Ignore pompous elitism and mean spirit, Luton . . . never apologise for who you are
THERE has been a whiff of pomposity and misplaced football elitism aimed at Luton Town since their promotion to the Premier League.
So much of the focus since that dramatic Wembley win over Coventry City has been on the capacity of Kenilworth Road and the fact the stadium isn’t in the best of states — it’s all been a bit mean spirited.
But rather than worry about the negatives, we should be celebrating their return to England’s top flight after a 31-year absence, because they deserve their moment in the sun.
Without wishing to be overly saccharine, this is what dreams should be made of, what football should represent.
In recent times football has had a staple diet of unedifying circumstances, with the Premier League champions being investigated for financial impropriety and clubs such as Everton having similar challenges, while a number of Championship clubs have had sanctions placed on them.
How refreshing then that out of the clouds comes a football club built from endeavour. They have overcome adversity with small budgets, core values and integrity. They are a club who refuse to compromise their values and decided not to take the low-hanging fruit of commercial endorsements from betting companies because they didn’t agree with it. These principles and traits are, in part, what football clubs should embody and what the game should represent.
Luton’s voyage back into the elite represents the restoration and reminder of the dream that the Premier League is a land that can be reached, no matter how far you have fallen. There is something pure, clean and uplifting about their journey from non-League, where they were residing just nine years ago, to joining the world’s biggest and best league.
The overcoming of every single obstacle, the uniting of people, the validity of a football club and the achievements of individual merit alongside collective spirit — that’s what Luton are. That’s what should be celebrated, what we should be talking about, rather than how you access the away end at Kenilworth Road.
LUTON should be something we hope for and champion, not because they’re the smaller relation to these big monolithic football clubs, but because they are English football.
They may have had a plastic pitch back in the 1980s but there’s nothing plastic about them now. They’ve come through four divisions with 10,000 fans in the ground and are a breath of fresh air in this sometimes avariceladen, superficial football world.
The Premier League needs clubs like Luton. They certainly shouldn’t apologise for anything or develop an inferiority complex. They should just be absolutely, undeniably Luton Town FC.
They should use the size of their stadium as an advantage. Premier League players are used to palatial facilities, but at Luton if you put they key in the door it will break the window at the back of the dressing room — utilise that! Be proud to be outliers.
They must never forget they are entitled to be there, even when they go to their first Premier League meeting.
It will be interesting to see how Luton deal with a more professional approach. Football League meetings — with a plethora of clubs with very small mentalities and outlooks — tended to focus on ridiculous rule changes and the colour of referees’ pants rather than the bigger issues. In the Premier League there is one clear agenda — how much money are we getting and where are we getting it from?
You know where you stand. You know the main objective and Luton will be part of the conversation, rather than the low-rent drivel they’ve had to listen to for years. This is going to be the culture change of all culture changes for them.
Because everything changes when you are in the Premier League. Everything looks so much brighter, so much easier on the eye. Even the way the broadcasters put together the TV shows is different.
In the Football League you’ve got an old man with a rattle promoting it, in the Premier League everything is done in grandiose style that makes things feel bigger and better. Everything gleams, like it’s been given a T- cut within an inch of its life.
When the so- called big boys turn up at your ground, everybody’s energy levels go up. All of a sudden you’re not observing, you’re participating. You don’t have your nose pressed up against the toy shop window like Tiny Tim, you’re actually in the toy shop, even if you’re faking it until you make it.
THEY will also have to deal with a huge spike in media interest. Every aspect, every part of the club becomes public property and public interest. They will constantly be pitched as the have-nots and must not let that permeate their psyche. They must rise above it and not get sucked in by it.
They are not second- class citizens and the constant pigeonholing of them will be challenging unless they embrace it and turn it to their advantage. But after everything they’ve been through, they can adjust to this.
There will undoubtedly be stuffiness from many Premier League clubs, but there will also be respect and admiration.
Being a rambunctious character and repeatedly, vociferously disdainful of the small-mindedness of the Football League, my arrival in the Premier League with Crystal Palace in 2004 was viewed with trepidation, so much so that I was asked to attend a meeting
with Richard Scudamore so I could be told how to conduct myself. Suffice to say that request was greeted with a two-word response!
I certainly don’t advocate Luton adopting the approach I took. I hope they go in there with their shoulders back, chests out and take this league on, from the moment their chairman walks into his first Premier League meeting. From the first game to the 38th game, every aspect of Luton Town should be full of pride, belief and confidence in itself. Show no fear and don’t be apologetic about anything.
They are a credit to the pyramid and football in this country, the living embodiment of what the English game should look like.