2000–01 Luton Town F.C. season


The 2000–01 season was the 115th season in the history of Luton Town Football Club, the club's 80th consecutive year in the Football League and its 83rd overall. Luton ended the season relegated from the Second Division, dropping into the basement level of League football for the first time since the 1967–68 season. The club went through a total of three managers following the departure of Lennie Lawrence; firstly Ricky Hill, then Lil Fuccillo, and eventually settling on Irishman Joe Kinnear. Under Kinnear's management, Luton underwent an initial resurgence, winning five of out of his first seven games. However, they failed to win any of their games in the final quarter of the season and ultimately slipped into the Third Division. Luton won only nine league games all season, setting a club record for the fewest wins over a 46-game season.
This article covers the period from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001.

Background

Luton suffered from severe financial difficulty throughout the 1998–99 season and were forced to sell a number of established players and promising young stars.One of the club's directors, Cliff Bassett, made the decision to place the club into receivership as part of a move to shift controversial owner David Kohler out of the club. Kohler, accused by Luton supporters of selling the club's assets while continuing to draw a large salary of his own and of promoting an unworkable stadium project for his own means, relinquished his position as chairman on 20 February 1999 following the discovery of a petrol bomb in his letterbox. Despite his departure, Kohler remained as the majority shareholder and held out from selling until a suitable offer was made. Numerous bids from consortia fell through, unable to meet Kohler's demands, until, after being told by the Football League that the club would be unable to compete in the 1999–2000 season unless it was out of receivership, Bassett himself stepped in hours before the deadline and bought out Kohler's shares. Luton finished the 1999–2000 season in 13th position, relying heavily on players brought through the youth system, such as Emmerson Boyce, Gary Doherty, Matthew Taylor, Matthew Spring and Liam George. Bassett made it clear throughout the season that his intention was to find a new owner for the club and, on 23 May 2000, Luton Town was sold to a consortium led by businessman Mike Watson-Challis.

Season summary

One of new chairman Mike Watson-Challis' first acts was, on 4 July, to sack manager Lennie Lawrence and look to appoint his own man. Ex-player and fan favourite Ricky Hill was appointed a week later, and was provided with the resources to build his own squad. One signing was that of goalkeeper Mark Ovendale from Bournemouth, who cost £425,000; the most the club had spent on a player since the 1995–96 season when they were competing in the First Division. Ovendale struggled to make an impact, which was the story of most of Hill's acquisitions, who included among their number untested foreign players Friedrich Breitenfelder, Petri Helin and Kent Karlsen.
Hill's reign began with a defeat to Notts County and did not improve from there; one win in their first ten league games left Luton in the relegation zone and the fans voicing their displeasure. A penalty shootout victory over Peterborough United in the League Cup set up a tie with Premier League side Sunderland, but Luton collapsed to a 5–1 aggregate defeat. One further league win followed, but even more defeats left Luton in 23rd place by early November. Hill resigned on 15 November to be replaced by his assistant, another former Luton player, Lil Fuccillo. John Moore, who had led the club to their highest-ever league finish in the 1986–87 season and was in charge of the youth team, was installed as Fuccillo's assistant. Luton's fortunes failed to improve under this tenure, suffering seven further league defeats, though a run to the Third Round of the FA Cup did offer some respite.
With the club failing to impress on the pitch and facing the prospect of relegation, Watson-Challis acted to recruit a Director of Football to oversee "all football matters". Former Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear was appointed to this role on 8 February, but his first act was to immediately demote Fuccillo to assistant and place himself in charge. Kinnear's arrival prompted an initial resurgence in form – Luton won five of their next seven games and were one point away from 20th position, and safety, by 6 March. However, they failed to win again during the campaign and, on 24 April, were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in 33 years following a 1–0 loss to Rotherham United.
With the season drawing to a close, Kinnear signed striker Steve Howard from nearby Northampton Town for a fee of £50,000, released five players, and transfer listed four others.

Match results

Luton Town results given first.

