A lively and energetic striker, with nimble footwork and a huge favourite with the Luton supporters who had always wanted him to return to Bedfordshire, he signed a two-year deal and became manager Joe Kinnear's first signing in preparation for the 2002-03 season. It is Thorpe's fourth spell at Kenilworth Road following a further two loan spells in addition to his initial stint with the club.

Tony began his career with Luton as an attacking midfielder, coming through the youth ranks at Kenilworth Road after being released as a junior by his hometown club Leicester City. He made his debut during the 1993-94 season as a young substitute in an FA Cup Fourth Round match at Premiership giants Newcastle, with Luton struggling at the bottom of Division One. Thrown on by then Luton boss David Pleat, he made a dramatic impact, scoring a 35-yard thunderbolt that flew into the top corner, his goal earning Luton a 1-1 draw and a replay - which they won 2-0. The Hatters eventually reached the FA Cup semi-final that season, losing 2-0 to Chelsea at Wembley. However, for Tony, it had seen him make a mark at first-team level, and he made a total of 14 League appearances during the season, netting his first League goal in a 3-0 home win over Oxford on February 5th 1994.

The following season, the 1994-95 campaign, Tony continued to develop in Luton's reserve side, but also appeared 4 times at first-team level. However, it was the following season that he began to really establish himself as a first-team regular with Luton. With Pleat leaving Luton to become the Sheffield Wednesday manager, the Hatters appointed youth manager Terry Westley as the new first-team boss. Westley signed several players, paying a lot of money for a club of Luton's size to acquire them, and it looked very much as if Tony's opportunities at Luton would be limited. But, to his credit, Tony remained in the squad, and he netted his first goal of the season in a 1-0 at Southend three matches into the campaign. However, he was used fairly sparingly by Westley, but when Westley was sacked, Lennie Lawrence was appointed as manager and Tony became a regular in the side in the second half of the season. He scored 7 League goals during the season, 8 in all competitions to finish third in the club goal scoring charts, including 4 goals in April - the best being a 25-yard chip, after running on to a through pass against Barnsley. However, Tony's goals couldn't prevent Luton from being relegated to Division Two, a massive disappointment for the Hatters supporters.

But, for Tony, the 1996-97 season proved a campaign to remember. He was moved into a striking role from his usual attacking midfield position by then manager Lennie Lawrence, and the move provided astonishing results! Tony ended the season with 32 goals, 31 of them coming in the League, and he claimed the Division Two Golden Boot award for that season. He scored almost every type of goal imaginable - powerful shots, delicate chips, tap ins, headers and penalties. A previous tendancy towards slight nonchalance was thrown off as he improved almost match by match, registering three hat-tricks during the season and also assisting in creating goals for his colleagues. This tremendous form saw him elected to the PFA Second Division XI by his fellow professionals and he also won both the Luton Supporters and Players' Player of the Year awards. However, there was still disappointment for Tony because Luton failed to earn promotion back to Division One, as Crewe Alexandra defeated the Hatters 4-3 on aggregate in the play-off semi-finals.

Tony had another excellent season in 1997-98 when wearing the Luton shirt, as he netted 19 goals in all competitions, 15 of them coming in the League, including a hat-trick in a 3-0 home win over Blackpool. A huge favourite with the Luton supporters he was being tracked by several clubs, including Arsenal, and he scored twice against Fulham during the season, and he attracted the attention of Cottagers manager Ray Wilkins, who, to the huge disappointment of the Luton faithful, paid £800,000 to sign Thorpe at the end of February 1998. However, his move to Fulham turned sour as the Cottagers replaced Wilkins with Kevin Keegan and Tony fell out of favour. Signed to score goals, he spent the last eight League matches on the bench with only cameo appearances on the field. Although scoring twice in the five games he started after joining Fulham, a superb solo effort when coming on as a substitute against Carlisle being one of them, he did not start again until the second leg of the play-off semi-finals when Paul Moody was suspended.

