Betting suspended on Luton job as Wycombe boss Bloomfield expected to take over

Luton are reportedly closing in on appointing Wycombe Wanderers chief Matt Bloomfield as the club’s new manager, with betting suspended by bookmakers SkyBet.

After spending virtually his entire career with the Chairboys, having come through the ranks at Ipswich Town, where he represented England at U18, U19 and U20 level, Bloomfield went on to make over 500 appearances for the Adams Park club during his near 20-year stint. The 40-year-old took his first steps into management when appointed head coach of League Two side Colchester United in September 2022, who were 21st when taking over.

Bloomfield took 13 points from just six matches in January 2023 to win the EFL League Two Manager of the Month award, but a month later, agreed to return to Wycombe as manager following the departure of Gareth Ainsworth to Queens Park Rangers. This term, he was named Manager of the Month for October and November, as he has taken Wycombe to second in the table, as they also knocked Championship outfit Portsmouth out of the FA Cup on Friday night too.

With Bloomfield the clear favourite with the bookies today, the market has now closed, with Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol reporting: “A deal close to being agreed for Matt Bloomfield to become the new Luton Town manager. Bloomfield is expected to leave Wycombe Wanderers this week. He led them to second in League One on a significantly smaller budget than promotion rivals Birmingham City and Wrexham.

“Wycombe also beat Championship side Portsmouth in the FA Cup on Friday. If Bloomfield leaves Wycombe, it will be with a heavy heart. He is regarded as being one of the best up-and-coming English managers in the game, and went to see Gareth Southgate for dinner in Harrogate two months ago to ask him for advice.”

Although Wanderers will be due compensation for Bloomfield, taking a manager in work wasn’t an issue for Town chief executive Gary Sweet when discussing the possibility of doing so last week. He had said: “If we were to take a manager from another club and it’s not out of the question, then if we do it in the right way, such is the way for example Southampton took Nathan (Jones) the last time round.

"There is an appropriate level of compensation, the process that you go through is respectful and polite, certainly there is no other way of doing it for us, so if there is one that’s in work then as a club we wouldn’t shy away from that. But the other club has to in some way benefit from it, it’s got to be fair. So as long as we’re fair, then we would look at that, we’re not only looking at managers who are out of work.”