Luton Town and Notts County

[Sean Miller Fan]

Luton Town showing its not impossible to do what Rob and Ryan are attempting. They went from the 5th Division in 2013-14 to a playoff final away from being in the Premier League next season. I do believe Wrexham will be in the Premier League within 10 years.

How bout Notts County? Would have set a points record if not for Wrexham and still needed to come from 2 goals behind to beat Boreham Wood in the 120th minute and needed penalties at Wembley to earn tbeir place back in the Football League.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Luton Town showing its not impossible to do what Rob and Ryan are attempting. They went from the 5th Division in 2013-14 to a playoff final away from being in the Premier League next season. I do believe Wrexham will be in the Premier League within 10 years.

How bout Notts County? Would have set a points record if not for Wrexham and still needed to come from 2 goals behind to beat Boreham Wood in the 120th minute and needed penalties at Wembley to earn tbeir place back in the Football League.

Man I’m rooting hard for Luton Town. Would love to see our current #3 USA goalkeeper potential starting in the Prem next season.

 

[Allan McMurray]

Luton would have to purchase him. Forest might be keen to give him a shot if they don’t buy or have interest in buying Navas

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Man I’m rooting hard for Luton Town. Would love to see our current #3 USA goalkeeper potential starting in the Prem next season.

Could have been an all American goalie final, had someone for Middlesbrough been able to score even one goal over their two leg match against Coventry.

Alas, they could not, and they lost 1-0 on the aggregate.

Coventry was in the Premier League until 2001. They fell out of the Championship 2012. By the 17-18 season they were in League 2. If they win, it will have taken them six years to go from League 2 back to the Premier League.

Luton got relegated four years in a row from 07 - 10, going from the Championship all the way to National Conference. They lost in the playoff three years a row before missing the playoff and having their worst season ever in 2013, Then next year they won the league, and then got promoted twice in a row in 18 and 19 to get back to the Championship. The last time they were in the top flight was the year before the Premier League started.

 

[Allan McMurray]

I’m rooting for lil Luton

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Biggest day in football this weekend for that match. Win and you’re in the big time. Lose and you’re back to the English Championship again. My daughter is jumping on a plane and will be in London tomorrow with her high school friends (they’re 25 now). She will be showing them around England. She asked me if they should go to Wembley for the match…and I said they should find a pub with Luton or Coventry fans so they can experience what it means to them. Just hope she picks the bar of the winners.

 

[Allan McMurray]

The richest soccer game in the world the EFL playoff championship. Its a thrill to watch every year!

If I were your daughter I would definitely try for tickets! What a memory and experience it would be.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Another interesting game today, in the Europa League Roma led Leverkusen 1-0 after the first leg. Today Leverkusen outshot Roma 23-1 but couldn't put the ball in the net and lost 1-0 on the aggregate.

Also in England, in the League 1 playoffs Peterborough led Sheffield Wednesday after the first leg 4-0. Wednesday scored two in the first half, got another in the 71st, and then tied the match up eight minutes into stoppage time to send the game to extra time. At the end of the first extra period Peterborough scored on an own goal to take the lead back. And then Wednesday tied it back up in the second period of extra time to send the game to penalties.

Wednesday converted all their penalties and Peterborough hit the bar on one of theirs, and Wednesday overturns a 4-0 deficit to make it to the League 1 playoff final.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Luton Town is up 1-0 at Wembley. They are 45 minutes from a 200 million + payday. Here’s a great article on pro/rel and the championship playoff.

The best event in sports.

Why the English Championship playoff is the best sporting competition (and more lucrative than you thought)

You hear it before every Championship playoff final: It's the most lucrative game in football. Not only is that true, but calling it that might undersell just how lucrative it is.

www.espn.com

How Luton Town got within 90 minutes of the Premier League

Luton Town have never been in the Premier League -- they were relegated right before the first season -- but they're 90 minutes from glory. It would mark a stunning, decade-long ride from the nonleagues to the top flight.

www.espn.com

 

[Allan McMurray]

This is such a fun game to watch when you have no vested interest and your club isn't involved. Go Lil Luton!

 

[Fk_Pitt]

This is such a fun game to watch when you have no vested interest and your club isn't involved. Go Lil Luton!

Yeah I’m enjoying it. It’s a good back and forth match. Action at both ends.

Horvath hurt. Will he be able to go if it goes to penalties?

Imagine being a supporter of one of these clubs. Imagine being an owner with 200 million on the line here in extra time, and your club only generates 17 million per year in revenue.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

5-5 in penalties so far.

Horvath hasn’t even come close to saving one.

Come on Ethan!!!

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Luton wins!!!

