2009 Football League Trophy Final

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2009 Football League Trophy Final
A scene of unmitigated jubilation. Viewed from the right, a crowd of men in a varying assortment of grey suits, navy tracksuits and white, orange and navy soccer attire celebrate together on a podium, many of them brandishing potent bottles of champagne. Some of the men wear straw boaters marked with white, orange and navy ribbons. One of the champagne bottles, which apparently was uncorked rather over-enthusiastically, can be seen in mid-air flying off the front of the podium, its contents flowing forth vigorously.
Luton Town staff and players celebrate their victory
Event2008–09 Football League Trophy
Luton Town Scunthorpe United
3 2
after extra time
Date5 April 2009
VenueWembley Stadium, London
Man of the MatchKevin Nicholls (Luton Town)
Referee (Kent)
Attendance55,378
← 2008
2010 →

The 2009 Football League Trophy Final was the 26th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from Football Leagues One and Two, the Football League Trophy. The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 5 April 2009, the second time that the final had been staged at the stadium since it was rebuilt. The match was contested between Luton Town and Scunthorpe United. Luton won the match 3–2 with Claude Gnakpa scoring the winner five minutes into extra-time.[1]

Luton's victory was a single positive note in an otherwise terrible season for the club. They started the season with a 30-point deduction imposed by the Football League and Football Association for various financial irregularities, despite the fact that these misdemeanours were carried out by the club's previous owners who had not been in charge since January 2008.[2] Despite accumulating enough points to mathematically remain in League Two, they were twelve points from safety when the final was played and were ultimately relegated out of the Football League.[3] They became the first club to win the Football League Trophy and suffer relegation from the Football League in the same season. As the competition is usually only contested by teams from Leagues One and Two, it was uncertain whether Luton could defend their trophy.[4] On 15 June 2009, Luton's request to play in the competition in 2009–10 was denied by the Football League.[5]

Background[]

Luton and Scunthorpe went into the match in vastly different positions. Scunthorpe were in the play-off positions in League One and hoping to secure both promotion to the Football League Championship and claim the Football League Trophy in the same season.[6] Luton, on the other hand, were bottom of The Football League and facing relegation into non-League football, having been given a 30-point deduction at the beginning of the season for financial irregularities.[2] Both teams were playing in their first Football League Trophy final.

Match details[]

Luton Town3–2 (a.e.t.)Scunthorpe United
Martin 32'
Craddock 70'
Gnakpa 95'		 Report Hooper 14'
McCann 88'
Attendance: 55,378
Referee: (Kent)
Luton Town
Scunthorpe United
GK 1 England Dean Brill
RB 15 England Ed Asafu-Adjaye
CB 20 England Michael Spillane
CB 6 England George Pilkington
LB 11 Republic of Ireland Lewis Emanuel
RM 8 England Kevin Nicholls (c) Yellow card 29'
CM 4 Republic of Ireland Keith Keane
CM 16 England Rossi Jarvis downward-facing red arrow 117'
LM 14 England Asa Hall
CF 18 England Chris Martin Yellow card 67'
CF 24 England Tom Craddock downward-facing red arrow 85'
Substitutes:
GK 35 England David Button
DF 2 France Claude Gnakpa upward-facing green arrow 85'
DF 3 England Sol Davis
DF 5 England Ian Roper
FW 9 England Sam Parkin upward-facing green arrow 117'
Manager:
England Mick Harford
GK 1 Republic of Ireland Joe Murphy
RB 6 Republic of Ireland Cliff Byrne (c)
CB 26 England Krystian Pearce downward-facing red arrow 85'
CB 15 England David Mirfin
LB 3 England Marcus Williams
RM 7 England Matt Sparrow downward-facing red arrow 77'
CM 31 England Henri Lansbury
CM 17 Northern Ireland Grant McCann
LM 23 England Kevan Hurst downward-facing red arrow 63'
CF 10 England Gary Hooper
CF 9 England Paul Hayes
Substitutes:
GK 22 England Josh Lillis
MF 16 England Martyn Woolford upward-facing green arrow 77'
MF 18 England Sam Togwell upward-facing green arrow 63'
MF 24 England Andrew Wright Yellow card 93' upward-facing green arrow 85'
FW 30 England Ben May
Manager:
England Nigel Adkins

