List of Luton Town F.C. players

Luton Town Football Club is an English football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The side currently plays in the Premier League, the first tier of football in England. Founded in 1885,[1] Luton Town became the first professional team in southern England six years later and joined The Football League in 1897.[2][3] After leaving the League in 1900 due to financial strife, Luton Town competed in the Southern League until Football League membership was regained 20 years later.[2][3] After an 89-year period of League membership, the team was relegated to the Conference Premier in 2009 due to a 30-point deduction imposed by the football authorities.[4][5] Five seasons later, the club won promotion back to The Football League.[6]

Luton Town's first team has competed in numerous nationally contested competitions, and the 50 players judged in 2009 the club's best by Denis O'Donoghue of The Times are listed below. In addition, all players who have appeared 100 times for the club in these competitions are given. Club record holders are also included, regardless of the number of matches they played.

Fred Hawkes holds the record for most league appearances for the club, having played 509 matches between 1901 and 1920.[7] The closest to Hawkes's record is Bob Morton, who appeared 495 times between 1948 and 1964.[8] Including all senior competitions, Morton leads the chart with 562 compared to Hawkes's 549.[7][8] As of 1 July 2009, the player who has won the most international caps while at the club is Mal Donaghy, who appeared 58 times for Northern Ireland.[9][10]

The goalscoring record is held by Gordon Turner, who scored 276 goals between 1949 and 1964.[11] Turner's tally of 243 league goals is also a club record.[11] Turner's nearest rival is Andy Rennie, whose 147 league goals, 162 in total, were scored between 1925 and 1934.[11] Joe Payne holds the Luton Town record for the most goals scored in a season, set in 1936–37, with 55 league goals in 39 Third Division South games and 58 in all competitions.[12] Payne also holds the Football League record for most goals in a match, with 10 during a 12–0 victory over Bristol Rovers on 13 April 1936.[13][14] Turner holds the club record for most goals in a top-flight season, with 33 league goals and 38 overall during 1957–58.[15]

Key

  • Players with name in bold currently play for the club.
  •   Players with this background and text in bold in the "Nationality" column won full international caps for their country while with the club. If no reliable source has yet been found for the exact number of such caps won, the caps column will be empty and a reference will be supplied for the player having been capped during the relevant period.
  •    ¤ Players with this background and symbol in the "Notes" column are club record holders, and have footnotes detailing their achievements.
  •    † Players with this background and symbol in the "Club career" column played for Luton for their entire football career.
  • Years are the first and last calendar years in which the player appeared in competitive first-team football for the club.
  • League appearances and goals comprise those in the Southern Football League, the United League, the Football League and the Conference Premier.
  • Total appearances and goals comprise those in the Southern Football League, United League, Football League (including play-offs), Conference Premier, FA Cup, Football League Cup, Associate Members' Cup/Football League Trophy and several now-defunct competitions including the Anglo-Italian Cup, Texaco Cup, Watney Cup and Full Members' Cup.

Notable players

Appearances and goals are for first-team competitive matches only; wartime matches are excluded. Substitute appearances are included. Statistics are correct up to and including the match played on 5 February 2022.

The Times top 50 (2009)

