Ex-Hatter David Oldfield considers himself 'very fortunate' to have played in a 'fantastic time' for Luton

Former Luton player David Oldfield declared himself ‘very fortunate’ to have been at Kenilworth Road during undoubtedly one of the best times in the club’s history.

The midfielder was brought in as a teenager after being spotted playing in Stoke Goldington, with his breakthrough season coming in 1987-88.

That just happened to be some year for the club, as with a host of household names and internationals in their ranks, including Ricky Hill, Brian Stein and Mick Harford, Town finished ninth in Division One, their highest ever placing, made the FA Cup semi-final and also won the Littlewoods Cup, beating Arsenal 3-2 at Wembley.

Oldfield, who was at Wembley that day, said: “It’s one of those times where only looking back do you realise how important it was and how strong that group was.

“We were really pleased as Kingsley (Black) was the same age as us, all those boys, there were young lads.

“I was in the squad (for the cup final) but didn’t make the group that got changed, but there are some pictures of me with my bouffant-y hair.

“That group reached the semi-final of the FA Cup that year, it was a good time, and I was very fortunate to be involved in that.

“There were also players like Danny Wilson, Mal Donaghy, Andy Dibble was brilliant that day, important players like Rob Johnson, Tim Breacker was around, David Preece was so important and Brian Stein was brilliant.

“All those players are still very much Luton legends now, it was an absolutely great time, but a really good group and a big learning curve for me as a young player coming through.

"Looking back it now, it certainly was a fantastic time for Luton Town Football Club.”

Oldfield’s first team debut came in a match that would probably have slipped through most of Town’s fans memories now, a 2-1 Simod Cup win at Everton in February 1988, where he bagged both goals.

He continued: “I managed to score a couple of goals and nobody knew anything about me then and what it said in the programme was 'Oldfield, born in Perth Australia.'

“Everyone assumed I’d just come over from Australia, but I hadn’t, but I was born there, it wasn't the case that I’d just come over and got signed, as I came over as a kid from Australia and grew up effectively in North Buckinghamshire.

Everton were a really strong team back then, but so was Luton.

“It was great to make your debut with so many strong and legendary Luton players back in the team, your Mick Harford’s, we all knew what a strong group that was.”

Oldfield’s league debut wasn’t one to remember fondly either, coming on in 4-0 defeat at Newcastle United in April, however his first full start for Town, just a week after the cup win, is certainly one that is.

Then, on May 2, he was named in the starting 11 to take on fierce rivals Watford at Kenilworth Road, scoring the first goal in 2-1 win, Danny Wilson getting the other from the penalty spot.

With no footage readily available, Oldfield is yet to see the goal since that day, as he continued: “I managed to score against Watford at home, it’s always a big game, so I was very lucky.

“It was soon after the cup win, I think Brian (Stein) got injured or wasn’t available and I played because of that.

“I haven’t seen it since, somebody remarked to me quite a few years ago that it wasn’t around, but from memory, it was a touch and a volley from a narrow angle, I think Tony Coton was in goal and it just went in.”

That led to a stellar run of form for Oldfield as he began the last six games and notched goals at both Anfield and the City Ground in 1-1 draws with both Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Speaking about running clean through to shoot past Bruce Grobbelaar at the Kop End, he said: “That goal is still in my memory.

“I was very fortunate at the end of the season, I had that opportunity to play and manage to grab a couple of goals.

“The one at Anfield was very special, certainly to score against the Kop.

"I’ve got four kids, two are older and two are younger, my oldest son mentioned it to my youngest one who couldn’t believe I had done it as Liverpool are obviously so strong at the moment.

"It was a nice time and some good goals.”

Although Oldfield had moved to Luton when David Pleat as at the helm, it was actually Ray Harford who gave him his debut in the first team.

It wasn’t just those two who had a big effect on his career, with club legend John Moore receiving special praise too.

Oldfield said: “He (Moore) is without doubt a really important figure for lots of us and for me.

"John was caring, strong, disciplined, tactical, really switched on to the reality of the game and really helped me all the way through.

"He is a very important figure in the history of Luton Town.

“He was determined a person that really made us understand how hard we needed to work and how dedicated we needed to be to try and reach our potential.

““I remember joining Luton as a kid, thinking that I was okay, but very quickly realising that I couldn’t really play and had to work on my touch and really had to work on my game.

“John Moore and David Pleat were very influential in that, while they (Pleat and Harford) were very progressive, very forward thinking.

"They wanted to play and pass, wanted to be tactically aware, they were good coaches, good man management and knew what they wanted and were very influential around the group.

