International honours for Hill, Donaghy, Harford and co gave ex-Hatters boss Pleat huge pleasure
Town legend discusses his time at Kenilworth Road
Former Luton boss David Pleat declared feeling an immense sense of pride after witnessing so many of his squad earn international honours during his time as manager at Kenilworth Road.
The Hatters legend is responsible for signing so many players who went on to write their names into club folklore for their efforts on the pitch that saw Town enjoy their best ever spell during the 1980s, winning promotion to Division One and then staying there for nine seasons, also lifting the Littlewoods Cup as well.
It wasn’t just among Luton fans that they were recognised either, with a large number going on to represent their country, as Pleat, who has just released his autobiography titled ‘Just One More Goal’, told the Luton News: “My massive pleasure was seeing (Mal) Donaghy getting lots of caps, (Ricky) Hill, (Paul) Walsh, (Mick) Harford and (Brian) Stein, all get capped for England, unbelievable, none of them had been capped previously.
"(Tony) Grealish was being capped for the Republic of Ireland and (Peter) Nicholas got capped for Wales, while later on (John) Hartson got capped for Wales, (Paul) Telfer got capped for Scotland, (Mark) Pembridge got capped for Wales, so it’s amazing. Can you imagine, Luton Town with all these international players? When I look back, I didn’t realise probably how big a thing it was, it was wonderful.”
It wasn’t just international honours that Pleat looked back on fondly, but the careers in the dug-out that his squad went on to have after hanging up their boots as well, as he continued: “The other pleasure was seeing so many of them become managers. Mick Harford did a wonderful job at Luton as a manager, Mike Newell was a manager.
"Ricky Hill had a spell at Luton briefly as a manager, Brian Horton was an excellent manager, over a thousand games, that made me very proud, very proud. And now Paul Elliott is a vice-chairman at Charlton Athletic, that made me pleased as well, so there’s so many things that have made me feel good.”
It’s quite apparent that the bond between Pleat and his players remains strong as well even after all these years, as he added: “It was wonderful, we were highly-rated, we were a good, top side in Division One and we lasted 10 years with limited crowds and limited money, but we had a great team spirit, had wonderful camaraderie which we still have.
"Those boys in the 80s in that group, we still meet regularly and have a wonderful time. Wayne Turner was an exceptional Luton boy, Luton player, Luton heart, who’s now on the staff, he was a terrific back up player. Of course we had a wonderful captain in Brian Horton, he was just a wonderful leader, a wonderful link between the dressing room and the manager’s office.
"Everyone trusted him and he was a superb captain, a proper leader of men and (Raddy) Antic was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful buy from Zaragoza who produced magic moments. He was a wonderful, skilful player, and who knew that he was going to manage Atletico Madrid in 95? I went to the (Copa del Rey) final in 95 which they won.
"He had two wonderful players, (Diego) Simeone, now manager of Atletico Madrid and a Yugolsav called (Milinko) Pantic, and then he went on to manage Real Madrid and Barcelona. I thought the world of him because he was a gentleman, he was intelligent, he always wished the team luck when he wasn’t in the team.”