Following Luton Town's relegation from The Football League in April 2009, a list of the 50 best Luton Town players of all-time was compiled by The Times journalist Denis O'Donoghue. The players selected by O'Donoghue are given below.[16]
A portrait photograph of a grey-haired man wearing glasses and a black suit.
Bruce Rioch, pictured here in 2008, played for Luton from 1964 to 1969 and later became the first captain of Scotland born in England.
A middle-aged, blond-haired man in a red shirt walks towards the viewer's right at a 45-degree angle.
Paul Walsh played for Luton from 1982 until 1984, when he was sold to Liverpool. He is seen here in that club's colours following a 2008 match featuring former players.
A dark-haired, middle-aged man in a black suit sits at a table, signing autographs.
Steve Foster, pictured in 2006, played for Luton from 1984 to 1989 and captained the club to its Football League Cup victory of 1987–88.
A middle-aged man in a navy blue suit and light blue shirt stands with an apprehensive look upon his face.
Mick Harford, pictured in 2009, is regarded as "one of Luton's finest players",[16] and represented the club as both player and manager.
A portrait photograph of a blond man in sports-training attire.
Steve Howard, pictured in 2009, scored 103 goals for the club between 2001 and 2006, giving him the club's sixth-highest goals total.
A young, dark-haired, bearded man in a yellow, green and white football shirt looks to his right, the sun casting a shadow across his body.
Chris Coyne played for the club from 2001 to 2008, captaining it from 2006. He is pictured here playing for Australia in 2008.
NameNationalityCaps[a]Position[b]Club careerLeague[c]
apps
League
goals
Total[d]
apps
Total
goals
Notes
Andy Rennie  Scotland Forward1925–1934307147335162
Joe Payne  England1 Forward1934–193872837787¤[A]
Hugh Billington  England Forward1938–194887639570
Bernard Streten  England1 Goalkeeper1946–195727603010
Syd Owen  England3 Defender1947–195938834233
Bob Morton  England Midfielder1948–1964 †4954856255¤[B]
Gordon Turner  England Forward1949–1964406243450276¤[C]
Bert Mitchell  England Midfielder1951–19551064111943
Ron Baynham  England3 Goalkeeper1952–196538804320
Jesse Pye  England Forward1952–195461326536
George Cummins  Republic of Ireland19 Forward1953–19611842121230
Billy Bingham  Northern Ireland7 Midfielder1958–1960972710233
John O'Rourke  England Forward1963–196684649066
Bruce Rioch  Scotland Midfielder1964–19691494616751
Graham French  England Midfielder1965–1973182212023
John Moore  Scotland Defender1965–19732741330614
Tony Read  England Goalkeeper[D]1965–19722031223312
Alan Slough  England Midfielder1965–19732752831232
Terry Branston  England Defender1967–1971101911819
Mike Keen  England Defender1968–19721441116011
Brian Lewis  England Forward1968–197045225325
Malcolm Macdonald  England Forward1969–1971884910158
John Aston  England Midfielder1972–19781743120137
John Faulkner  England Defender1972–197820962397
Bobby Thomson  England Defender1972–197611011352
Alan West  England Midfielder1973–19812851631717
Steve Buckley  England Defender1974–197812391359
Paul Futcher  England Defender1974–197813111421
Ron Futcher  England Forward1974–19781204013343
Ricky Hill  England3 Midfielder1975–19894365450765
Brian Stein  England1 Forward1977–1988
1991–1992
427130496154
Mal Donaghy  Northern Ireland58 Defender1978–1988
1989–1990
4151648821¤[E]
David Moss  England Midfielder1978–19852218824594
Kirk Stephens  England Defender1978–198422722482
Raddy Antić  Yugoslavia Midfielder1980–1984100910810
Brian Horton  England Midfielder1981–1984118813210
Paul Walsh  England5 Forward1982–198480248928¤[F]
Tim Breacker  England Defender1983–199021032623
Les Sealey  England Goalkeeper1983–199020702590
Steve Foster  England Defender1984–19891631121314
Mick Harford  England2 Forward1984–1990
1991–1992
1686921692
David Preece  England Midfielder1984–19953362139427
Marvin Johnson  England Defender1987–2002 †373744010
Tony Thorpe  England Forward1993–1998
1998
1999
2002–2003
1647019385
Matthew Taylor  England Defender1999–20021291614617
Steve Howard  Scotland Forward2001–200621296228103
Chris Coyne  Australia Defender2001–20082211425217
Kevin Nicholls  England Midfielder2001–2006
2008–2010
2163023733
Jean-Louis Valois  France Midfielder2001–2002346406
Curtis Davies  England Defender2003–2005562622¤[G]