During the summer, after just 3 months with Fulham, he signed for Bristol City, then in Division One, for £1 million. At the time Bristol City had already made their record £1.2 million signing of Ade Akinbiyi, and few supporters were expecting the news just a week later that the club had swooped for Thorpe too.

What seemed like a dream signing instead turned to nightmare, however. A combination of injuries and early season team selection didn't favour Thorpe in Division One, and unable to establish a starting role, his form suffered, and rumours persisted that he had not settled at all in Bristol, exiled from his Luton home.

New manager Benny Lennartsson, a Swede, decided to experiment with Tony in an attacking midfield role - where the striker had begun his career - and a promising run, including two goals from this position, offered signs of his abilities.

It didn't take long however, for concerns over his fitness and commitment to resurface, and Thorpe was soon relegated back to the substitutes bench, visibly frustrated as he watched less able forwards struggling up front.

Lennartsson then decided to loan Tony out in a bid to help him recover his form, and whilst City slipped towards the drop, the striker instead spent the rest of the season at Reading, where he netted 1 goal in 6 appearances, and then he returned to Luton, where he ended the season with 4 goals from 8 matches, including a brace in a 2-1 win at Notts County. Still a huge favourite with the Luton supporters, who had never wanted to see him leave in the first place, Tony looked every bit the player he was when he left Kenilworth Road and the fans were screaming out for the club to re-sign him. The permanent transfer did not happen, however, and he returned to Ashton Gate.

Back with the Robins for the 1999-00 season, and in Division Two with several first choice strikers departing, Tony had the opportunity to stake a claim to be the club's number one forward under new boss Tony Pulis, and despite more unfavourable team selection, he appeared to have done so by bagging 4 goals to set the pace as top goal scorer.

Once again however, a handful of poor performances and more questions over his fitness saw Thorpe dropped back out of contention, and soon the controversial Pulis had transfer-listed the striker before sending him back to Luton on loan.

Tony made 4 appearances during the loan spell with the Hatters - his 3rd stint with the club - netting 1 goal, on his debut, in a 2-2 home draw with Notts County.

Despite lengthy talks with Tony over a permanent transfer back to Kenilworth Road, the Hatters could not raise the cash to meet Bristol City's valuation, and Burnley were the next side to discuss a switch.

But - to the delight of supporters - it all finally came good for Tony, rescued from last chance saloon after the unpopular Pulis walked out, and the caretaker team of coaches drafted Thorpe back into the side with devastating effect for the trip to Bournemouth.

Leroy Rosenior's pre-match words to Thorpe were "Goals, Goals, Goals" and Tony duly obliged, scoring twice in a 3-2 win.

A further 11 goals in his next 23 games confirmed that Thorpe had finally seized his City chance, and he went into the 2000-01 season with high confidence and under the guidance of ex-Luton player Danny Wilson, who had been appointed the new Bristol City manager.

And he produced another season of goal scoring exploits - netting 23 goals in all competitions, 19 of them in the League. Now established as a firm favourite with the Ashton Gate supporters, he was once again terrorising Second Division defences. Although he failed to match the form that he showed at the end of the previous campaign, he still scored consistently throughout the season and became the first player at Ashton Gate to top 20 League and Cup goals in a season for over a decade. He netted hat-tricks against Cambridge and Bournemouth, but his late header to clinch a 3-2 win over local rivals Bristol Rovers was perhaps his most acclaimed strike of the season.

The 2001-02 season also saw Tony continuing to show his class - as he bagged an opening day hat-trick in a 3-0 win at Northampton. 19 goals in all competitions for the season, 17 of them in the League, proved that Tony certainly still has the eye for goal, and he left Ashton Gate as the Robins' top goal scorer for the past three seasons.

Back at Luton, the move was greeted with sheer dubilation by Luton supporters, and Tony also expressed his delight at sealing a return to Bedfordshire. He said, “It feels good to be back. Very nice. I’m looking forward to it. Once I heard that Joe and Mick wanted to make me an offer, that was it.

