Tom Craddock: I'll always be a Luton Town fan now

Former Luton striker Tom Craddock admitted he will always be a Hatters fan after the most successful period of his career was spent at Kenilworth Road.

The 33-year-old joined Town back in October 2008, heading to Kenilworth Road on loan from then Premier League side Middlesbrough, where he had made his debut in the top flight.

Craddock scored four in eight games during his first spell, as he headed back permanently in January 2009 finishing with 38 strikes from 86 outings, before heading to Oxford in August 2010, a move that he admitted he wouldnt have made if he could have his time again.

After three years with the U’s, he went to Portsmouth, before injury problems saw the forward drop down the leagues, playing for Guiseley and Spennymoor Town, until he ultimately had to hang his boots up far earlier than expected a few years back.

Despite now being based in Darlington, and coaching at Middlesbrough on a part-time basis as well, Craddock revealed it's the Hatters who are first in his thoughts.

He said: “Every time Luton are on Sky, I watch them, I never miss a game.

“I grew up a Newcastle fan, I played for Middlesbrough so I have an affinity with Middlesbrough as well, but Luton are the team I support, because just how much I enjoyed it down there.

“It’s the first result I look for, so I still really love the club and look back on it with really fond memories.

“I know they’ve had a bit of an up and down season, but hopefully if the season does restart, they can manage to stay up, as if you manage to stay up in that first season you can try and build on it.

"The good thing is they've stayed patient with the manager.

"He wants to play a certain type of football and I think once he does get it right, it will be really attractive and it will be something the fans will really enjoy watching.”

Although having to view from afar in recent seasons, Craddock felt that one of Town's main strong points came in his old position, up front.

He continued: “I’m a fan of strikers and I used to play against James (Collins) and Danny Hylton when they were at Shrewsbury and Aldershot earlier in their careers.

“James has shown he can score goals, I just think you get less chances when you go up.

"Danny has had some injuries and not played as much this season, but Sheffield United, Norwich and Southampton before that have shown that if you get promoted from League One, players are good enough, they just need to be given the chances.

“So I think the players are good enough, it’s just a case of people staying calm and not thinking it’s all doom and gloom when you don’t win every game.

“I do like those two strikers, they have good goalscoring records in the lower leagues and I think they will be able to score goals in the Championship and do it consistently as well.”

When Craddock played for the Hatters, they were relegated out of the Football League in the 2008-09 season, while despite hitting 23 goals the following season, it wasn't enough to see Town being pipped by Stevenage for the Conference title and then lose out to York City in the play-offs.

Fast forward a decade and Luton are back in the second tier of English football, after back-to-back promotions, something the striker always expected would happen once Town had managed to leave non-league behind them.

He said: "We used to say when we were down in the Conference, if we get promoted, we’ll get promoted again, because that often happens.

"I knew once Luton got promoted out of the Conference, it wouldn’t be long before they got back up to the Championship, because the difference between League Two and League One, there's no difference and the difference between the top teams in the Conference and League One, there’s a very, very slight difference.

"So that jump isn’t big, but once you go from League One to the Championship, there is a massive difference and the fans watching the football will be able to see that.

"Certain players who have had a lot of success will find it harder in the Championship, because in many ways the Championship is more difficult than the Premier League as you’re playing much more games, it’s a lot faster pace whereas in the Premier League you get a lot more time.

"Obviously the Premier League is a lot more technical, but the Championship a fantastic league and it is tough.

"I think it’s about maybe the club consolidating and if they can consolidate and fingers crossed they can, then it’s a case of building on it.

"The club's board have done everything right since they took it over in 2008, so I think the fans can have confidence that if they do manage to consolidate they’ll build right and they’ll try to build a brand of football.

"Although they haven’t got unlimited finances and don’t get 50,000 fans a week, they can bring players through and build a brand of football.

"Bournemouth have shown you can go and be a strong Premier League team, so it’s possible, it’s just being patient.

"The Championship is such a tough league, you watch the games and there’s 75 per cent of the teams who have been in the Premier League.

"They’ve got that financial muscle and there’s players like Wayne Rooney at Derby, that just goes to show that the strength of the league is unbelievable.”

Although the season is currently suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus, Craddock is hopeful that should it resume in the summer, then Town, despite being second bottom with nine games to, can fight their way to safety.

He added: "It's the unknown, nobody knows anything nowadays, so it’s just fingers crossed and you just hope that the teams who can get back into it and get back into the groove quickly are the teams that manage to get the results and finish the season off strong.

"On any given day in the Championship, any team can beat anyone else, so it wouldn’t surprise me (if Luton stayed up).

"Being close to Middlesbrough, they got beat quite a few games on the bounce and then went and beat teams at the top of the league like West Brom over Christmas.

"It’s just a case of trying to find that consistency, but I definitely think we’re capable of doing it, one million per cent capable of doing it.

"So it’s just fingers and toes crossed as Luton fans!”