PELLY KELLY
‘I’ve come a long way from being paid £25 a week’
I used to live near Wembley and it inspired dreams
ON the wall of the Eric Morecambe lounge at Kenilworth Road, photo of the great man playing highwayman Dick Turpin stares across the function room. Standing by a road sign which reads York 1 Luton 156, in the TV sketch Town’s most celebrated fan quips: “Now that’s what I call a result.”
If the Hatters complete an astonishing rise from non-League to the Premier League in nine years this evening, it would top Morecambe’s punchline.
And for irrepressible midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, it would pave the way for him to wrap up the unique feat of playing in English football’s top five divisions for the same club. Growing up four miles away in Hendon, Mpanzu could see from his bedroom window Wembley’s arch rising above the skyline as the national stadium was rebuilt. The 29-year-old has never been to Wembley as a player or spectator but will break his duck in the Championship play-off final.
“I used to live near Wembley and I could see the arch lighting up. It inspired dreams,” he said. “Now everyone is trying to get tickets for this game – sorry if I couldn’t get you any! Mum, dad, two uncles and old boys from my area will be there.” Manager Sam Allardyce congratulated Mpanzu on his performance when he made his debut for West Ham in a League Cup tie at Burnley 10 years ago – and never picked him again.
John Still, below, the man who led Luton out of non-League wilderness after five years, persuaded Mpanzu to join the Hatters for a £50,000 snip. Still says the midfielder would be worth £25-30million now.
Mpanzu said: “When I saw the training ground and the stadium, I was like, ‘Oh man, this is different to Upton Park and Chadwell Heath’. The training ground was on a dogs’ field with two Portakabins stuck together.
“But everything has worked out well in the end. We got promoted and it’s been a great journey since then.
“Did I have any doubts about myself? No. Did I want to come here? Absolutely not. But Sam Allardyce said, ‘You had better sign for Luton’. It feels like home now.
“I’ve come a long way from being paid £25 or £50 a week when I started out at Boreham Wood as a 16-year-old. You lost £13 for a yellow card and got a lot. Those bookings were expensive but hopefully we’ll be drinking champagne on Saturday night.”
Mpanzu’s tale is only one strand of Luton’s remarkable rise. This is the club who were relegated to what is now the National League in 2009 following a 30-point deduction, after the FA and EFL showed no mercy for a previous regime’s financial impropriety at Kenilworth Road.
Next term, though, they could be off to Old Trafford, Anfield and the Etihad. Chief executive Gary Sweet said: “If they were trying to make an example of a football club, they picked on the wrong one.”