“I feel like this is a fresh start for me. I’ve had four full years at Bristol and that’s a long time. I was top goal scorer three years running, but I’ve had my time there and now it’s time for me to move on. Some people will ask why I’m leaving a big club like Bristol City, but I have my own reasons. For one thing it will be a bit closer to my home in Leicester, which is important to me. Then you need fresh faces sometimes. It gives you a lift.”

“The fans were always brilliant to me here. And I’m looking forward to seeing them all again. I can’t wait for that first game. I just can’t wait.”

Tony had a reasonably good 2002-03 season that culminated in him netting 16 goals in all competitions for the Hatters.

He made a slow start to the campaign, making his ‘debut’ in a 2-3 home defeat to Peterborough United on the opening match of the season. He scored with his head in the next game, a 2-5 loss at Blackpool, and after two further appearances, in defeats at Plymouth Argyle (1-2) and at home to Barnsley (2-3), Tony was injured and it forced him to miss just under the following two months of the season (although he was an unused substitute on a couple of occasions) before returning to the side in an excellent 2-1 win at Oldham Athletic when he came on as a 9th minute substitute for the injured Dean Crowe and went on to bag the winner after 58 minutes.

After a further substitute appearance at Crewe Alexandra, Tony returned to the starting XI in a woeful 0-3 defeat at eventually relegated Northampton Town. However, after a 0-0 home draw with Port Vale, Tony returned to the score sheet when he bagged a header in a 4-3 win at neighbours Stevenage Borough in the LDV Vans Trophy Second Round.

Still a very popular player with the Luton supporters, Tony was now starting to show what he was capable of after a slow start to his fourth spell with the club. He found the back of the net once more in the next match, as Non-League minnows AFC Guiseley were beaten 4-0 at Kenilworth Road in the FA Cup First Round.

Three matches later, he was on the mark again in a 1-2 home defeat to Third Division Cambridge United in the LDV Vans Trophy Third Round. As Christmas and the New Year arrived, Tony began to blossom into the player that he was during his first spell with the club and he netted a fine opportunist goal in a superb 2-0 Boxing Day win over big-spending Cardiff City in front of a packed Kenilworth Road.

Two more goals arrived in mid-January in a 3-2 win at Oakwell against Barnsley when the Hatters somehow managed to claim the three points despite having had goalkeeper Carl Emberson sent off!

Two matches later, and Tony was banging in the goals again as he netted in consecutive matches in a 2-1 win at Port Vale and in a 1-3 home defeat to a fine passing Blackpool side, which took his tally of goals for the campaign to 10 in all competitions.

A further two matches later, and Tony began a rich period of goal scoring form as he netted 5 goals in just 4 matches to push Luton towards a play-off place. The first came in a 1-0 home win over archenemies Plymouth Argyle.

After a goal in a 1-2 defeat at Notts County, he then bagged a brace of fine solo goals, which demonstrated his silky skills and quick feet, although Luton lost 2-3 at Mansfield Town – a ground where the Hatters seldom seem to get any sort of result! He finished his purple patch with a goal in a 3-0 home victory over Huddersfield Town.

However, four matches later, Tony’s season was all but ended when he picked up an injury at home to Tranmere Rovers and it forced him to miss the all but the last match of the season. It was arguably this injury to Tony that cost Luton their season, as when he was injured they seemed to lose any ‘spark’ in attack (bar Steve Howard) and it saw their play-off aspirations vanish.

He did make one more appearance of the season, in the final match at Swindon Town, as he scored the Hatters’ goal in a 1-2 defeat in a typical end of season game that meant nothing to either side.

Having scored 13 goals in 30 League matches during the season and 16 goals in total, Tony was still a huge favourite with the Luton fans. Always a popular player, he had his very own song, “Oh Tony Thorpe, Tony, Tony, Tony Thorpe” and it could be heard on many a match day.

Tony began the 2003-04 season in fine form for the Hatters as he bagged a brace in a 3-1 opening day victory over Rushden & Diamonds at Kenilworth Road – the win coming despite Luton’s terrible summer traumas which saw the club taken over and then put into administrative receivership and also saw manager Joe Kinnear sacked.