Other Luton Town centurions and record holders

Players other than those selected by O'Donoghue who either made 100 first-team appearances for Luton Town or hold a club record appear here.
A black-and-white portrait photograph of a young man with short, dark-coloured hair.
Fred Hawkes, born in Luton and pictured c. 1906, holds the record for most Luton Town league appearances.
A black-and-white portrait photograph of a moustachioed gentleman with dark, curly hair.
Bob Hawkes, pictured in 1908, represented Luton for 19 years and was the team's first international player.
A black-and-white photograph of a young Semitic-looking man in association football attire, cropped from a formative shot of a football team.
Louis Bookman played 110 times for Luton between 1919 and 1922, also representing Ireland during that time. Here is pictured here while with Ireland in 1914.
A portrait photograph of a middle-aged, brown-haired man with a subtle smile on his face.
Northern Ireland international Danny Wilson scored Luton's second goal in the 1988 League Cup Final and appeared for the club 142 times between 1987 and 1990. He is pictured here in 2008.
A middle-aged, fair-haired man smiles at the viewer.
Midfielder David Oldfield, seen in 2010, played for Luton from 1986 to 1989 and from 1995 to 1998.
A man with an open multicoloured collared shirt smiles into the camera.
Scott Oakes, a Luton player from 1991 to 1996, pictured in 2010.
A young man in black and red association football clothing walks across the viewer's line of sight, looking to his left. There is a shadow across his body.
Matthew Spring represented Luton 357 times over two spells (1997–2004 and 2007–2008), scoring 43 goals. In this 2009 photograph he is seen in Charlton Athletic colours.
A young, dark-haired man in old-gold and black football attire stands with an ornate trophy raised in front of him.
Luton-born Kevin Foley played 166 times for his home-town club between 2002 and 2007. He is seen here in 2009 as a Wolverhampton Wanderers player.
A brown-haired young man looks into the camera.
Forward Rowan Vine, pictured in 2011, scored 33 goals for Luton between 2005 and 2007.
A young man with close-cut dark hair walks to the viewer's right, attired in a white and orange soccer kit. His eyes look to the photographer's left and a blue and white captain's armband is prominent on his right arm.
Keith Keane, seen here in 2011. Born in Luton, he made his first-team debut in 2003 and made 284 appearances for the club across four different leagues before leaving in 2012.
NameNationalityCaps[a]Position[b]Club careerLeague[c]
apps
League
goals
Total[d]
apps
Total
goals
Notes
Jimmy Durrant  England Midfielder1897–1904
1913–1914
1553017740
Tom McInnes  Scotland Forward1897–1900932010929
Harry Williams  England Defender1898–190514431573
Bill McCurdy  Scotland Defender1899–1901
1905–1909
19302111
Fred Hawkes  England Midfielder1899–1920 †5092254925¤[H]
Fred White  England Defender1900–1909 †2371025711
Bob Hawkes  England5 Midfielder1901–1920 †3494038243¤[F][I]
Herbert Moody  England Forward1901–1905
1907–1912
23293247104
Billy Barnes  England Forward1904–19071011210712
Peter Platt  England Goalkeeper1905–190913001390
Abe Jones  England Defender1906–19101361214112
Harry Stansfield  England Midfielder1908–19121352414424
Syd Hoar  England Midfielder1913–1915
1919–1925
2213623739
Ernie Simms  England1 Forward1913–1915
1916–1922
160109178122
Louis Bookman  Ireland3 Midfielder1919–192210181109
Arthur Roe  England Midfielder1919–192511711241
