Clark wants to deliver another 'special day' to Luton's' 'wall of orange' at Wembley

Midfielder Jordan Clark has set his sights on delivering another ‘special day’ to the ‘wall of orange’ that will greet the Hatters at Wembley on Sunday.

The 32-year-old is one of just two players who were present at the home of English football when Town were last there just over three years ago, along with James Shea, as Luton’s squad produced one of the most magical moments in the club’s lengthy history, beating Coventry City on penalties to reach the Premier League for the first time.

On that day, well over 30,000 fans made their way to the capital from Bedfordshire and it will be the same again this weekend, with the Hatters confirming more than 32,000 tickets have been snapped up, with those supporting afforded the luxury of sitting at the same end as they had been for that memorable game in May 2023.

Having witnessed such a sight from the pitch once, then on getting the chance to do so again in his career, Clark, who will see Town go into the fixture in fine form having won on Friday and Monday, said: “I’m really excited, really, really looking forward to it now. We’ve had a good Easter period and got the Wimbledon game out of the way which was really important for us and now it's full focus on to Wembley and winning a game of football there.

“I’m just looking forward to going back and seeing that wall of orange behind the goal again which is going to be really exciting. We’ll have a little stadium tour on the Saturday I think, get used to the surroundings and then when you get to the ground on the day it’s a different feeling, it’s more pressure and a few more nerves. There’s not much I remember about the game last time if I’m honest, it’s a bit of a blur, but I just remember when we were on the pitch, all the fans were starting to take their seats.

"We saw it before when it was empty and it looked massive, and then seeing when the fans start coming into the seats, it just looks unbelievable, especially with how much orange was there as well. Full credit to the Coventry fans as well, they made it a full house which was a really special occasion.

"Hopefully we can take the momentum into Sunday, a different occasion, as I knew the fans would sell out the whole allocation and hopefully we can give them a special day by being on the right side of the result. I hope they (supporters) can just keep doing what they’ve been doing for the last six years I’ve been here. I always say they’re the best fans out there. In 2009 when the club was in disarray with everything (and won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy), it just shows you the fanbase we’ve got and I’m just lucky to be part of it as a player.”

When Clark were beating the Sky Blues, Clark was one of the stand-out heroes on the afternoon, as with 23 minutes gone, he was the man who made it 1-0 to the Hatters. Once Marvelous Nakamba won the ball back in his own half, Alfie Doughty launched it upfield where Elijah Adebayo did his bit in outmuscling the City defenders and finding Clark who took a quite wonderful touch on his right foot and rifled past Ben Wilson with his left, sending the Luton fans into delirium.

Asked if he has watched that goal back much since, easily the most important of the 30 he has netted in 217 outings for the Hatters since joining on a free transfer back in the summer of 2020, the midfielder continued: “Not loads no. I said to myself when I retired and I’m fat and old, I’ll have a sit down and watch the whole thing back, but probably this week a couple of times. Maybe just to remind myself of the day and try to pick little bits from the day because the nerves will be a little bit more for us and it’s a game where you don’t want to be on the losing end of it.

"Now we’ve got back there, people mention it to you and I’ll have a little look back on YouTube, try to think back to the memories of when we were there before. It’s a little bit more pressure and I’m just looking forward to it now and excited to be there again because some players never play there in their career once, so to be there twice in three years, I’m very lucky.”

With Luton then being pegged back by a goal from Gustavo Harmer in the second period, and no further strikes in extra time, the final went to penalties. Clark stepped up to score the Hatters’ fourth in the shootout, as Luke Berry and Dan Potts followed suit to see Town move 6-5 in front before Fankaty Dabo skied over the bar, sending Town to the top flight.

Asked how much preparation will go into the possibility of the game being decided from 12 yards again, Clark said: “Yes, I would have thought so, especially Friday, Saturday. We’ll be doing the halfway line stuff, going through your process, trying to do as much as you can and leave no stone unturned. The last time we had that little bit of time as we knew we were in the play-offs, so we practiced it for maybe three, four weeks, to the smallest detail and thankfully in the end it really paid off.”

Having triumphed once in the capital, then Clark will happily pass on such prior experience to any of his team-mates that ask for it ahead of the big day as well, saying: “We’ve got quite a young squad and they might be a little bit more nervous than they been in the previous game, but just anyway I can help, little pointers, that might help settle their nerves.

“We’ve got the gaffer as well whose quite familiar with Wembley having been there with England, so I’ll just try and help as much as I can, try to tap into my past experiences. There was a lot of emotions going into the last game, so just using as much experience as I can with the young boys. It was a rollercoaster of a day with Locks (Tom Lockyer, stretchered off), it was tough.

"To score the goal for me personally was very good, but to go in at half time winning was big and then the message was just do it for Locks. They scored and they were on top and then Hamer went off which was good for us as he’s a top, top player. Then it went to extra time and everyone’s knackered on their feet. We get the dreaded penalties, but to be on the right side of the win was really special and it was a day I’ll never forget.”

If he can score once more, then Clark, who is Town’s leading marksman this term with 12 to his name, and will no doubt be on penalty duty should the Hatters win a spotkick, added: “For me personally it would be an amazing feeling, but as long as we win, that’s the most important thing as we’ve got lads here who like Nige Lonwijk, whose been there twice and lost twice. I remember watching Barnsley and Mads (Andersen) lose in the last minute to Sheffield Wednesday, so just to win the game is the most important, but if I can get another goal there it will be a cherry on top of the cake.”