Luton Return to the Top Division in England

01.06.23 1252

The English Championship playoff final is one of the most dramatic matches anywhere in world football. The winner of the game plays in the Premier League the following season while the loser must try again in the long and gruelling Championship season.

The 2022/23 Championship playoff final finished 1-1 between Luton Town and Coventry City, with the match going to extra-time and penalties. It was Luton Town who kept their nerve to win from the spot and book their place in the Premier League for the 2023/24 campaign.

You must go back to the 1991/92 season to find the last time Luton Town played in the English topflight. Interestingly, Luton Town were the final team to be relegated that season in 20th place and Coventry City were the team who finished one place above them in the table, just 2 points better off.

That was the last season of English football before the Premier League was introduced which means Luton Town have never played in the Premier League.

There has been much publicity regarding their stadium and Kenilworth Road has a capacity of just over 10,300 people.

That will make it easily the smallest stadium in the 2023/24 Premier League and one of the smallest capacity grounds to ever host Premier League football. Not that the Hatters will care and they will be hoping to use their stadium to their advantage throughout the season.

It is remarkable to think Luton Town were in the fifth tier of English football just 9 years ago. Having had difficulty getting out of the Conference Premier Division via the playoffs, Luton Town won promotion in the 2012/13 season by winning the title and returned to the Football League.

Having reached the League Two playoffs in 2016/17, Luton Town won promotion the following season by finishing second in the table. With momentum growing, Luton Town spent just one season in League One and won the title, making a return to the second tier of English football, the Championship, for the first time in 12 years.

Luton Town reached the Championship playoffs in 2021/22 but lost on aggregate to Huddersfield Town in the semi-final.

They returned to the playoffs in 2022/23 and beat Sunderland 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-final before claiming victory in the penalty shootout in the final against Coventry.

By winning promotion to the Premier League, Luton Town became the first club to drop from the topflight to non-league and return to the topflight.

Winning the Championship playoff final is estimated to be worth £170 million to Luton Town over the next three years. The money will come in useful for building a new stadium, which will be key to the progress of the club.

In the meantime, Luton Town will need to spend £10 million to bring their current stadium up to standard in time for the 2023/24 Premier League season. Can they do what all three promoted clubs did in the 2022/23 season and avoid relegation at the first time of asking?