George Butcher  England Midfielder1920–19251212312925
George Lennon  Scotland Defender1920–192310701150
Alf Tirrell  England Defender1920–192412241305
Jimmy Walker  Scotland Defender1920–192613341384
Rob Millar  Scotland Defender1920–193020542134
Bob Graham  Scotland Defender1921–192916451755
Bill Jennings  England Defender1922–192611421172
Syd Reid  Wales Forward1922–19281347014381
George Dennis  England Forward1924–19291394115044
David Richards  England Defender1925–193114701520
John Black  Scotland Defender1926–19309141014
Charles Fraser  England Defender1926–1935 †24642704
Henry Kingham  England Defender1926–193725002750
Jimmy Yardley  England Forward1926–19321737818894
Harry Woods  England Forward1926–1932972210513
George Harford  England Goalkeeper1929–19349901070
Hugh McGinnigle  Scotland Defender1930–193715921773
Fred Kean  England Defender1931–193511751416
Tom Mackey  England Defender1932–193818322082
George Martin  Scotland Midfielder1933–1937982710529
Joe Coen  Scotland Goalkeeper1934–193914201580
Fred Roberts  England Forward1934–19451803819845
Tom Smith[17]  England Defender1934–193915711721
George Stephenson  England Forward1934–19391925821269
Bill Fellowes  England Defender1935–193811031243
John Finlayson  Scotland Defender1935–193915491689
Jack Nelson  England Defender1935–193913411481
Harry Cooke  England Defender1946–195321042284
Doug Gardiner  England Defender1946–195112111341
Wally Shanks  England Defender1946–195726462756
Billy Waugh  Scotland Midfielder1946–1950135914712
Tom Aherne  Ireland /  Republic of Ireland[J]1 / 13[J] Defender1948–195726702880
George Stobbart  England Forward1949–19521073011630
Charlie Watkins  Scotland Defender1949–19552181623920
Les Jones  Wales Defender1950–19589811101
Jim Pemberton  England Defender1950–195892810010
Mick Cullen  Scotland1 Forward1951–19581121612519
Roy Davies  South Africa Midfielder1951–19571502417127
Seamus Dunne  Republic of Ireland15 Defender1951–196130103230
Jimmy Adam  Scotland Midfielder1953–19591372214024
John Groves  England Defender1953–19632181625118
Terry Kelly  England Defender1954–196313611501
Allan Brown  Scotland Forward1956–19611515117259
Brendan McNally  Republic of Ireland3 Defender1956–196313431643
Ken Hawkes  England Defender1957–19619011021
Dave Pacey  England Defender1957–19652461627719
John Bramwell  England Defender1960–196518712062
Harry Walden  England Midfielder1960–1964961110612
Fred Jardine  Scotland Defender1961–1970220924310
Tommy McKechnie  Scotland Forward1961–19661313114634
Gordon Riddick  England Midfielder1962–19671021611417
Ray Whittaker  England Midfielder1963–19691704018845
Keith Allen  England Forward1966–19731373615443
Max Dougan  Scotland Defender1966–197011801320
John Ryan  England Midfielder1970–19762661030411
Peter Anderson  England Midfielder1970–19761813420840
Keith Barber  England Goalkeeper1970–197714201580
Jimmy Ryan  Scotland Midfielder1970–19771842121425
Alan Garner  England Defender1971–19758831124
Don Shanks  England Defender1971–19759021105
Paul Price  Wales1 Defender1972–198120782308
Jimmy Husband  England Forward1973–19781434416248
Lil Fuccillo  England Midfielder1974–19831602418027
Mark Aizlewood  Wales Defender1978–19829831104
Jake Findlay  Scotland Goalkeeper1978–198516701870
Wayne Turner  England Midfielder1978–19858421023
Mitchell Thomas  England Defender1982–1986
1993–1999
29253365
Ashley Grimes  Republic of Ireland3 Midfielder1984–19898731154
Peter Nicholas  Wales15 Midfielder1984–198710211161
Richard Harvey  England Defender1986–199816241915