With Brian Talbot’s side leading at the interval, the Luton fans were left to reflect exactly how they were losing a match they had dominated for large periods. However, they were rewarded with an equaliser on 50 minutes when Courtney Pitt went on another jinxing run down the left, cut inside and fed a superb ball through to Tony, and he coolly side-footed the ball into the far corner first-time with his right foot.

And nine minutes later, Tony had given the Hatters the lead as a bizarre incident saw Luton go in front. Rushden & Diamonds’ goalkeeper Billy Turley put the ball out of play believing he had been impeded, but the referee signalled a corner rather than a free-kick and as the Diamonds keeper protested, Hatters striker Steve Howard floated in the corner allowing Tony Thorpe to loop his header over Turley and into the roof of the net for 2-1.

He then netted in the following match, a 4-1 home win over League newcomers Yeovil Town in the Carling Cup as he dispossessed the visitors’ giant Portuguese defender Hugo Rodrigues and tucked the ball home.

However, after just one more appearance, in a 2-1 win at Stockport County, Tony left the club for the second time in his career. The Hatters’ Second Division rivals Queen’s Park Rangers offered £50,000 for his services, and, despite manager Mike Newell offering Tony a new contract, he decided to make the move to Loftus Road – much to the disgust of both Newell and the Luton supporters. Newell said the deal had been agreed without his or the club's knowledge after the player was approached by an agent on behalf of QPR. Newell said that every effort was made by the Luton Town management and by club administrator Barry Ward to keep the striker at Kenilworth Road. The move prompted Newell to launch a scathing attack on QPR, saying, “He's agreed a deal, or his agent's agreed a deal, whatever, and it should go through today.

"The fee as I understand it is £50,000, which is way below our valuation. There is something extra if QPR get promoted, but that's neither here nor there.

"We've been caught cold. It's been done totally out of our hands and the danger now is that it could snowball, which is the last thing we want.

"We've had no choice, it's been completely out of our control and the fact that the agent's got involved, the player knew what was going on well before any of us.

"The deal was done and agreed before we even knew about it and it's the agent who will be getting his cut. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets just as much, if not more than we do.

"When you get spineless, faceless agents involved it's game over and there's nothing you can do.

"We don't want to sell any of our players and if we really have to we would want somewhere near our valuation of him and we've got nowhere near our valuation of him.

"Does this club really need to sell its best players for £50,000? It's just not common sense."

Newell continued: "We're not happy with the way QPR have gone about this – particularly Ian Holloway.

"We're caught in the situation where our players have not had their full wages and after 14 days, if they so choose, they can walk away from this club.

"QPR knew that and the agent knew that and they've taken advantage of it.

"QPR have been in the same situation as us and in the summer Ian Holloway was talking about what a desperate situation it was, yet he has now gone behind our back to get the player.

"He can try and tell me as he did two days ago that it's the agent's and directors' fault, but if the directors are telling him who to bring in to that football club he won't be in a job for long.

"I would expect people to work to the same ethics as I do and I would expect him to pick up the phone and say, 'look I'm interested in one of your players'. That's what should happen out of courtesy."

"All we can do is wish him the best. I just hope he's made the right choice."

Of the move, Tony said, "It all happened very quickly but I'm looking forward to playing. The financial difficulties at Luton have given me this chance and I hope I can bring some form with me to QPR.

"I'm proud of my goal scoring ratio and hopefully this will be a good move. I had a chat with my wife and family and we all agreed that this was the right time to move and to go to a bigger club - hopefully there will be some good times ahead."

The move sparked outrage amongst Hatters fans – QPR had become a real rival to the Hatters over the past few years and were arguably the biggest rivals behind Watford – so for Tony to join them was a kick in the teeth to say the least. On leaving the Hatters, Thorpe had made 32 League appearances during his second permanent spell with the club, scoring 15 goals – and a total of 164 League appearances and 70 goals during his entire Luton Town career.

