We celebrate Luton Town’s promotion to the Premier League and reflect on the rollercoaster ride that got them to his point.
We’ve been speaking to the Supporter Trust and a number of lifelong fans to reflect on the journey from being a Non League club just 9 years ago to playing in the Premier League.
We’ve been speaking to the Supporter Trust and a number of lifelong fans to reflect on the journey from being a Non League club just 9 years ago to playing in the Premier League.
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00:00 Incredible, for 30 to 45 seconds it was just an out of body experience, you didn't know what was going on, it was just absolutely crazy.
00:08 Tears were shed and joy and excitement and the emotions were just brilliant.
00:14 All of a sudden the last 20 years flashed back and it was all worth it. Yeah, brilliant.
00:23 Just the euphoria of winning, seeing that penalty go over the bar and the realisation of the dream of everyone and what we'd achieved was just an absolute incredible, just like walking around on a high permanently.
00:41 I managed to hold it all in but in the weeks since, every time I see a different video it gets me well enough and my wife tells me to pull myself together.
00:48 Oh, unbelievable, mixed emotions, elation, I'm not frightened to say I had a tear in my eye.
00:55 Today we celebrate Luton Town's remarkable promotion to the Premier League all the way up from non-league in just nine years.
01:07 It's been a rollercoaster ride for supporters. We'll be speaking to the Supporters Trust and a number of other fans to reflect on this great journey.
01:16 What was it like to be a part of the Premier League?
01:20 I mean even the build up to it, it was just something I've not experienced.
01:27 I was getting contacted from worldwide media companies for interviews and things and I was like, is this actually serious?
01:34 Just the scale of it was enormous and then going to Wembley, mingling with 36,000 Luton fans, having a brilliant time, a sunny day, fantastic.
01:45 The game itself started brilliantly, couldn't have started any better really.
01:49 Obviously after the lockier injury, the players sort of recovered from that, went 1-0 up, cruising really, should have been 3-4-5, could have been any number by half time.
01:58 And then in true Luton fashion, we have to do things the hard way and obviously the disallowed goal, I went absolutely mental at that.
02:05 I thought that was the moment and then suddenly you're like, someone telling us it's not your day, goes to penalties, we're rubbish at penalties aren't we?
02:13 Apart from that shootout in the JPT semi-final and one by one, you know, we're looking more and more confident and you're kind of like, someone please miss from them.
02:23 Someone please miss and then thankfully I had a perfect view of the one that missed and when it missed, I mean, the emotions were incredible.
02:31 It was like being in those 40,000 Luton fans when Darbo couldn't see a wide.
02:36 Pandemonium, as I say, I had a perfect view of it and as soon as he left his foot, it was nowhere near the goal, it needed to boomerang to go into the goal and it was just like, incredible.
02:46 For 30 to 45 seconds, it was just an out of body experience, you didn't know what was going on, it was just absolutely crazy.
02:54 Tears were shed and joy and excitement and the emotions were just brilliant.
03:00 All of a sudden, the last 20 years kind of flashed back and it was all worth it, you know, and yeah, brilliant.
03:08 Has the sun came as well?
03:10 Starting to, now that we've got the fixtures and we're slowly getting towards that first game at Brighton, yeah, it's starting to sink in and you know, obviously, all the videos that have come out, you've watched it back on television and everything else since then and it's kind of, yeah, this is really happening and yeah, brilliant, brilliant times at the minute and a long way they continue.
03:30 Ah, what, just what incredible day, I just went down with some friends and just experienced the whole day at Wembley.
03:39 Started at 8 o'clock in the morning, breakfast, get the train down and just the whole day was just an incredible experience and just so nervous that what we're on the verge of achieving and what we could be at Premier League side
03:57 and I was just so excited that, thought yeah, we could be at Premier League side, the other part, we thought, ah, please, please.
04:04 And, but yeah, the emotions, the emotions of the game and like so dominated the first half and then commentary came back second half but then, then literally, we thought we'd scored in like the end of extra time, us jumping up and down, jumping up to each other for minutes and before we even realised it had been disallowed.
04:26 And luckily we won the toss to A, have the penalties at our end and B, go first but yeah, the penalties was just like, I just like physically felt sick, it's like can I watch it, can I not watch it and as each penalty went in, you're just thinking we're that close to achieving the dream to,
04:47 and like I said to you, it's like the history and everything we've been through, it wasn't just getting a promotion, it's what it meant to all of us, the journey we've been on and also what it means to the club in terms of the money will help, in terms of getting to new ground and it'll help the community, raise the profile of the loon.
05:10 So literally it was everything and then literally the final penalty and literally you saw it, it's going over, it's going over and then it sailed over the bar and then literally just lost everything, like jumping up and down, I was actually in tears and just in tears for what it meant and just trying to take it all in, even after it happened and we're celebrating and obviously what happened to Tom, like obviously we didn't know at the time why he went off,
05:39 but obviously like that and everything else, even on the day, the things that were going against us or so we thought and just the euphoria and the emotion of realising we were Premier League side and yeah, just the train journey back and even like, yeah, it's just like even weeks afterwards, we're still trying to take it all in that we'd finally achieved the dream
06:06 and that all the work of everyone in the community, everyone at the club, behind the scenes and what the players had actually achieved, it's just trying to take it all in, soak it up, sink it in and for me, I don't, even though we'd achieved it, I kept thinking, is this real, is this real?
06:24 Confident from the fact that we'd finished third in the league and I thought we had a really good chance against Coventry and really, if we were ever going to do it, that was a golden opportunity, but over the years, there's been so many sort of gutting moments like losing on penalties to Wimbledon to get out of the non-league, just failing there and then the one that really sticks in my mind is Blackpool in League 2,
06:48 when we let in an extra time own goal and the whole season is gone, but thankfully we've bounced back, but I remember after that game, walking down the hill at Kenilworth Road with my son, who was about nine at the time and he was in floods of tears and I sort of said to him at the time, don't worry, we'll come back stronger from this and I mean, I didn't necessarily believe it that strongly because at the time, we were just League 2
07:17 and to be now Premier League, I mean, I think going into the playoffs last season, we were just so decimated by injuries, it wrecked it somewhat, but there was far more confidence this year, but obviously, I think I felt really nervous before that Sunderland away game, sick to the stomach really, but getting them back to Kenilworth Road, I always felt we'd do it with the crowd on our side and then to get to Wembley,
07:44 well, we tried to do it the hard way, but eventually, we had the first half, we were all on top, should have been clear really, but then we had that wobble in the second half and then sort of got back on track, but it ended up penalties and you just think over the years, we've had so many kicks in the teeth, you just hope and pray this time it's our time and thankfully the gods were smiling on us.
08:07 How was Josh with you for the penalty shootout, was he in tears again this time after Wembley?
08:12 You can see he was well enough a little bit, but it was my daughter this time that was sort of an emotional wreck, she was really, really crying, I managed to hold it all in, but sort of in the weeks since, every time I see a different video, it sort of gets me well enough and my wife tells me to pull myself together.