Darron McDonough  England Midfielder1986–199210551297
Kingsley Black  Northern Ireland16 Midfielder1987–19921272615730
Julian James  England Defender1987–19982821333514
David Oldfield  England Midfielder1987–1989
1995–1998
1462217233
Danny Wilson  Northern Ireland15 Midfielder1987–19901102414230
Alec Chamberlain  England Goalkeeper1988–199313801580
John Dreyer  England Defender1988–19942141324915
Lars Elstrup  Denmark6 Forward1989–199160197027¤[K][18]
Ceri Hughes  Wales6 Midfielder1989–19971751720620
Paul Telfer  Scotland Midfielder1990–19951441916522
Phil Gray  Northern Ireland5 Forward1991–1993
1997–2000
1404316153
Des Linton  England Defender1991–19978311041
Scott Oakes  England Midfielder1991–19961732720034
Trevor Peake  England Defender1991–199817902020
Paul McLaren  Scotland Midfielder1993–200116742026
Juergen Sommer  United States3 Goalkeeper1993–19958201030[19][20][21]
Kelvin Davis  England Goalkeeper1994–19999101050
Dwight Marshall  England Forward1994–19991282815639
Gary Waddock  Republic of Ireland Midfielder1994–199815331723
Graham Alexander  Scotland Midfielder1995–19991501518017
Steve Davis  England Defender1995–19991382117527
Stuart Douglas  England Forward1995–20021461817323
Ian Feuer  United States Goalkeeper1995–19988501000
Andrew Fotiadis  England Forward1996–20031231814720
Matthew Spring  England Midfielder1997–2004
2007–2008
3083635743
Liam George  Republic of Ireland Forward1997–20021022012424
Alan White  England Defender1997–2000
2009–2010
9941154
Emmerson Boyce  England Defender1998–200418682129
Peter Holmes  England Midfielder2000–20071051112712
Ahmet Brković  Croatia Midfielder2001–20081943122338
Russell Perrett  England Defender2001–20079991089
Sol Davis  England Defender2002–200919932293
Kevin Foley  Republic of Ireland Defender2002–200715131665
Steve Robinson  Northern Ireland7 Midfielder2002–2008185921112[22]
Dean Brill  England Goalkeeper2003–2009
2012–2013
8801090
Marlon Beresford  England Goalkeeper2003–2004
2004–2008
11601320
Keith Keane  Republic of Ireland Midfielder2003–201223772848
Enoch Showunmi Nigeria Nigerian Forward2003–20061021411416
Rowan Vine  England Forward2004–20071123112133
Dean Morgan  England Forward2005–2008881110112
Jake Howells  Wales Midfielder2008–20162732933431
Claude Gnakpa  France Midfielder2008–20111052213427
George Pilkington  England Defender2008–20121401116912
Mark Tyler  England Goalkeeper2009–201625702970
Alex Lawless  Wales Midfielder2010–20161691820322
Andre Gray  England Forward2012–2014975211157
Jonathan Smith  England Midfielder2012–20171491017611
Steve McNulty  England Defender2013–201611721252
Scott Griffiths  England Defender2013–201610531153
Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu  England Midfielder2013
2014–
3062034920
Cameron McGeehan  Northern Ireland Midfielder2014
2015–2017
982810631
Elliot Lee  England Forward2015
2017–
1042712430
Scott Cuthbert  Scotland Defender2015–20189731114
Dan Potts  England Defender2015–162917911
Olly Lee  England Midfielder2015–20181051012311
Alan Sheehan  Republic of Ireland Defender2016–202011761359
Glen Rea  Republic of Ireland Midfielder2016–18472078
James Justin  England Defender2016–20199061146
Danny Hylton  England Forward2016–1365115659
James Collins  Republic of Ireland8 Forward2017–20211746818372[23]
Andrew Shinnie  Scotland Midfielder2017–202190610610
Harry Cornick  England Forward2017–1762919331
Luke Berry  England Midfielder2017–1171713319
Sonny Bradley  England Defender2018–13951495
Matty Pearson  England Defender2018–20211281013610

