Ex-Hatter Craddock reveals he was already planning his apology after expecting to see red in JPT final

Town striker Tom Craddock revealed he was already planning his half-time apology to boss Mick Harford and his Hatters team-mates after expecting to be sent off in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final win over Scunthorpe United that took place 11 years ago today.

With the scores level at 1-1 in the first half, Craddock clipped Iron defender Cliff Byrne in an off the ball incident as he went to close down an opposition player inside United's half, the centre back going to ground.

Referee Phil Crossley called Craddock over, but didn’t even issue a card to the Luton striker, as speaking to the Luton News about the incident, the forward admitted he had been fearing the worst.

He said: “Being a young player, you're excited and aroused for the game and I just think I got a bit too over-excited.

"He tried to run across me and I’ve just sort of cuffed him and caught him in the face.

"I was lucky that it didn’t get picked up, obviously if we’d have had VAR I would have been sent off.

"I can remember when I did it, straight away, I thought 'oh no.'

"I just tried to play dumb to the officials and I remember while the referee was talking to the linesman, I was just planning my apology to the dressing room at half time as I thought I was going to get sent off.

"I can remember it plain as day, I thought 'Mick was not going to be happy,' so I was just planning on how I was going to apologise basically, but I got away with and the rest is history.

“Whenever I've seen people after the game, and even when I went to Oxford, I used to see a lot of fans and they always used to mention the slap before they mentioned the goal.

"So it was a bit of novelty, but I was lucky and it was a lesson learned as I tried not to do anything like that again.”

Craddock went on to punish United in the second period, scoring on 70 minutes to put Town 2-1 in front.

Although Scunthorpe levelled late on, Luton had the last laugh in extra time, Claude Gnapka winning it to send Town’s 40,000 fans into sheer jubilation.

After arriving at the club on loan earlier in the season and then permanently once the January transfer window opened, Craddock got his first real sight of the level of support Town could generate, with a sombre atmosphere at times in the league campaign, Town sliding into the Conference, unable to overturn a 30-point deduction handed down by the FA.

He continued: “I’d signed again just before we the area final that we won on penalties (against Brighton).

"I knew just how big the club was and how loyal the fans were, but I didn’t quite realise until we had the area final.

"It was just totally different to what the match-days had been, as I think the fans had been a little bit resigned to us going down.

"It was a good atmosphere at the ground but it never actually got booming.

"Then when we got into the area finals, it was like, 'this is unbelievable.'

"So that took us into the final and then it was just a huge celebration, everyone was absolutely buzzing, I thought 'wow, this is different class, it's a really big club.'”

With his goal, Craddock, who scored 38 times in 86 matches during his Hatters career, ensured he will always hold a special place in the hearts of Town supporters.

Speaking about the reception he has received ever since, he added: "I joined Facebook about nine months ago and the amount of Luton fans who just added me and were saying 'thanks for the day, it was one the best days we’ve had watching football,' that’s what you do it for.

"My dad's a Luton fan, all my family are Luton fans now, just because of the time I enjoyed there and the Wembley match was the cherry on the cake.

“The thing with the Luton fans is, I wasn't one to go smashing into tackles, and I think at times I could maybe be a little bit sloppy on the ball, but that’s because I tried to be positive and make things happen and take risks.

"The feedback I used to get and still get now is that the fans used to appreciate your effort, it was as simple as that really.

"As long as you put effort in when you play for Luton, they take to you.

"I was lucky that I was a striker and I put a lot of effort in, but because I scored quite a lot of goals, scored some important goals as well, the area final and then the final, I think I hold a little place in their history really, so it’s good."