Where Are They Now?                                   Profiles of ex-Luton players

Lars Elstrup

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Height: -. Weight: -. Born: Rarby, 24.03.1963. Nationality: Denmark. International Honours: Denmark 34 full caps, 13 goals.

Lars was banging in the goals for club and country in the mid-1980's which was the main reason why Hatters boss Ray Harford stumped up a then Luton record £650,000 to prize the Dane away from his beloved Odense.

Odense were riding high in the Danish League and it was something of a surprise that they sold him to a relatively small club in England. Small maybe, but Luton were still in the top Division in England and Lars jumped at the chance to prove his ability in what was technically a better league.

Ray Harford sealed the signing of the Danish International at the beginning of the 1989-1990 season and made he his debut as a substitute, coming on against the mighty Liverpool at Kenilworth Road in a 0-0 draw. Lars made another substitute appearance against QPR at Loftus Road before being given his full debut in a 1-0 home win over Charlton.

The Dane opened his account for the Hatters when scoring twice in a 4-3 win over Mansfield at Field Mill in the Second Round First Leg of League Cup. Lars followed that up by notching a hat-trick to silence a few critics in the return leg, which the Hatters won 7-2, winning through 11-4 on aggregate.

Elstrup's first league goal came in a 1-1 draw at the Den against Millwall, and he followed that up with another two goals, scoring once in a 6-3 reverse at the Dell against Southampton and in a 3-2 defeat at Highbury against Arsenal. Unfortunately, an injury sustained in a Boxing Day clash with Nottingham Forest saw the Dane out for a month or so and when recovered he had lost his place in the side to new signing Iain Dowie. The fact that Harford, the man who bought him to Kenilworth Road, left under a cloud meant that Lars was given the cold shoulder by the new boss.

Elstrup in action for the Hatters.

The following season was Lars' most successful in England with the Hatters. Manager Jim Ryan immediately had the Dane's name on the team sheet and as a result it saw him miss just one League game and only two games in all competitions, playing in 44 of the 46 league and cup games. His goal scoring exploits were the main reason why the Hatters secured First Division status on the last day again. Netting an excellent 18 goals, he was called up to the Denmark squad for the first time in over a year. Elstrup netted his second hat-trick for the Town in a excellent 3-1 away win at Norwich and managed to score twice in wins over Southampton at the Dell, Sheffield United in the FA Cup and another two goals that secured a draw at Nottingham Forest, memorably beating Des Walker in a race to the goal before beating Mark Crossley - Walker was once quoted as one of the fastest defenders in the game at the time.

His 18th goal of the season was headed home to secure First Division status against Derby, after ex-Hatter Mick Harford opened the scoring with an own-goal. Despite this victory, and jubilation for the club by staying it up, it was short lived for both Elstrup and the manager who put faith in the Dane's ability.

Jim Ryan was controversially sacked and David Pleat was given his second spell as manager of the club. Elstrup though was on his way, going back to Denmark and to his beloved Odense. Leaving under a bit of cloud in a bitter financial situation, Lars re-joined Odense before the start of the 1991-1992 season for £250,000 and the Hatters - without a leading scorer or player of Elstrup's quality - were relegated.

However, despite the return back home, Lars still found it difficult and he left Odense to join a religious cult which was reported on local and national news in both England and Denmark.  He said, "In October '93 I moved into a sect called Sangha, here in Odense, which was part of the Wild Goose company owned by an Englishman called Michael Barnett.   The place had about 20 people in it. I changed my name to Darando, which means 'the river that streams into the sea'. But after one year, we set up our own place called Heart of The Sun, where I lived until last year.

"I tried to cut my wrists.  I tried to hang myself and I called a doctor anonymously for an injection. I was thinking of flying to America to see if they could do these things there, but I was scared of flying. I had no contact with anyone. I was lying in my bed for two years. I just wanted to die."

He made the news again for all the wrong reasons again between 1992-1994 for being arrested after public flashing on a busy Saturday in one of Copenhagen's shopping centres.

He then ditched the sect, and after changing his name back to Lars Elstrup and unsuccessfully trying to sue them, he tried to resurrect his career with Odense.  He said, "I started training with the first team, but that did not work out.  Lars, though, despite his most recent antics, decided to give football one more shot. In late 2000, the ex-Hatter was featured on Sky Sports world football programme 'Futbol Mundial', where he was back in Football playing in the Danish Amateur League, where he still is now.

Of his time at Luton, Elstrup said, "I used to play snooker with Mark Pembridge, or go out with Alec Chamberlain to pubs and have curries.  People warned me about the hooligans but all the fans I met, home or away, were friendly. Even if we lost they would come up to me and say 'bad luck', or 'better luck next time'.  And when we stayed up it was like a big celebration in Luton."

Lars in a rather strange pose.

Elstrup now lives in Vissenbjerg, which is 15 km west of Odense, and he is still involved in some bizarre activity.  His Official Website (which contains some peculiar photos of Lars (see picture), and some of which are naked!) says this of Lars, "He works with healing the Self, personal development, obtaining higher levels of consciousness, and sees man as being an energy.

"In his interaction with others, he supports the individual in finding his own inner truths and to get more contact with his Self and God.

"He uses meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, therapy, that will help untie the inner knots, so life can be lived in a richer way."

Lars was no doubt a quality player. He had scored in Euro '92 in which the Dane's won, and overall scored 13 goals in 34 caps for his country which is some record. He scored twice on his international debut in a win over Sweden.

His finishing, pace and heading - all essential attributes for a top-class striker - were all on show in his short spell at Kenilworth Road. His career may have gone, but he can certainly look back and see how good he actually was - a leading goal scorer in the top English and Danish leagues and for his country. For the Hatters, he kept them up with his goals in 1990-91 and left in unsavory circumstances at the end of that season.  When he left, the Hatters sold him for less than what they bought him for and were ultimately relegated the following season.

Profile By:  Andrew Barringer