The 2001–02 season was the 116th season in the history of Luton Town Football Club. The club's 22nd-place finish in Division Two in 2000–01 meant they competed in Division Three for the first time in 33 years. After a summer of upheaval from manager Joe Kinnear, the club comfortably secured automatic promotion by finishing in second place in the league, 18 points ahead of their nearest rivals. Cup competitions proved to be far less of a success, with Luton exiting the FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy at the first hurdle.

The 2001–02 season is also notable for Kinnear creating the nucleus of the successful Luton team of future years: centre-back Chris Coyne, midfielders Kevin Nicholls and Ahmet Brković, and striker Steve Howard would all go on to prove themselves as fully adept at playing at a higher level for the club.

This article covers the period from 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2002.

Instability and inexperience had proved to be Luton's downfall in the previous season with two former players, Ricky Hill and Lil Fuccillo, winning just four out of 26 games as managers and ultimately contributing to the club's relegation from Division Two. An under-performing squad, expensive yet underwhelming signings and poor quality, untested players from abroad left the club languishing deep in the relegation zone. Ex-Wimbledon boss Joe Kinnear was appointed, initially, as director of football on 8 February 2001, but his first act in the job was to immediately demote Fuccillo to an assistant role and install himself as manager. Kinnear's arrival saw Luton win five of their next seven games, raising hopes of avoiding relegation. However, the team's good form soon collapsed as they failed to win again that season. The damage had been done long before Kinnear's appointment as Luton fell into the bottom tier of league football for the first time since 1968.

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