![]() Luton Town staff and players celebrate their victory | |||||||
Event | 2008–09 Football League Trophy | ||||||
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after extra time | |||||||
Date | 5 April 2009 | ||||||
Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Man of the Match | Kevin Nicholls (Luton Town) | ||||||
Referee | Phil Crossley (Kent) | ||||||
Attendance | 55,378 | ||||||
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]
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.
Luton Town | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | Scunthorpe United |
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Martin ![]() Craddock ![]() Gnakpa ![]() | Report | Hooper ![]() McCann ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Luton Town | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Scunthorpe United |
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MATCH OFFICIALS
| MATCH RULES
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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]
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) |
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) |
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.
Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknamed 'the Hatters' and affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association. The team plays its home matches at Kenilworth Road, where it has been based since 1905. The club's history includes one major trophy win, 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 first major honour, the Football League Cup, in 1988. Luton Town have a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Watford.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Relegation to the sixth tier National League North was confirmed on 10 April 2023 after a 0–2 home defeat to Oldham Athletic.
Mark Gordon Robins is an English football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Coventry City in the EFL Championship. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier League with Norwich City and Leicester City.
Michael Gordon Harford is an English football manager and former professional player. He is the chief recruitment officer at Luton Town, a club where he has spent a large portion of both his playing and non-playing career. In addition to two separate spells as a player at Luton, including as part of the team that won the League Cup in 1988, Harford has been the club's director of football, first-team coach and manager; the latter role saw him lead Luton to victory in the Football League Trophy in 2009 & gloriously return in the 2018-19 season to guide The Hatters to champions of League One.
Claude Gnakpa Johouri is a French footballer who played as a striker. Besides France, he played in Spain, Switzerland, Spain, Scotland, Iraq, and India.
Lewis James Emanuel is a former professional footballer who played as a left back or as a left midfield. He played for Bradford City, Luton Town and Brentford. He retired in 2010 having played more than 200 games. Born in England, he made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland B national team. Three years after finishing his playing career, Emaunel was jailed for eight years for his part in an armed robbery.
Dean Michael Brill is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and is now a coach at the academy of Tottenham Hotspur.
Paul Stephen Musselwhite is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and is the goalkeeping coach at National League club Scunthorpe United. He made 692 appearances in the league and 815 appearances in all competitions.
The 1988 Football League Cup Final was an association football match between Luton Town and Arsenal on 24 April 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 1987–88 staging of the Football League Cup. Luton were making their first League Cup Final appearance, while the competition holders Arsenal were appearing in their fourth final.
Edward Yaw Okyere Asafu-Adjaye is an English footballer who plays for Southern League Premier Division Central side Royston Town, where he plays as a defender.
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Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire. Rising back to the top flight of English football for a season in 1974–1975, the remainder of the decade was spent in the second tier. David Pleat's appointment as manager in 1978 prompted the development of a strong team that won promotion after the 1981–1982 season; Pleat consolidated Luton's position in the top tier before leaving in 1986. Ray Harford's Luton team subsequently achieved a 3–2 victory over Arsenal in the 1988 League Cup Final, before settling for runners-up medals at the next year's Final after losing 2–1 to Nottingham Forest. Luton were relegated from the top flight after the 1991–1992 season, after ten successive seasons as a top division club.
The 2008–09 season was the 123rd season in the history of Luton Town Football Club. The team's 24th-place finish in League One in 2007–08 meant the club competed in League Two. The club was docked 30 points at the start of the season; 10 by The Football Association for irregular matters involving player transfers, and 20 by the Football League for breaking rules on exiting administration. As a result, the club finished bottom of the league and was relegated to the Conference Premier. The season was not, however, without success – Luton beat Scunthorpe United 3–2 at Wembley to win the Football League Trophy for the first time.
The 2009–10 season was the 130th season of competitive football in England.
The 2009 Football League One play-off final was an association football match which was played on 24 May 2009 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Millwall and Scunthorpe United to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from Football League One to the Football League Championship. The top two teams of the 2008–09 Football League One season, Leicester City and Peterborough United, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while those placed from third to sixth in the table took part in play-off semi-finals. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2009–10 season in the Championship. The losing semi-finalists were Milton Keynes Dons and Leeds United.
Cameron Alexander McGeehan is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Belgian First Division A club Oostende. Born in England, he plays for the Northern Ireland national team.
During the 2008–09 English football season, Scunthorpe United F.C. competed in League One, the third tier of English football. Scunthorpe also competed in the FA Cup, Football League Cup and Football League Trophy.
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