A STATEMENT FROM LUTON TOWN 2020 LTD

Luton Town Football Club 2020 Limited, the fans' led consortium who have been given exclusivity to purchase the Hatters, have released the following statement: -

LTFC2020 are delighted that they have been chosen by the administrator as the best bid to take Luton Town Football Club out of administration. LTFC2020 now enter an exclusive period of six weeks, within which they need to progress to a full agreement detailing the purchase of the Club.

Gary Sweet, bid manager, said “This is fantastic news for all fans. The majority of people involved in the LTFC2020 bid are lifelong Hatters and we are delighted to be in a position to be the next custodians of the Club - bringing the Club home to the fans”.

“The process to gain control of the Club will take some weeks and we do not expect to be ‘the decision makers’ until at least April. Until then the administrator will remain in charge. There will be some tough negotiations with HMRC and the Football League before the Club is allowed to exit administration. We have the support of the fans, our backers, the Club, the administrator and local MPs so we are doing all we can to get the best possible solution for the Club.”

He went on “After years of mismanagement, the Club is in a dire state and was losing over £400,000 a month. Clearly this is not sustainable so financial stability and living within our means is of the utmost priority. This will mean some hard, and sometimes unpopular, decisions and, when we take those, we ask fans to stand by us as they have over the past few weeks. We want a long-term dream for our Club and not a recurring nightmare.”

Detailing LTFC2020’s plans after financial stability is attained, Gary said “We want to re-engage fans both past and present - they haven’t had much to be proud of over recent years with regards to the management of the Club. We hope to achieve this by embracing individual fans and businesses through regular communication, honesty and transparency. We also plan to continue the only success story of 2007 – youth and community development. With the team we have in place, we have the skills to reinvigorate this vital area. Once we are stable financially we will carry out an independent feasibility study to identify the best location for a new stadium. We already have professionals in place ready to start this process but we must stabilise the Club first otherwise there will be no Club to relocate.”

LTFC2020 started their bid campaign on the basis that this was the ‘last chance saloon’ for the Club – any more mistakes would prove terminal for the Club.

Gary finished by saying “LTFC2020 will do the very best we can for the Club. We will be open and transparent so the fans can see how we are progressing although we kindly ask for your patience to implement these measures. However, it is not just down to us – the fans play a critical role and without their help and support we will fail. The fans have played their part brilliantly so far and without their help we would not be in this privileged position and for this we thank them. We are looking forward to welcoming new, past and present fans to the matches, and to be the people who have helped the Club regain their trust.”

- Ends -

19 January 2008

For further details call: Stephen Browne mobile: 07778 667978

About LTFC2020:

LTFC2020 is the consortium backed by all fans groups:

Luton Town Supporters Club

Loyal Luton Supporters Club

Trust in Luton

LTFC2020 is made up of 10 people, 8 of whom are lifelong Hatters.

Keith Harris, ex Chairman of the Football League is part of the LTFC2020 advisory team.

The process of reducing monthly losses has already started with some player sales and the recruitment of new team management.

The Club does not have to sell more players – it is secure to the end of the season. There will be no ‘fire sale’. However, the wage bill is still unsustainable so there will be hard decisions to make to achieve the goal of ‘living within our means’.

Administration Process:

The next stage of the process is a six-week exclusivity period where no other bidder will be considered. During this time, agreement has to be reached for a final contract to buy the assets of the Club, due diligence has to be completed (the majority already undertaken), funds to settle creditors have to be made available to the administrator, and the CVA documentation has to be completed for presentation to the creditors. LTFC2020 expect no problems with any of these items.

Once the final agreement to buy the assets of the Club is signed, LTFC2020 will be the only people who can buy the Club out of administration (like exchange of contracts during a house sale).

Agreement from creditors is expected to take at least 8 weeks, giving a 14 week timescale in total. This complies with legislation that must give 14 days notice for a creditors meeting, and a further 31 days for any creditor to appeal against the offer.

Once full agreement is reached, the Football League can pass the ‘Golden share’ back to the Club which guarantees the Club’s league status. At this time, LTFC2020 completely takes over the management of the Club and the Administrators’ duties end.

Until the ‘Golden share’ is passed back to the Club, the administrator is in full control of the Club.

The Cornerstones of LTFC2020 are:

· To exercise business transparency and practise an appropriate level of corporate governance.

· To encourage valuable investment with football and community as the investors’ primary motivation.

· To successfully balance sporting success and ambition with prudent financial management.

· To fully engage with the fanbase to ensure that both parties move in the same, positive direction.

· To support the town and broader community with a focal point of pride and a facility that is accessible to all.

· To breed an entertaining, exciting, passionate and fair company culture synonymous with a sporting business

The next generation of successful football clubs will be those that have been able to ensure that the team, its commercial operations and, vitally, its fanbase are pulling together. Football is the envy of almost every sector of the broader business community for possessing a far greater level of native loyalty within its customer base; a hugely valuable commodity which is the decisive factor for many successful businesses.

It is proposed, therefore, that the new direction for Luton Town Football Club is to pioneer this approach by establishing the foundations for essential brick building upon ethical cornerstones that will focus the business, its staff and its customers on elevating Luton Town to a shared ambitious and enviable platform.

Luton Town Football Club 2020 Ltd (LTFC2020) will be the custodians of 122 years of history and, most importantly, the visionary company that will elevate Luton Town back to being recognised as a force in English football. LTFC2020's strategic plan, ‘2020 Mission’ will be the platform for a new era. More information will be made public on this plan in due course.

The Consortium:

The Bid Team:

Gary Sweet

Stephen Browne

Antony Brown

The Backers:

Nick Owen (Chairman)

Bob Curson

Steve Foster

Keith Harris

Godfrey Ingram

Mick Pattinson

Michael Roberts
Story date: Monday, January 21, 2008