Wembley final will be the 'proudest moment' of Luton boss Wilshere's career

Taking Luton Town to Wembley for the Vertu Trophy final against Stockport County tomorrow promises to be the proudest moment of manager Jack Wilshere’s footballing career.

The 34-year-old has certainly got a pretty decent scrapbook of memories to look back on already, making his Arsenal career at the age of just 16, starring in a Champions League tie with Barcelona just a few years later, also lifting the FA Cup twice with the Gunners and becoming the 10th youngest player at the time to represent England when he was just 18, going on to win 34 caps for his country, including featuring at a World Cup Finals and European Championships.

Having moved into coaching, he then led Arsenal U18s to the FA Youth Cup final, but according to Wilshere, being in the dug-out for Luton at the home of English football on Sunday will just about top all of that, particularly after two difficult back-to-back relegations has wiped away plenty of the highs of the club’s journey to the Premier League from a few years ago. On the upcoming occasion, he said: “It will feel amazing. I’ve been coaching just over three and a half years and if you’d have said to me on day one when I was with the U18s, standing in front of the staff and the players that in three and a half years you’d be leading Luton Town out at Wembley, I wouldn’t have believed you.

"There’s been loads of sacrifice, loads of learning, loads of developing, I’ve failed and then had to go again. I’ve been lucky that I've been surrounded by good people on that journey and inspired by good people, but a really, really proud moment. Probably the proudest moment of my footballing career because how quickly it’s happened, but also with the people that we’re doing it with."

Being involved in a game of this magnitude is something that Wilshere had looked forward to doing when he did decide to head into coaching after hanging his boots up at the age of just 30 in July 2022, as he continued: “Yes, I think so. You don’t necessarily think about that at the start as there’s so much that you have to do and I want to get better in every aspect of coaching and management and leadership.

"I’m still focusing on that, but when you put so much into it and you get a nice trip at the end of it, it’s a really nice feeling. We’re still in season, it’s not as if it’s the end of the season, it’s the next game. We can look forward to that, look forward to the challenge of going to a different environment and trying to perform and win a game, but then it’s straight back to business.”

One thing that Wilshere can’t wait to see is the wall of orange behind the goal too, which was present when Town last headed to the home of English football as they beat Coventry City on penalties to win a dramatic Championship play-off final in May 2023. With over 32,000 supporters attending this time, many who would have imagined it unthinkable their next trip to the stadium would be in the final of this competition when Fankaty Dabo’s spotkick flew over the bar, it has made the Luton boss even more determined to deliver success, as he said: “I’m really looking forward to that.

"I’ve said it a lot that when I first came in I wanted to build that connection again with the fans. Yes at times it’s been really tough for the fans to support us this year. We’ve had some results and spells in games that weren’t good enough. I know at times it’s been hostile, I would say at Kenilworth Road, but I’ve always felt that it’s because they care, it’s because they love this club. We’ve got even more steps to do and even more work to do with that, but to give them a day out at Wembley, I know how much that means to them.

"You can see by how many tickets we’ve sold how much it does mean to them and hopefully we can give them something to celebrate at the end of it. I’m a football fan, before I was a player I was a football fan. I was a West Ham fan when I grew up and West Ham got relegated, it ruined my life for a period where it was horrible. One thing that Luton fans are, are really, really passionate and I can see it, I can feel it. I can feel the struggles they’ve had.

"When you’re in the Premier League and then all of a sudden you close your eyes and you’re in League One, that’s hard, that’s tough to take. There’s still so much work to do on how we want to improve all the time to try and get back up the divisions, but as a step and as a club to try and bring everyone back together, it’s a really important day for everyone.

"We understand that and hopefully we can give them something to cheer about. I really, really appreciate their support, number one for the team because it is important. These players need that, they need the confidence, they need the belief from the fans, but number two for me, because it was a risk when I got this job, I understood that but the fans have embraced me and I’m really grateful for that.”

Although Wilshere, who has been on the winning side in two cup finals at Wembley, plus the losing side twice, would love to take the walk up the famous steps to lift the trophy as a manager for the first time, he isn’t fixating on that becoming a reality just yet, saying: “It’s hard for me think about that and talk about that now because my message to the players is don’t think about the outcome, think about the process.

"My thought process is around that, but of course my mind wanders when I’m on my own, when I’m driving in, when I’m trying to sleep at night, about what it will feel like if we did win it, and it will be an amazing feeling. I genuinely mean this, because the staff, the people at the club, that have supported me, that have also been on the journey with the club of a double relegation, they've suffered during that time. We’ve still got loads of work to do to get back to where we want, but this could provide a little glimmer of hope that we can get there and give us that push hopefully to get there, but I don't want to think about that too much.”

Although he might not have done so, skipper Kal Naismith stated he has definitely been imagining playing at the stadium after being in the stands for the recent Carabao Cup final, along with getting his hands on the trophy after the full time whistle, which was fine by Wilshere, who added: “It is important that the players do visualise that and have that feeling that they can get there because it is a possibility.

"Yes there is an opponent in front of us that are really good and higher than us in the league, they’re there for a reason they’ve got good players and are a good side, but we’ve also got good players and are a good team that are finding a little bit of consistency. So it’s okay for the players to visualise that, especially Kal two weeks ago, but know our job is to really focus and give us the best possibility of getting there.”