Luton Factsheet
LUTON Town are the opposition for Argyle today in Sky Bet League One and the Hatters are yet to be beaten at Kenilworth Road, winning six and drawing two.
Manager Nathan Jones has clearly been equipped with the necessary funds to get the Hatters promoted to the Championship. Former Argyle defender Sonny Bradley was one of his first singings over the close season.
Bradley has been a key figure at the back, having only missed one of the 16 games this campaign and has contributed to six clean sheets for his new team. Stats would suggest that, in terms of achieving a shut-out they, are no better at home than they are on the road, with three at home and three elsewhere.
At the other end of the pitch, they are not short of goals, having scored 27 goals to date in securing 29 league points, which has them in fifth place. Danny Hylton and Elliott Lee top the goal scoring charts with five each
As the Greens gear up for a reunion with Sonny Bradley, it is worth noting there are far more deep-rooted rivalries between the two sides, stemming back to the promotion season of 2001.
Paul Sturrock and Joe Kinnear were respectively in charge, Luton were in confident mood ahead of the tie at Home Park, in September 2001. Kinnear had some rather unkind things to say about our football and our city. It was clear he thought his side would face no such difficulties in the South West and would subsequently give his side the confidence to go on and win the division.
It was September 29, and Kinnear had beamed his side were “well ahead” in the standings (despite being top by ONE point, and leading Argyle by just three). In turn, he had done Paul Sturrock’s team talk for him, as cuttings from a newspaper article demeaning Argyle were pinned to the home dressing room.
Martin Phillips levelled things for the home side after 20 minutes before David Friio gave us a 2-1 lead on the stroke of half time, and that’s how it stayed.
Toward the end of the season, the only thing left to be decided was the small matter of who would be crowned champions. Argyle and Luton left all the other sides in their wake and were vying for top spot. Argyle would win the league, having amassed an incredible 102 points, and Luton 97.
History has given us some great games at Kenilworth, let’s hope for another one today.