Danny Wilson: I was never going to bottle my penalty duties for the Hatters against Norwich during final day decider

Former Luton midfielder Danny Wilson was never going to bottle his second opportunity from the penalty spot despite the Hatters’ Division One survival hopes depending on it some 21 years ago today.

In what was to become a regular theme for Town during their time in the top flight, the 1988-89 season saw the club’s quest to stay up go down to the final game of the campaign once more.

At home to high-flying Norwich City on March 13, 1989, Luton knew a victory would be enough, and having won two of their last three were in confident mood.

They looked in good shape during the first half, awarded a penalty, as Wilson, who was usually consistent from 12 yards, having scored three during the term, and four the previous campaign as well, stepped up to the spot.

However, he was to fluff his lines on this occasion, dragging his attempt wide of the post as the scores remained goalless.

After the break, Town were then given a second spot-kick once Mick Harford was pushed, with the 27-year-old Wilson now under enormous pressure, as he faced Canaries keeper Bryan Gunn for a second time.

This time he did find the net, showing nerves of steel to go the same way and rifle his low effort into the bottom corner, scoring the goal which turned out to be the winner and preserve Town’s Division One status.

As Wilson explained to the Luton News, he was never about to shirk his responsibility, saying: “I remember the penalty very, very vividly.

“Roy Wegerle got brought down if I remember and I pushed it to the goalkeeper’s right, pushed it wide of the post.

"Bryan Gunn was in goal and we had little things that we tried to do, we watched goalkeepers, and I just felt that was my strongest side to put it in and possibly not the goalkeeper’s strongest side.

“So when we get the second one, I look up towards the goalkeeper and all I can see behind him in the stands and through the net, is a guy with his hands on his face going, ‘oh no, not him again,’ honestly, I can see him thinking ‘oh my goodness.’

“So I just concentrated on what I did, and thought my accuracy has just got to be better and I was more accurate than the first one.

“If it’s accurate enough and has too much power then he’s not going to save it.

“We’d have been relegated if we hadn’t won, but I looked around and there was only one person who was ever going to take it and that was me, because I liked the pressure in that respect.

“I didn’t walk away from responsibilities, but I thought it would be wrong of me to give it to someone else, to bottle it and walk away, we weren’t that type of team, we took our responsibilities.

“It was my job, you can’t have the adulation all the time, sometimes you’ve got to take a bit of a backseat in that, just get on with your job and what you’re paid for and that was taking penalties.”

The Hatters other rivals in the battle to stay up were Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and West Ham, as Wilson admitted they were being kept up to date with goings on elsewhere.

He said: “Yes, we had an idea, but we knew ourselves, it didn’t really matter, as long as we won, we would be safe.”

Wilson had played a huge role in Town getting to the position of being able to avoid relegation, as during the run-in, he scored the first goal in a 3-0 win over Derby, adding a double as Charlton were hammered 5-2.

Although Town then lost 1-0 at West Ham, it crucially put their destiny in their own hands for the home clash against Norwich.

Wilson added: “We were in a real precarious position, but we had a great belief in each other.

“We knew we had a good side, we didn’t really think we should have been there, but we were.

“I think we drew on all our resources there, the experience we had in the team and the last few games that kept our heads above water, we did very, very well.

“Other teams don’t expect you to do that, you’ve lost so many games, you’re falling down the table, they see you entrenched and all of a sudden, you go and get three out of four results that kept us up.

“But that was retaining belief as if you lost faith or you doubted your team-mates, you won’t get those results that you expect.

“We were difficult to beat at home, we were a good footballing side, but the one thing we could do was pass the ball very well. On that particular game against Charlton, that epitomised what a good side we could be.

“We lacked a bit of consistency at times, but what a good time to get a result of that magnitude.

"It really put us on a high, although we had two very tough games on paper to go, we believed we could stay up.”

Wilson and the Hatters were also involved in another final day decider the following season, although this time the odds looked stacked against them.

Heading to Derby County, Town needed to win, but hope that fellow relegation strugglers Sheffield Wednesday lost at home to Nottingham Forest.

Luton kept their part of the bargain, triumphing 3-2 thanks to Tim Breacker's stunner and a double from Kingsley Black, as the Owls were being defeated 3-0 at Hillsborough, meaning Town stayed up on goal difference.

Wilson said: "It was a high pressure match, there’s no doubt about it, it was a very tough game.

"I can just remember that we went to Derby and no-one expected us to win there.

"We did 3-2 and at the same time, Forest were beating Sheffield Wednesday, which was a massive, massive result from that point of view, as nobody was expecting that whatsoever.

"On the last day of the season they dropped into the bottom areas and they got relegated, so it was a real shock to everybody that we stayed up on goal difference.

“In most games we were always underdogs and very much so in the last game against Derby.

“The fans went bananas, I can remember them going bananas, the support that they gave us, they were very, very loyal to us and always supported us.

"They were brilliant, and on that day, they really pulled us through.

"Nobody gave us a hope in hell's chance of getting a result there and less chance of staying up because of Sheffield Wednesday.

"So they (away fans) went there in a way that they give us the support in terms of 'thank you very much, you've done very well, but unlucky for going down,' but then it turned into a totally different celebration.

"That was something that I don't think anyone expected, but as a team we did.

"We didn't go there with any fear, we went there as underdogs as we always did, although we knew if we could perform, we had the quality if players to win the game, but we had to perform at our maximum playing against a quality of Derby County."

Speaking to Breacker recently about his amazing opening goal, the full back couldn't believe it went in, and neither did Wilson!

He added: “No, not whatsoever, what a goal that was and coupled with it, the reports we were getting from the Wednesday game, it was brilliant.

"I remember Mark Wright was playing, he started the game at centre back for Derby, we went 2-0 up.

"Mark Wright goes back upfront and he turns the game round for them, then at 2-2, they put him back in defence and we scored again, so we were quite happy with that."

"At 3-2, it all really turned round in the last 10-15 minutes of the game and it was a great day."