Full name | Luton Town Football Club |
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Nickname(s) | The Hatters |
Founded | 11 April 1885 |
Ground | Kenilworth Road |
Capacity | 10,356 |
Owner | Luton Town Football Club 2020 Ltd |
Chairman | Nick Owen |
Manager | Nathan Jones |
League | League Two |
2015–16 | League Two, 11th |
Website | Club home page |
Luton Town Football Club /ˈluːtən ˈtaʊn/ is a professional association football club based at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire since 1905. Founded in 1885, it is nicknamed "the Hatters" and affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association. Its first-team is contesting the fourth tier of English football, League Two, during the 2016–17 season. The club's history includes major trophy wins, several financial crises, numerous promotions and relegations, and some spells of sustained success. It was perhaps most prominent between 1982 and 1992, when it was a member of English football's top division, at that time the First Division; the team won its only major honour, the Football League Cup, in 1988.
The club was the first in southern England to turn professional, making payments to players as early as 1890 and turning fully professional a year later. It joined the Football League before the 1897–98 season, left in 1900 because of financial problems, and rejoined in 1920. Luton reached the First Division in 1955–56 and contested a major final for the first time when playing Nottingham Forest in the 1959 FA Cup Final. The team was then relegated from the top division in 1959–60, and demoted twice more in the following five years, playing in the Fourth Division from the 1965–66 season. However, it was promoted back to the top level by 1974–75.