Clark 'couldn't leave' Luton until getting Town back into the Championship
Midfielder wants to make some more ‘amazing memories’ at Kenilworth Road
Luton midfielder Jordan Clark admitted he ‘couldn’t leave’ the Hatters until he had helped return Championship football to Kenilworth Road, after agreeing a new long-term contract to stay with the club this afternoon.
The 32-year-old joined when Town were in the second tier during the summer of 2020, opening his account in just his second outing, netting the winner against Reading in the League Cup. He bagged twice more that term, part of the side that then reached the play-offs in successive seasons during both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaign.
With the Hatters making the final at Wembley in May 2023 by beating Sunderland over two legs, they drew 1-1 with Coventry City over 120 minutes, Clark scoring in normal time, as he was then on target in the penalty shootout that Luton won 6-5 to reach the Premier League for the first time in their history. When in the top flight, the midfielder, who suffered an injury in pre-season, eventually made his debut when coming on as a substitute at Old Trafford against Manchester United in October.
He went on to play a total of 23 times in the highest echelon of English football, scoring once in the 2-1 victory over Bournemouth and also bagging two brilliant strikes in an FA Cup fifth round defeat to Manchester City. Clark remained with Town when they went down to the Championship, scoring in the 3-0 victory over fierce rivals Watford, winning four end-of-season awards, including both the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust and Loyal Luton Supporters’ Club Player of the Year prizes, but despite his efforts, the club were relegated to League One following a 5-3 final day loss at West Bromwich Albion.
Opting to stay with the club, Clark remained hugely popular last season too, as he finished as the Hatters’ leading scorer with 13 goals, the best tally of his career, walking away with Players’ Player and Supporters’ Player of the Year honours once more. His efforts weren’t enough to win promotion though, Town finishing in eighth spot, missing out on the play-offs by just a single point.
There were doubts from the outside that Clark would stay in Bedfordshire, but having now made 220 appearances, the 53rd most in the club’s history, scoring 31 goals too, then after finalising his new deal and speaking to the club’s official website, it was apparent he wasn’t ready to make his exit yet, saying: “I’m so happy to get this sorted.
"I might be a Yorkshireman, but I’m an adopted Lutonian and I’ve made my home here, it feels like my club. The supporters and the people who work here have made me feel that way and I couldn’t leave until I help get this club back into the Championship. We’ve achieved so much in the six years since Nathan (Jones) sold me the dream.
"We lived it with Rob (Edwards) and I know that with the great work the gaffer and the staff are doing, there is more to come. The Trophy win at Wembley is just the beginning. We need to take the standards we set from the back end of last season and take them to another level, starting on day one of pre-season, so we can have some more amazing memories with this special club.”