1996–97 Luton Town F.C. season

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Luton Town
1996–97 season
ChairmanDavid Kohler
ManagerLennie Lawrence
StadiumKenilworth Road
Second Division3rd
Play-offsSemi-finals
FA CupThird round
League CupThird round
Football League TrophySecond round
Top goalscorerLeague: Thorpe (28)
All: Thorpe (32)
Average home league attendance6,781
← 1995–96
 →

During the 1996–97 English football season, Luton Town F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Season summary[]

In the 1996–97 season, Luton started just as badly as the last, with three straight defeats. However, the introduction of young forward Andrew Fotiadis saw Luton burst into life, as they shot up the table with a run of eight wins and two draws in eleven games. Tony Thorpe, too, proved to be a revelation, scoring 28 goals to become the division's top scorer. Luton were nearly promoted, but finished in third place, four points off automatic promotion and then lost to Crewe Alexandra in the play-offs.[1]

Final league table[]

Main article: 1996–97 Football League § Second Division
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Bury 46 24 12 10 62 38 +24 84 Division Champions, promoted
2 Stockport County 46 23 13 10 59 41 +18 82 Promoted
3 Luton Town 46 21 15 10 71 45 +26 78 Participated in play-offs
4 Brentford 46 20 14 12 56 43 +13 74
5 Bristol City 46 21 10 15 69 51 +18 73
Source:[citation needed]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

Results[]

Luton Town's score comes first[2]

Legend[]

Win Draw Loss

FA Cup[]

Main article: 1996-97 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 16 November 1996 Torquay United A 1–0 3,450 Hughes
R2 7 December 1996 Boreham Wood H 2–1 5,332 Marshall (2)
R3 21 January 1997 Bolton Wanderers H 1–1 7,414 Johnson
R3R 25 January 1997 Bolton Wanderers A 2–6 9,713 Thorpe (2)

League Cup[]

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg 20 August 1996 Bristol Rovers H 3–0 2,643 Grant, Thorpe (pen), Oldfield
R1 2nd Leg 3 September 1996 Bristol Rovers A 1–2 (won 4–2 on agg) 2,320 Oldfield
R2 1st Leg 17 September 1996 Derby County H 1–0 4,459 James
R2 2nd Leg 24 September 1996 Derby County A 2–2 (won 3–2 on agg) 13,569 Grant, Thorpe
R3 22 October 1996 Wimbledon A 1–1 5,043 Hughes
R3R 12 November 1996 Wimbledon H 1–2 (a.e.t.) 8,076 Blackwell (own goal)

Football League Trophy[]

Main article: 1996-97 Football League Trophy
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
SR1 10 December 1996 Leyton Orient H 2–1 1,594
SR2 4 February 1997 Northampton Town A 0–1 4,201

Squad[]

[3] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK England ENG Nathan Abbey
— GK England ENG Kelvin Davis
— GK United States USA Ian Feuer
— DF Scotland SCO Graham Alexander
— DF England ENG Ben Chenery
— DF England ENG Steve Davis
— DF England ENG Richard Harvey
— DF England ENG Julian James
— DF England ENG Marvin Johnson
— DF England ENG Des Linton
— DF England ENG Gavin McGowan (on loan from Arsenal)
— DF Northern Ireland NIR Darren Patterson
— DF England ENG Trevor Peake
— DF England ENG Aaron Skelton
— DF England ENG Mitchell Thomas
— DF England ENG Matthew Upson
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF England ENG Chris Willmott
— MF England ENG Sean Evers
— MF Bulgaria BUL Boncho Genchev
— MF Wales WAL Ceri Hughes
— MF England ENG Paul McLaren
— MF England ENG David Oldfield
— MF England ENG Paul Showler
— MF Republic of Ireland IRL Gary Waddock
— FW England ENG Stuart Douglas
— FW England ENG Andrew Fotiadis
— FW Republic of Ireland IRL Liam George
— FW Ghana GHA Kim Grant
— FW England ENG Andy Kiwomya (on loan from Bradford City)
— FW Jamaica JAM Dwight Marshall
— FW England ENG John Taylor
— FW England ENG Tony Thorpe

References[]

  1. ^ Fox, Norman (1997-05-15). "Crewe hit back to knock out Luton". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2015-06-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "All Luton Town players: 1997".
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