Notes

a 1 2 Number of international caps won while at the club sourced to Hayes, Completely Top Hatters! except where otherwise noted.
b 1 2 For a full description of positions see Football Positions.
c 1 2 Southern Football League and United League appearances and goals sourced to Collings, The Luton Town Story 1885–1985.
Football League appearances and goals for players whose career ended up to and including 1997 sourced to Bailey, The Definitive Luton Town F.C.. This list excludes games played in the abandoned 1939–40 season.
League appearances and goals for players whose career ended post-1997 sourced to Soccerbase.
d 1 2 Other appearances and goals sourced to Bailey, The Definitive Luton Town F.C. unless the player's career ended post-1997, in which case they are sourced to Soccerbase.

Footnotes

A. ^ Joe Payne holds the club record for most league goals in a season (55 in 1936–37). He also holds the Football League record for most goals in a match – 10 against Bristol Rovers on 13 April 1936.[14]
B. ^ Bob Morton holds the records for most Luton Town appearances in both the Football League (495) and in all competitions (562).[8]
C. ^ Gordon Turner holds the records for most Luton Town goals scored in both the league (243) and in all competitions (276).[11]
D. ^ Tony Read was unusually utilised as both a goalkeeper and as a forward – he is listed here as a goalkeeper as he appeared more often in that position.[24]
E. ^ Mal Donaghy holds the club record for most international appearances while with the club, with 58 of his 91 for Northern Ireland coming while he was at Kenilworth Road.[9][10]
F. a b With five England caps, Paul Walsh shares the record for most England appearances by a Luton Town player with Bob Hawkes.
G. ^ Curtis Davies became Luton Town's most expensive sale when he was sold to West Bromwich Albion for £3,000,000 on 31 August 2006.[25]
H. ^ Fred Hawkes holds the records for most league appearances for Luton Town, with 509.[7]
I. ^ Bob Hawkes became the first Luton Town player to be capped by any country when he appeared for England against Ireland on 16 February 1907.[26]
J. ^ While a Luton Town player, the dual Irish international Tom Aherne made one appearance for the Irish Football Association-controlled all-Ireland team and 13 for the Football Association of Ireland-affiliated Ireland team.[27]
K. ^ Lars Elstrup became Luton Town's most expensive signing ever when the club paid £850,000 to buy him from Odense Boldklub on 17 August 1989.[28]

References

Bibliography
  • Bailey, Steve (December 1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. Soccerdata. ISBN 1-899468-10-2.
  • Collings, Timothy (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. Luton Town F.C. ISBN 0-951067-90-7.
  • Hayes, Dean P. (November 2002). Completely Top Hatters!. The Book Castle. ISBN 1-903747-27-9.
Notes
  1. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. p. 1.
  2. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 3–4.
  3. Rundle, Richard. "Football Club History Database – Luton Town". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  4. Solhekol, Kaveh (16 July 2008). "Luton Town lose appeal against points deduction". The Times. London: Times Newspapers. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  5. "Luton 0–0 Chesterfield". BBC. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  6. "Luton Town win Conference Premier and Football League spot". BBC Sport. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  7. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. pp. 196–197.
  8. Bailey (1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. pp. 6, 97.
  9. "Mal Donaghy". FIFA. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  10. Hayes (2002). Completely Top Hatters!. p. 90.
  11. Bailey (1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. pp. 6, 100.
  12. Bailey (1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. p. 31.
  13. Bailey (1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. p. 30.
  14. "The Football League Goal Records". The Football League. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  15. Bailey (1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. p. 45.
  16. O'Donoghue, Denis (14 April 2009). "The top 50 Luton Town players". The Times. London. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  17. "The English National Football Archive". Enfa.co.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  18. "Lars Elstrup" (in Danish). Dansk Boldspil-Union. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  19. "USA – Details of International Matches 1990–1994". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  20. "USA – Details of International Matches 1995–1999". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  21. "USA – National Team Stats 1995". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  22. "Robinson, Steve". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  23. "Collins, James". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  24. Bailey (1997). The Definitive Luton Town F.C. pp. 53–59, 98.
  25. "West Brom snap up defender Davies". BBC. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
  26. Collings (1985). The Luton Town Story 1885–1985. p. 19.
  27. Ryan, Sean (1997). The Boys in Green: the FAI international story. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-85158-939-2.
  28. "Luton Town all time records". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
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