The 1991–92 season was the 106th season in the history of Luton Town Football Club. It was Luton Town's 71st consecutive season in the Football League, and their 74th overall. It was also their tenth successive season in the First Division, and their 16th overall. Luton Town were relegated on the season's final day, and thus condemned to second-tier football for the following season. This deprived them of a place in the new FA Premier League.
It was the first season of David Pleat's second spell as Luton Town manager; he had returned in the 1991 close season as successor to Jimmy Ryan, having previously been the club's manager from 1978 to 1986.
This article covers the period from 1 July 1991 to 30 June 1992.
The 1985–86 season was David Pleat's final year with Luton,[2] and it was a success as Luton finished ninth.[3] Even following his departure, the team continued to play well – 1986–87 saw a best-ever finish of seventh under John Moore.[3][4]The following yearRay Harford's team won the League Cup with a 3–2 victory over Arsenal,[3] and finished ninth in the league to boot.[3] However, 1988–89 saw Luton drop to 16th,[3] and in 1989–90 the team were battling relegation by December.[5] The replacement of Harford with Jimmy Ryan in January saw Luton improve enough to escape demotion on the final day of the season,[5] a feat that Ryan's team repeated a year later.[6][7][8] Despite keeping Luton in Division One for a ninth successive season, Ryan was fired by chairman Peter Nelkin two days later due a "personality clash".[7][9] David Pleat was promptly re-appointed in his stead.[2]
Two months then followed without a win, as Dave Beaumont left for Hibernian and new signing Steve Thompson left after only seven matches in a swap deal with Leicester City for Des Linton and Scott Oakes.[12] Talented full backMatt Jackson also moved on, to sign for Everton.[12] Form was no better in the cups, as Luton were knocked out of both the League Cup and the Full Members' Cup in October. The acquisition of goalkeeper Steve Sutton in November raised spirits,[12] though Luton's next victory did not come until 20 December, when a Harford goal sealed a 1–0 win over Coventry.[14] The next two matches were at home, and Luton won them both – another goal from Harford secured a defeat of Arsenal on Boxing Day,[15] and Chelsea were beaten 2–0 two days later. Despite three successive wins, Luton still remained in the relegation zone on New Year's Day.
January–March
January was a fruitless month – Nottingham Forest's Des Walker scored an injury-time equaliser to deny Luton their first away win,[16] and the team crashed out of the FA Cup at Sheffield United three days later. Graham Rodger was sold to Hibernian on 8 January,[12] and Chris Kamara was acquired as a replacement.[12] Three consecutive defeats preceded a win against Norwich City on 8 February. Manchester City then beat Luton 4–0 at Maine Road, before Sheffield United visited Kenilworth Road in the League – this time around, Luton won 2–1. The next six matches saw four draws and two losses – tellingly, Luton had not won on the road all season. The board refused to pay the fee to keep Sutton, and so he signed for Derby County instead.[17]Mervyn Day was brought in as a short-term replacement, while midfielder Darron McDonough moved to Newcastle United.[17]
April–June
Imre Varadi arrived on loan[12] and scored on his debut as Luton beat Wimbledon.[18] A week later, Luton lost 5–1 at Oldham. Victory over Nottingham Forest at Kenilworth Road gave Luton hope – they were now only three points behind Coventry City with four matches left.[19] Luton drew at home to Manchester United on the 18th to reduced the gap to two points as Coventry lost to Everton. Coventry lost again two days later, but as Luton slumped to defeat at Queens Park Rangers no ground was made up.[20] The task was made even more difficult as Luton's terrible goal difference meant that they would have to finish ahead of Coventry on points to stay up.[21] Luton beat Aston Villa on 25 April, but Coventry beat West Ham United, and the gap was still two points.[22]
For Luton to stay up, they would have to win their first away match of the campaign at already-relegated Notts County and hope for an Aston Villa victory over Coventry.[23]Julian James gave Luton the lead required, but two goals from County's Rob Matthews put the seal on a dismal season.[24] Despite losing 2–0 at Villa Park, Coventry stayed up and Luton were relegated after ten years of Division One football.[23]
Source: World Football Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored (R) Relegated Notes:
^From the 1992–93 season, the first tier became the Premier League, and the second tier, then known as the Second Division, was renamed to the First Division.
Player details
Last match played on 2 May 1992.
Players arranged in order of starts (in all competitions), with the greater number of substitute appearances taking precedence in case of an equal number of started matches.[25]