"I know the senior boys really liked them, and worked very hard and I know it was a strong group, filled with really good individuals.

"The group ethic helped those managers, but the job they played was very important.”

Oldfield played a large chunk of the following season, with one goal in 21 league games, and also earned a call-up to the England U21s for a 1-1 draw with Sweden at Coventry City in October 1988, replacing Jason Dozzell for the second half.

He was then sold to Manchester City for £650,000 in March 1989, a fairly hefty amount back in those days.

When asked about the pressures that came with the price-tag, he said: “It was quite a big sum, certainly for those times, but I think I was too naive to worry about it.

"Certainly when I went to Manchester City, it didn’t bother me at all, I hardly thought about it.

"It was just trying to make sure I was as good as the other boys and try to work as hard as I could really, the money wasn’t an issue, but probably because I was too naive to think about it.

“I’d been lucky enough to have an offer from Norwich and in the end I decided not to go, I decided to stay at Luton and then a little bit later, Manchester City and West Ham came in at the same time.

"I spoke to John Lyall at West Ham and was really impressed with them, but I was really happy to go to City, they were such a big club and had a lot of young players around at that time.

"I was very sad to leave Luton though, whenever anybody asks me now who I support, it’s definitely Luton, because I was there from 14, it was sad to leave, but an exciting time to join City as well.”

While at City, Oldfield will always have legendary status for his part in the 5-1 hammering of rivals Manchester United at Maine Road in September 1989.

He said: “I’m very fortunate to be remembered for that game as I don’t think City beat United for a little while afterwards and it was a big result."

His time in Manchester was short-lived, going to Leicester City in 1990 to link up with his former boss Pleat once more who was in charge at Filbert Street.

Oldfield said: "The manager changed, Howard Kendall came in, and wanted to bring a lot of ex-Everton players in to City.,

"I was involved in one of the swap deals to take somebody (Wayne Clarke) from Leicester, and David Pleat was definitely very important in that deal, I was pleased to link up with him.

“I wasn’t there with him for very long, we struggled slightly, but Leicester were a big club that also had a lot of potential and I enjoyed my time at Leicester very much.”

After five years with the Foxes, Oldfield came back to Luton in 1995, Town shelling out a fee of £150,000, as although he bagged 11 league goals that season, the Hatters finished 24th in Division One, relegated back to the third tier.

He said: "Back before Bosman, I’d gone a long time being out of contract at Leicester, we couldn’t agree and in the end, Luton came in and I was happy to come back to Luton.

"It was a club close to my heart and was good to be back, we were a bit lower in the league, but it was a really good group of players like Graham Alexander, Steve Davis, Marv (Johnson) was around, so it was good to be back at that time.”

Oldfield almost played a major role in Town getting back to the second tier in the 1997 play-offs he scored three times in both matches with Crewe, only for Luton to lose 2-1 away and then draw 2-2 at home.

He said: “It was tough, we probably should have done better in all honesty, but it was a tough time.

"I remember Lennie Lawrence was in charge at the time, he was a good manager, he knew what he was doing and he was a good leader around us.

"We certainly came close, but we didn't quite do enough and it was a disappointing time that play-off time, absolutely.”

Oldfield managed 10 goals the following season, before leaving for the final time with 178 appearances and 32 goals to his name, moving to today's opponents Stoke City to join his former Leicester manager Brian Little once more.

He said: "I was out of contract and had a decision to make.

"Brian came in and it was the size of the club, as much as the Brian Little factor.

"We started really well at Stoke, had a blistering start but faded a little bit and Brian wasn’t there for a huge amount of time, but it was a factor.

"One of the things I've learned by being around these clubs, is it’s not about the size of the football club, the passion of the supporters and the drive of the supporters is exactly the same.

"The only difference is at some of the so-called bigger clubs there are a few more of them, but I know that the Luton fans are just as passionate as any other fans of these so-called big clubs.

"It was really the Brian factor and the opportunity to sign a longer term deal at the age that I was at that attracted me up there and Stoke was a really good club.

"We had a really good set of players there, it was a good environment to go into, a bit of a transition for the football club and it had really good times afterwards, they managed to get promotion and stay a long time in the Premier League.

"We were a little bit lower at that time, but it was important for me and all the players who were there, it was an honour to play for the club.”

When with the Potters, he did manage to score one of his seven goals in 74 appearances against Luton at the Victoria Ground though, adding: "I remember, Kelvin (Davis) was in goal and I spoke to Kelv not long ago he’s at Southampton doing well.

"I did manage to score at Stoke, it was a little one v one and I just managed to get there before him.”