However, the move to Loftus Road didn't work out quite as Tony had hoped, despite helping the club gain promotion to the Championship in his first season with the R's. He struggled to earn a regular place in Queen's Park Rangers' side and, after a brief loan spell with Rotherham United at the tail end of the 2004-05 season, he was released by Queen's Park Rangers at the end of his contract after netting 11 goals in 46 appearances for the club.

A highly unpopular figure with the Luton Town supporters for the way that he 'jumped ship' to Queen's Park Rangers at such a critical time in the Hatters' history, Tony wanted a return to Kenilworth Road during the 2004-05 season, but unlikely to ever now pull on a Luton Town shirt again, he began the search for a new club.

He eventually joined Swindon Town, but the move didn't work out and, after a trial spell with Wrexham, he signed for League One side Colchester United midway through the 2005-06 season.

After helping Colchester gain promotion to the Championship, Tony was released and after a successful trial spell with Stevenage Borough, he signed for the Conference side, prior to moving on loan to League Two outfit Grimsby Town in October 2006.

After 5 appearances during his loan spell at Blundell Park, he returned to Stevenage but, after just 3 appearances during his six-month stay at Broadhall Way, he was allowed to return to Grimsby Town on loan, signing a deal until the end of the 2006-07 season with the Mariners.

However, he made just one substitute appearance in his second spell at Blundell Park before being released in the summer of 2007 and once again finding himself without a club. It didn't take Tony long to find new employers, however, as he signed for Blue Square North side Tamworth in May 2007.

In November 2007, Tony became the player/coach of Luton's neighbours Barton Rovers, who play in the Southern League Division One Midlands league, replacing former Hatter Dean Brennan, who had left Sharpenhoe Road to join Halesowen Town.

In May 2008, Tony surprisingly appeared for Luton Town's legends side in a 2-1 win over an Arsenal Pro-Celebrity XI to mark the 20th anniversary of the Hatters' Littlewoods Cup win over the Gunners at Wembley in 1988.

After initially being booed on entering the action, the groans quickly faded and Tony looked every bit the great player he was, his quick feet causing the Arsenal defence all sorts of problems. With his family in the crowd, it was good to see that perhaps what happened can now finally stay in the past. After all, there can be no question that Thont is a Luton legend – he is the only Luton player EVER to top the professional scoring league for the whole of Europe when he scored over 30 goals in 1996.

It now appears that many Hatters fans have forgiven Tony for the way he left the club in 2003 and he has certainly gone some way to rectifying the past.

Rather surprisingly, in August 2008, Tony returned to Kenilworth Road to train with the Hatters after leaving his former club Barton Rovers.

Now 34, Tony had called the Hatters - who had been deducted an unprecedented 30 League points by the FA and Football League - and offered his help to the Hatters in their bid to maintain their League status.

His return to training with the Hatters was somewhat of a surprise considering he'd spent the last season playing for Barton Rovers - some seven Leagues below Luton Town - and hadn't made a League appearance for over a year since leaving Grimsby Town.

However, on his return to training with Luton Town, Tony, who has scored 70 goals in 164 League appearances for the Hatters, said, "I've only just turned 34, I feel fit and sharp and still think I can score goals at this level. I spoke to Mick Harford, the Luton manager, who said he'd like to have a look at me in training and see how I shape up ftness-wise.

"I thought it was a long shot, but as the weeks have gone by, I've felt better and better.

"I think I owe Luton anyway from previous things that have happened in the past.

"If nothing happens, I don't think I'll be pursuing it again anywhere else. Luton is the club I feel comfortable at and, training with the likes of Kevin Nicholls again, I don't feel like I've been away. But nothing is guaranteed yet, I'll keep training hard and we'll go from there."

On the final day of the August 2008 transfer window, however, Tony signed a short-term deal with Blue Square Premier side Woking, appearing just once for the Cardinals before signing for Brackley Town.

He helped Brackley reach the First Round proper of the FA Cup before leaving in December 2008 due to new job commitments. He signed, at the age of 34, for Unibond League Division One South side Stamford.