Hatters chairman was glad to 'see the back' of an 'incredibly disappointing' 2024

Luton chairman David Wilkinson admitted he was glad to ‘see the back’ of what was an ‘incredibly disappointing’ 2024 for the club when it came to matters on the pitch.

The Hatters had started the year with such high hopes, as they were plying their trade in the highest tier of English football once, having had their optimism about staying up boosted with a comeback Boxing Day 3-2 victory at Sheffield United and then running Chelsea bitterly close when going down 3-2 at Kenilworth Road. Rob Edwards’ side then began the year with a six game league and cup run, including thumping Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 and then earning a 4-4 draw at Newcastle United.

From then on though, the campaign turned into an irreversible downward spiral, Luton winning just one of their final 16 top flight games as their stay amongst the footballing elite was ended by dropping back to the Championship. Now in the second tier again, the start couldn’t have got much worse, Town only able to secure seven victories from their opening 24 fixtures, and losing nine straight matches on the road.

Unfortunately, 2025 didn’t begin much better either, Town beaten 1-0 at home by Norwich City on New Year’s Day, which saw manager Edwards booed off afterwards, with on-looking board members, including Wilkinson, coming under severe pressure to sack the manager who had led them to the top flight. Writing in his programme notes ahead of the contest, summing up the last 12 months, Wilkinson said: “2024 on the pitch has been surreal and incredibly disappointing.

"As the last year ended we had just been narrowly beaten 3-2 at the Kenny by a very good Chelsea team and were just ahead of our best result and performance of the Premier League season where we beat Brighton 4-0 having lost 4-1 at the Amex in the first game of the season. As we are seeing again this year it is tough for promoted clubs to survive in the Premier League and almost impossible without a big pot of money put alongside the funds received from central funds.

“We are proud that we earned respect and impressed so many by the way we played and entertained but being plucky, gallant losers is not what we are here for. A lot has been said about the effect of relegation and the added difficulty of having had a brief foray in the top division, but both going there and coming back down throw up problems we have never experienced before.

“Expectations and attitudes can be so sensitive and everything affects everything else. There is no doubt that all of us expected better this year, after all, the majority of last season’s squad are still with us. Yes, we lost the Premier League quality of Ross (Barkley) and Sambi (Lokonga), who I would argue are impossible to replace, but I’d love to be proved wrong.

“As has previously been reported, the last transfer window was the toughest the team has had, and we didn’t get all the targets we wanted. We are a team in a transition. Often when you make changes, they take time to come into effect and whether that is transfer strategy or sports science and medical or coaching or investment in the academy, they will all make us better. One of my great beliefs is that it’s easier to be a critic than an author and mistakes are inevitable, but the only people who don’t make mistakes are those who do nothing. I shall be glad to see the back of 2024.”

It hasn’t all been bad for the Hatters as they off the pitch, they did complete what CEO Gary Sweet labelled the biggest victory of the year a few weeks ago when Luton Borough Council's planning committee approved the planning application for the club’s 25,000-capacity new stadium at Power Court. It was something Wilkinson was naturally thrilled to see, as he continued: “Last year ended with the fantastic news that the council approved planning permission for our new stadium at Power Court, ending years of negotiations, land purchases, planning and design.

"Gary and Michael (Moran, chief operating officer) deserve enormous credit for assembling a brilliant team who have overcome all the obstacles they’ve encountered since we first became involved, and have succeeded in achieving the toughest task against all the odds. This is the second major plank of our original plan when we first got together and invested in the club. The importance of it cannot be stressed strongly enough. We bought the club from the administrator. A club that had been bust three times in 10 years, which evidenced its inability to compete fairly at anywhere near the top level.

"Most periods of success on the pitch have been followed by financial difficulty and we have fought tooth and nail to ensure that this is not repeated. Our ambition and strategy for this club has always been to play the long game. In order to compete, we simply must have a state-of-the-art stadium with the ability of generating significantly more revenue.”

Although Town are in a worrying position with yet another relegation on their hands this term, one that no-one inside the club had expected, Wilkinson did leave some positive thoughts for the upcoming year, adding: “I’m eagerly looking forward to the second half of the season. I’m looking forward to winning Championship games away.

"I’m looking forward to the transfer window. I’m looking forward to starting building at Power Court. I’m looking forward to the Academy getting its category 2 status and joining the games programme. I’m looking forward to our injured players returning and fighting for their places. I’m looking forward to more of our youngsters earning a place in the squad. I’m looking forward to another year of being a Luton fan and enjoying the high and lows we are so used to.”