Town chief hopes promising young Hatter can prove himself at Port Vale

Luton boss Jack Wilshere is hopeful that promising young striker Oli Lynch continues to take the chance to prove himself at a higher level following his season-long loan move to League Two side Port Vale over the weekend.

The 20-year-old, who is a self-confessed Hatters fan, has been at Kenilworth Road since joining the academy as a 14-year-old, impressing for the youth team when featuring in the U18s’ run to the FA Youth Cup fifth round. Lynch has since had a series of fine loan spells where he has caught the eye, the first at Southern League Premier Central outfit Hitchin Town, before then going to Isthmian Premier Division side Dulwich Hamlet under former Town coaches Hakan Hayrettin and Terry Harris in September 2024.

The forward moved to National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town for the second half of the 2024-25 campaign, netting 11 goals in 18 appearances, voted the Tudors’ player of the month in January, as well as winning two goal of the month awards, which was enough for the Hatters to offer him a new contract.

Last term he stepped up again, moving to National League team Tamworth for the campaign, ending as the Lambs’ top scorer in all competitions, on target 12 times in 44 outings. Having returned to Kenilworth Road, Lynch might have hoped to get a chance at his boyhood club this term, but now has the opportunity to show Wilshere and co that he can cut it in the fourth tier, trying to help the Vale Park club make an instant return to League One.

It’s certainly what his manager hopes he can do, with Wilshere saying: “That’s development right. There might have been, and I don’t know this, but with every player, there might be a question mark and then you go and prove yourself, then you have to go to the next level to consistently prove yourself again. He had to go to the National League last year and prove himself, now he’s got an opportunity to prove himself in League Two at a big club, so good progression for him. It’s a good move for Oli.

"He’s probably someone who we wanted to look at in pre-season, see how he got on with the group, and then we had a conversation with Jon Brady and he was really clear and passionate about how he can help Oli and how Oli can help them. When you have that mix, you want to give him the best chance of going in there early for the season, getting used to the players, getting used to how they play, so it’s a really good move for him.”

For Lynch himself, then discussing his move to the Valiants with the Vale official website, he has already set his sights on a promotion tilt, adding: “I had a really good chat with the gaffer and he made me feel really wanted, the club did in general make me feel really wanted. It's a big club, it deserves to be in a higher league, so I want to come here and help get them back here.”