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2011–12 Luton Town F.C. season

Luton Town
2011–12 season
Chairman Nick Owen
Manager Gary Brabin (until 31 March 2012)
Alan Neilson (caretaker manager from 31 March 2012 to 8 April 2012)
Paul Buckle (from 8 April 2012)
Conference Premier 5th (play-off finalists)
FA Cup Second Round
FA Trophy Semi-final
Top goalscorer League: Stuart Fleetwood (11)
All: Stuart Fleetwood (16)
Highest home attendance 9,012 vs Wrexham (Conference Premier play-off semi-final, 3 May 2012)
Lowest home attendance 1,004 vs Hinckley United (FA Trophy Second Round replay, 24 January 2012)
Average home league attendance 5,542

The 2011–12 season was the 126th season in the history of Luton Town Football Club. Their third-place finish and subsequent penalty shoot-out loss to AFC Wimbledon in the Conference Premier play-off final in 2010–11 meant they competed in non-League football for the third consecutive year.

Luton finished the season in fifth place - the club's lowest ever finish in the English football league system - though this was enough to secure a play-off place on the last game of the league season. As in 2010–11, Luton defeated Wrexham in the play-off semi-final, only to be beaten in the final, this time in a 2–1 loss to York City at Wembley Stadium.

Manager Gary Brabin was sacked in late March 2012 after a poor run of results saw Luton fall to seventh in the table and lose in the FA Trophy semi-final. He was replaced by former Torquay United and Bristol Rovers manager Paul Buckle.

This article covers the period from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012.

After a 30-point deduction and subsequent relegation from The Football League in 2008–09, Luton found themselves in unfamiliar territory in a league outside the top four divisions for the first time in 89 years. Their first campaign in the Conference Premier ended with defeat in the play-offs to York City, despite finishing the season in second place with the highest goals scored tally. The next season saw the club again placed as favourites for promotion, though no team in the division could even come close to overtaking runaway leaders Crawley Town as champions. The failure to win automatic promotion saw manager Richard Money leave the club by mutual consent towards the end of the season, where he was replaced by assistant manager Gary Brabin. The season also saw a large turnaround in playing staff, not least in the departures of the 2009–10 season’s top scorers Tom Craddock and Kevin Gallen, sold and loaned respectively to clubs in the league above, and the retirement of club captain Kevin Nicholls. The club’s transfer policy, previously focused on signing experienced ex-league players like Mark Tyler, Adam Newton and Alan White, instead shifted to buying younger players who had spent the vast majority of their career in non-league football, such as Andy Drury, Charlie Henry, Alex Lawless, Amari Morgan-Smith, Jason Walker, and Robbie Willmott.


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