MATCH OFFICIALS

MATCH RULES

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Five named substitutes, of which up to three may be used

Protests[]

During the match, many of Luton's 40,000 fans unfurled flags featuring the slogans "Thanks for Sweet FA" and "The FA & Football League – Killing Small Clubs Since 1992" in protest at the actions taken against the club from the footballing authorities.[7] Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney was widely booed, among other less savoury chants, for his part in the club's demise.[7][8]

Route to the final[]

See also: Football League Trophy 2008–09

Luton Town[]

Round 1 (South) received bye
Round 2 (South) Luton Town 2–2 Brentford
  (Luton Town won 4–3 on penalties)
Quarter-finals (South) Walsall 0–1 Luton Town
Semi-finals (South) Luton Town 1–0 Colchester United
Final (South, 1st leg) Brighton & Hove Albion 0–0 Luton Town
Final (South, 2nd leg) Luton Town 1–1 Brighton & Hove Albion
  (1–1 on aggregate. Luton Town won 4–3 on penalties)

Scunthorpe United[]

Round 1 (North) Scunthorpe United 2–1 Notts County
Round 2 (North) Scunthorpe United 2–1 Grimsby Town
Quarter-finals (North) Scunthorpe United 1–0 Rochdale
Semi-finals (North) Scunthorpe United 2–1 Tranmere Rovers
Final (North, 1st leg) Scunthorpe United 2–0 Rotherham United
Final (North, 2nd leg) Rotherham United 0–1 Scunthorpe United
  (Scunthorpe United won 3–0 on aggregate)

Post-match[]

Luton manager Mick Harford paid tribute to his players, saying "the players knew when they came to the club that they could be non-League players next season. They put their necks on the line. Today their camaraderie, spirit and togetherness was there for all to see." He also praised the "special" Luton fans, saying "They've had it tough down the years, with [the club] being in and out of administration and having sanctions put upon them. We have the second-highest league attendance in League Two and the highest away following, and they've turned out again today."[9]

Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins congratulated Luton on their victory but also lamented his own side's shortcomings, saying after the match "Credit to Luton. I congratulate Mick Harford, but we have to learn from this negative experience and use it in a positive way. I will make sure [the players] will remember this because it's not nice... We will draw a line under it and make sure we come back to Wembley in the play-off final – and make sure we win."[9]

Luton were relegated on 13 April 2009, only a week after their Football League Trophy victory. Their relegation was confirmed when they could only manage a draw against Chesterfield, while the only club they could catch, Grimsby Town, won against Notts County.[10] Cliff Byrne secured a place in the League One play-offs for Scunthorpe at the expense of Tranmere Rovers with a goal two minutes from the end of their final game.[11] They returned to Wembley for the League One play-off Final and won promotion in May, beating Millwall 3–2.

References[]

  1. ^ "Luton 3–2 Scunthorpe". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Luton to face 30-points deduction". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  3. ^ Stafford, Mike (5 April 2009). "Luton get the last laugh with victory in the 'Paint Pot final'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  4. ^ "Luton hope to defend trophy even if relegated". ESPN Soccernet. ESPN. 6 April 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  5. ^ "Luton consider Trophy ban appeal". BBC Sport. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  6. ^ "2009-03-28, Scunthorpe 3–0 Colchester". Scunthorpe United. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  7. ^ a b McVay, David (5 April 2009). "Defiant Luton celebrates trophy win with final protest". Telegraph Online. The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  8. ^ Dart, Tom (6 May 2009). "Luton Town find pot of gold at last". Times Online. London: The Times. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  9. ^ a b "Harford praises Luton's character". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  10. ^ Stafford, Mike (13 April 2009). "Football League round-up". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.
  11. ^ Williams, Bob (2 May 2009). "Cliff Byrne secures play-off spot for Scunthorpe". Telegraph Online. The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 May 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2009.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""