Division.

“I just think this club needs a bit of stability and what happened in the summer when Joe and I were sacked, but now me and Mike work well together and we both want this club to progress and it is something we both feel in our hearts that we want to do well here.

”I’ve had two meetings with Bill Tomlins and other members of the new board that will hopefully be installed by the end of the week and I asked a lot of questions about the future and the new stadium and that was partly down to me staying. I was excited by what they had to tell me and by the future of the club and the plans for the new stadium and for the club and I want to be a part of that. We should probably be out of administration by the end of the week.

“I take pride in what I have done at the club and we’ve carried the club through administration and hopefully that is near an end now and all of the factors I have just said, I made a decision based on that – but I would have stayed here regardless.

“When I first came here, it was a great opportunity to come back to Luton, but no disrespect, the club was in a bit of a mess, when they were in the Third Division and going nowhere, but we got them into the Second Division and stabilised them, but now we’ve got ourselves in a position to push for a place in the play-offs and gain promotion. But now I believe there is a great nucleus of a set of players down here which we can add to when we come out of administration and that can take us forward and I’ve enjoyed putting the team together.

“I told Joe my decision last night and I told him everything I’ve told you and he said: ‘Good luck to you, and I wish you all the best, but you’re missing a fantastic opportunity’ and he sold the club to me and the offer was fantastic and it was something where we went away and we left each other as good friends and we’ll have a drink when we see each other.

“Mike Newell was pleased – he didn’t want me to go and to be honest with you, I didn’t want them to know last week because of the game at Wycombe and I am just relieved its all over, because I was always going to stay, but I had to have the courtesy to Joe to consider the offer because it was a fantastic opportunity.

“We have a lot of players out-of-contract at the end of the season and we’ve spoken to the incoming new board and we told them that it is something we need to get sorted out as soon as possible because there are a lot of players out-of-contract and I believe I have a good rapport with the players and I enjoy working with the players, so it is a priority we sit down with the players as soon as possible and get them sorted out.

“I can’t say enough about the fans and on Saturday and we I came out for the Rushden game and they bring a tear to my eye and they are a very big part of my decision to be honest with you.”

You can hear the full interview with Mick Harford in full audio by clicking HERE.
Story date: Tuesday, February 17, 2004