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Club profile: Luton Town

Graham Potter’s men face their second opposition of pre-season on Saturday.

By Charlie Hanson • 30 July 2021

By Paul Hazlewood
Albion head to Luton Town on Saturday.

Albion head to Kenilworth Road on Saturday to face Championship outfit Luton Town.

The game will kick-off at 3pm.

The history

With one major trophy to their name – the Littlewoods Cup which they won in 1988 – the Hatters have experienced a somewhat chequered time since. Relegated from the EFL in 2009 after incurring a 30-point deduction, Luton climbed out of Non-League in 2014 and by 2019 were back in the Championship. They are heading into their third consecutive season in the second tier, having finished the last campaign in 12th spot.

The manager

By Geoff Penn
Nathan Jones in action for Albion in 2003.

A man who needs little introduction to Albion supporters, Nathan Jones is in his second spell as manager at Kenilworth Road. The 48-year-old spent a year there early on in his playing career, and returned as boss in January 2016, leaving his role as first-team coach with Albion. In his second full season in charge he guided the Hatters to promotion from League Two, before departing for Stoke City in January 2019. He parted ways with the Potters in November 2019, and returned to the Luton dugout six months later to replace Graeme Jones. His playing career saw him play a major role in Albion's back-to-back promotions at the beginning of the 2000s.

Key player

By Luton Town
Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu recently committed his future at Luton.

Albion academy graduate Glen Rea has established himself at Luton and has captained the side on multiple occasions, but it’s his fellow midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu who catches the eye. The energetic midfielder looked set to depart Kenilworth Road this summer after nearly eight years at the club, but decided to sign a new contract last week, which proved to be very popular with Luton supporters. A good skillset both defensively and going forward, Mpanzu doesn’t score all that frequently, but when he does it tends to be spectacular.

The ground

Kenilworth Road gets a bad rap from visiting supporters, but Luton fans and the purists out there will say that it oozes character with an old fashioned feel you’ll struggle to find elsewhere. The club have spent well over 100 years there, and with a capped capacity of 10,000, are looking to move to a new stadium in the centre of town – Power Court. Luton are aiming to be playing football there by 2024, and their new home will have an initial capacity of 17,500.