HARFORD SELLS ANDREW TO PALACE

Luton Town striker Calvin Andrew has completed a move to Championship side Crystal Palace for a minimal fee that is believed to be in the region of £80,000.

The young striker, who progressed through the Hatters’ youth academy, has become the latest player to leave Kenilworth Road – with winger David Bell also set for a £600,000 switch to Norwich City.

The Hatters have also included various sell-on clauses and bonuses should Andrew become a big success at Selhurst Park.

Andrew burst onto the scene early in the 2004-05 season when his prolific goal scoring record in Youth football prompted manager Mike Newell to hand him a first-team squad number and a place in the travelling party for the Hatters' trip to Sheffield Wednesday, although he wasn't included in the final sixteen for that match.

A Lutonian, Calvin was spotted in local football by Youth Development Officer Mark Ridgway as a 16-year-old schoolboy, and was brought to the club for an extended trial. He made an immediate impact, scoring twice against Cheltenham Town in only his third Under-19 game, and was offered non-contract terms for the following 2003-04 campaign. Within weeks of the new season it was obvious that he was a talent worth keeping hold of, and after a return of fifteen goals from twenty-one games in the Under-17 and 19 sides, he was signed on a two-year Modern Apprenticeship.

Andrew made an explosive start to the 2004-05 season, scoring an incredible eight goals in three games for the Under-18 side, including hat-tricks against Northampton Town and Rushden & Diamonds. He was involved with the Reserve team, and was praised by coach Brian Stein for his performance after coming on as a substitute in a 1-2 defeat against Millwall.

Andrew made his Luton Town first-team debut in a 0-2 loss at Swansea City in the LDV Vans Trophy in late September 2004 and, after a further substitute appearance in a 3-0 victory at Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup Second Round, Andrew made his League debut as a 58th minute substitute at Brentford in a disappointing 0-2 defeat at Griffin Park.

The match with the Bees saw striker Steve Howard sent off and, with the bustling striker suspended for the visit of Port Vale four days later, Andrew was handed his full League debut – and his home debut – as the Hatters ran out 1-0 winners.

Scoring regularly for the Hatters Youth and Reserve sides, Andrew was handed his second full League start of the campaign in a 1-0 win at Chesterfield on Boxing Day.

After a further 5 substitute League appearances and another appearance in the FA Cup, he made a total of 8 League appearances during the 2004-05 season (6 as a substitute) and he celebrated his first season as a professional by helping Luton Town to the League One Championship.

A tall, powerful and direct front-man, Andrew possesses a lightning turn of speed and the ability to score goals both with his head and on the ground.

He had another season of gaining experience in 2005-06, mainly away from Kenilworth Road.

Loaned to League Two side Grimsby Town at the beginning of the season, Andrew impressed for Russell Slade’s men and, when coming on as a half-time substitute at Barnet at the end of August, he netted an excellent looping header just 8 seconds into the second-half – some impact when coming off the bench!

Making 8 appearances for the Mariners during his loan spell – including a League Cup clash against Premiership giants Newcastle United - Andrew returned to Kenilworth Road and Reserve team football.

He was back out on loan again in February 2006, this time to League One side Bristol City, where he made 3 first-team appearances (2 as a substitute) before returning to Bedfordshire.

Upon returning to Luton, he made one first-team appearance during an injury crisis, coming on as an 84th minute substitute at Plymouth Argyle and operating on the right-wing. However, he couldn’t have predicted the 88th minute winner he would bag to send the few hundred travelling Hatters fans wild!

He continued to feature regularly for the Hatters’ Reserve side during the 2006-07 campaign as manager Mike Newell looked to aid his development with appearances for the second string. His first appearance at senior level during the season didn’t come until March 2007 – in new manager Kevin Blackwell’s first game in charge following Newell’s sacking - when he came off the bench with 20 minutes left in a goalless draw at Burnley.

He thereafter featured regularly under Blackwell for the remainder of the campaign, making 7 appearances in total (5 of them being starting appearances) as Luton were relegated from the Championship with a whimper.

However, Andrew did get on the score sheet before the season was over, bagging a goal in a 3-1 victory at Southend United, who had also been relegated to League One with the Hatters.
He finally became a first-team regular for Luton Town during the 2007-08 season, but unfortunately for Andrew, it was a season that culminated in relegation to League Two and was beset by problems both on and off the field.

Out of the reckoning at the beginning of the season, manager Kevin Blackwell preferring the experience of Paul Furlong, Paul Peschisolido and Paul McVeigh and the pace of Drew Talbot in attack, Andrew's first start of the season came in a 2-0 home win over Northampton Town in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in early September 2007.

He had already made three substitute appearances by this time, and this was a role that he was given regularly throughout the season as he was always in the squad, but remained in and out of the side.
The turning point in Andrew's season seemed to come in November 2007 when chairman David Pinkney placed the club into administration. The Hatters were automatically deducted 10 League points and dropped into the League One relegation places. This spurred the team into action, none more so than Andrew, who enjoyed his best spell of the campaign as the Christmas period approached, netting his first goal of the season in a 1-1 home draw with Brentford in the FA Cup First Round at Kenilworth Road.

Handed a starting place by manager Kevin Blackwell following this goal, Andrew went on to net important winning goals in League matches against Southend United and Yeovil Town, and a vitally important goal against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup Second Round that earned a lucrative Third Round clash with Premiership giants Liverpool.

His aerial ability had drastically improved, as well as his work rate, but perhaps the biggest criticisms that could be aimed at him was that his touch sometimes seemed to be quite poor, and he also didn't contribute enough goals during the season.

However, he remained a squad regular under new manager Mick Harford, who replaced Kevin Blackwell as manager in January 2008. The subject of a £250,000 transfer bid from Southend United during the January transfer window, Calvin and Harford decided it would be in Andrew's best interests to stay at Kenilworth Road and continue to learn his trade.

However, Luton finished bottom of League One and subsequently suffered their second successive relegation during what was an awful campaign for everyone concerned at Kenilworth Road.

Making a total of 48 appearances in all competitions during the season, scoring 4 goals, Andrew had made 66 career appearances for Luton Town, scoring 6 goals. However, it was to be his last appearance in a Luton Town shirt as in July 2008, he surprisingly made the switch to the Championship, joining Crystal Palace for a minimal fee, rumoured to be £40,000.
Story date: Friday, July 18, 2008