Legend

Friendlies

Football League Second Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersNotes
12 August 2000Notts CountyHome0–17,059–
19 August 2000Wigan AthleticAway1–26,518Watts
26 August 2000BournemouthHome1–05,221Spring
28 August 2000Wycombe WanderersAway1–16,001Kandol
2 September 2000Rotherham UnitedAway1–14,061Fotiadis
9 September 2000Northampton TownHome0–26,712–
12 September 2000WalsallHome0–04,362–
16 September 2000Swansea CityAway0–46,011–
23 September 2000Swindon TownHome2–34,933Stein, George
30 September 2000Bristol RoversAway3–37,901Kandol, George
8 October 2000MillwallHome0–15,345–
13 October 2000Cambridge UnitedAway1–26,191Stein
17 October 2000Oxford UnitedAway0–04,537–
21 October 2000BrentfordHome3–15,382Stuart Douglas, Spring
28 October 2000WrexhamHome3–45,341Stein, Watts, George
4 November 2000BuryAway1–12,861Helin
11 November 2000Bristol CityHome0–36,595–
25 November 2000Port ValeHome0–34,194–
2 December 2000Stoke CityAway3–112,389McLaren, Thomson
16 December 2000Colchester UnitedHome0–34,791–
23 December 2000ReadingAway1–410,771Nogan
26 December 2000Peterborough UnitedHome3–27,374Spring, Holmes, Boyce
30 December 2000Wigan AthleticHome0–25,332–
1 January 2001BournemouthAway2–35,411Fotiadis, Locke
12 January 2001Wycombe WanderersHome1–24,551Locke
23 January 2001Oldham AthleticHome0–23,011–
10 February 2001Northampton TownAway1–06,633Douglas
13 February 2001Notts CountyAway3–14,333Boyce, George, Fotiadis
17 February 2001Swansea CityHome5–37,085Mansell, Douglas, Rowland, George
20 February 2001WalsallAway1–34,816Spring
24 February 2001Swindon TownAway3–17,160Rowland, Boyce, Mansell
28 February 2001Bristol RoversHome0–07,405–
6 March 2001Cambridge UnitedHome1–06,370Taylor
10 March 2001MillwallAway0–111,691–
27 March 2001Peterborough UnitedAway1–15,425Mansell
31 March 2001Colchester UnitedAway1–34,271Howard
3 April 2001ReadingHome1–16,132own goal
7 April 2001Stoke CityHome1–26,456Mansell
10 April 2001Oxford UnitedHome1–16,010Watts
14 April 2001Oldham AthleticHome0–04,886–
16 April 2001WrexhamAway1–33,339Watts
21 April 2001BuryHome1–24,902George
24 April 2001Rotherham UnitedHome0–14,854–
28 April 2001Bristol CityAway1–39,161George
3 May 2001BrentfordAway2–23,287Howard, McLaren
5 May 2001Port ValeHome1–15,260Howard

FA Cup

Football League Cup

Football League Trophy

League table

Player statistics

Managerial statistics

Transfers

In

DatePlayerFromFeeNotes
14 July 2000 Mark SteinBournemouthFree
1 August 2000 Friedrich Breitenfelder St. PöltenFree
2 August 2000 Peter HolmesSheffield WednesdayFree
7 August 2000 Mark OvendaleBournemouth£425,000
10 August 2000 Dean BrennanSheffield WednesdayFree
11 September 2000 Peter Thomson NAC Breda£100,000
24 October 2000 Rocky BaptisteHayesFree
2 November 2000 Petri Helin FC JokeritFree
3 November 2000 Kent Karlsen VålerengaFree
23 November 2000 Lee NoganDarlingtonFree
2 February 2001 Richard DrydenSouthamptonFree
22 March 2001 Paul ShepherdScunthorpe UnitedFree
22 March 2001 Steve HowardNorthampton Town£50,000

Out

Loans in

DatePlayerFromEnd dateNotes
25 January 2001 Keith RowlandQueens Park Rangers8 May 2001
23 November 2000 Adrian WhitbreadPortsmouth24 January 2001

Footnotes