Ex-Hatter Berry would love to return to Kenilworth Road and thank Luton's fans

​Former Luton midfielder Luke Berry is hoping to get the chance to return to Kenilworth Road and thank the Hatters fans for their support during his seven years at the club.

The 31-year-old was snapped up by former boss Nathan Jones in the summer of 2017, Town paying an undisclosed fee to bring him in from Cambridge United. Some 184 appearances and 26 goals later, with three promotions and his own slice of Hatters history, becoming the first Luton player to score in the top four divisions of English football, Berry decided to move on in search of more playing time once his contract expired this summer.

Now at League One Charlton Athletic after reuniting Jones again, then the popular midfielder’s only chance of heading back to Bedfordshire this season will be in the Carabao Cup or FA Cup, which is something he very much hopes can happen. Discussing a potential return, speaking to the club’s official website recently, Berry said: “It will be funny as I remember playing here (Kenilworth Road) before I came here and I thought I’d love to play here, it would be so good.

"The intensity of the ground, I always thought it would be so good, playing here now and then coming back, it just would be. I don't think it would feel like that as I would be so used to it, I would just be so happy coming back here and hopefully get a draw, that would be good for everyone. Hopefully I’d get a nice ovation but I'd give everyone a clap after the game and it would just be good to see everyone around the club as well as everyone’s done so much for me.”

Town’s fans will no doubt reciprocate any applause that is offered up, and more, as Berry became a real favourite with the Kenilworth Road faithful during his lengthy stay. The former Barnsley player felt the support received from those in orange was always top notch during his time with the Hatters, particularly during the club’s relegation from the Premier League last term.

He continued: “I speak to Luton fans, they come and chat to you, they’re all so proud of you, how well we did. Even random fans who say, it was such a good effort we gave and we were really unlucky not to stay up, so it’s only enhanced the club I think. The travelling support has always been amazing, this season especially. Even when we’re struggling, they were behind us all the way and that's not easy as you can get frustrated with the players, with the team, it’s not always easy to do that, so massive, massive credit to them.

"Some away days we were all coming off so dejected as maybe we conceded a late goal or we were leading then losing, we’re clapping and you’d think the fans might be a bit down as well, but they’re not. They’re upbeat, they’re singing, they’re the loudest voices in the stadium as we could never hear their fans. So it’s just massive credit to them that they stuck with us for the whole season and hopefully for the boys staying, they can do that next season as it will be massive.”

Although Berry’s departure, along with defender Dan Potts, who had moved to Town even before he did in 2014, means two of the club’s longest serving players have now left, there are still a few remaining from those who saw the Hatters climb all the way up from League Two to the top flight. That has led to a terrific team spirit being fostered, as he added: “That’s down to the board, but we’ve kept a real key group of players who have stayed together and every single player I’ve played with here has been a great character.

"You’ve still got Pelly (Mpanzu), Sheasy (James Shea) who will carry that on and we all just bought into what the club is about and tried to do our best. One of the main things is that there’s always been good people at this club, that’s down to recruitment really, recruiting the right people. Every single player I’ve played with here as been a great character in their own way.

"They’re all different people, we’re all a bit weird but we all want the same thing. We all want to do well on the football pitch, all want to do well for the fans, for the club and we’ve all got that in common which I think is very, very important. We enjoy that underdog kind of things. We don’t feel like we’re underdogs for any game, we feel like we should be winning every game, but on the outside people think, oh these are Luton, we can turn them over, but it’s not the case.”