 

[Allan McMurray]

Up the Hatters!
They‘re gonna need a new GK though

 

[Allan McMurray]

Yeah I’m enjoying it. It’s a good back and forth match. Action at both ends.

Horvath hurt. Will he be able to go if it goes to penalties?

Imagine being a supporter of one of these clubs. Imagine being an owner with 200 million on the line here in extra time, and your club only generates 17 million per year in revenue.

Let’s hope the Luton ownership does responsible things with this cash and not spend it all on players. Invest in their academy, club infrastructure, backroom staff. I’d love to see them stay up.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Let’s hope the Luton ownership does responsible things with this cash and not spend it all on players. Invest in their academy, club infrastructure, backroom staff. I’d love to see them stay up.

They've already said that a lot of the money they are going to make is going towards a new stadium. Their old stadium is, well, really old, and not in very good shape. They are going to have to make a bunch of renovations over the summer, new locker rooms, replace one of the grandstands, etc., just to get it up to Premier League standards to be allowed to play there in the fall.

Their current stadium seats just over 10,000. They are planning to have a new stadium built for the 24-25 season that would hold 17,500, expandable to 23,000. It's supposed to cost £100 million. A lot of that is going to come from the money they get from being in the EPL.

 

[mike412]

Let’s hope the Luton ownership does responsible things with this cash and not spend it all on players. Invest in their academy, club infrastructure, backroom staff. I’d love to see them stay up.

Supposedly, the first thing they have to do is bring the stadium up to “Premier” standards, which will be hard to do. It’s smaller than Wrexham’s stadium and there really is almost no room to expand.

Ironic that Nathan Jones left them to manage Southampton. Now he is in the ECL and Luton is in the Premier.

Both GKs were awful on PKs. The Coventry miss was 5 yards high and 5 yards wide.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Supposedly, the first thing they have to do is bring the stadium up to “Premier” standards, which will be hard to do. It’s smaller than Wrexham’s stadium and there really is almost no room to expand.

Ironic that Nathan Jones left them to manage Southampton. Now he is in the ECL and Luton is in the Premier.

Both GKs were awful on PKs. The Coventry miss was 5 yards high and 5 yards wide.

Yeah sometimes shooters are just too good. I remember watching United lose to Sevilla(?) in the Europa final a few years ago and it went through all the field players and beyond before United lost. I want to say it was 11-11 at one point and every shooter made theirs? Never once did I think the keepers were at fault because usually they are not. Then I remember light years ago when Chelsea was good, it was just last year when they lost to Liverpool twice in cup finals in penalties. And the one match Liverpool won 11-10, as every field player on both teams made their penalty, but then Liverpools keeper made his shot and Kepa for Chelsea piked his. Only Kepa was at fault, but that was as a shooter and not as a keeper. But yesterday, Horvath didn’t even look like he was ever close to making a save. If the USMNT ever have to go to penalties with Horvath in goal, I’m not going to be feeling very confident.

 

[Allan McMurray]

Supposedly, the first thing they have to do is bring the stadium up to “Premier” standards, which will be hard to do. It’s smaller than Wrexham’s stadium and there really is almost no room to expand.

Ironic that Nathan Jones left them to manage Southampton. Now he is in the ECL and Luton is in the Premier.

Both GKs were awful on PKs. The Coventry miss was 5 yards high and 5 yards wide.

The Coventry GK was quite yappy before each PK. Great resolve stomach by the Luton players to block it all out to. I think it was a combo of substandard GK'ing and very sharp and accurate PK's yesterday. Regardless, it was a great match to watch.

You gotta wonder where Luton is if Nathan Jones had stayed.

 

[mike412]

GK in penalty shootouts is I think underrated. No GK will stop the best shots, and since they always dive they never are going to stop anything high in either corner. But getting stretched out completely and getting down quickly can enable them to stop low shots taken without great pace, and sometimes they just can get in the head of a player.

On the other hand, a world-class GK like Lloris is dreadful on PKs. I don’t think he could have stopped anyone on the Argentine team and he has been just as bad for Spurs.

I thought all 6 of the shots Luton took were excellent.

I actually saw the Coventry player who missed walking around the pitch before the shootout started and I thought if he was one of their 5 shooters, they were in big trouble. When he turned out to be #6, I knew it was over. He looked just like Saka looked in the Euros. He wanted to be anywhere else in the world rather than where he was. Saka didn’t miss by that much comparatively. The Coventry player was 5 yards high and 5 yards wide. It wasn’t as bad as when Sergio Ramos, who normally is good at PKs, put one into the upper deck, but it was terrible.

 

[Allan McMurray]

Then you have Mitrovic making David DeGea look like a wall this past sunday. If DeGea stops your penalty, you need never take them again