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1996–97 Luton Town F.C. season

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Luton Town
1996–97 season
ChairmanDavid Kohler
ManagerLennie Lawrence
StadiumKenilworth Road
Second Division3rd
Play-offsSemi-finals
FA CupThird round
League CupThird round
Football League TrophySecond round
Top goalscorerLeague: Thorpe (28)
All: Thorpe (32)
Average home league attendance6,781

During the 1996–97 English football season, Luton Town F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Season summary

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In the 1996–97 season, Luton started just as badly as the last, with three straight defeats. However, the introduction of young forward Andrew Fotiadis saw Luton burst into life, as they shot up the table with a run of eight wins and two draws in eleven games. Tony Thorpe, too, proved to be a revelation, scoring 28 goals to become the division's top scorer. Luton were nearly promoted, but finished in third place, four points off automatic promotion and then lost to Crewe Alexandra in the play-offs.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Bury (C, P) 46 24 12 10 62 38 +24 84 Promotion to the First Division
2 Stockport County (P) 46 23 13 10 59 41 +18 82
3 Luton Town 46 21 15 10 71 45 +26 78 Qualification for the Second Division play-offs
4 Brentford 46 20 14 12 56 43 +13 74
5 Bristol City 46 21 10 15 69 51 +18 73
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Results

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Luton Town's score comes first[3]

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 16 November 1996 Torquay United A 1–0 3,450 Hughes
R2 7 December 1996 Boreham Wood H 2–1 5,332 Marshall (2)
R3 21 January 1997 Bolton Wanderers H 1–1 7,414 Johnson
R3R 25 January 1997 Bolton Wanderers A 2–6 9,713 Thorpe (2)

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg 20 August 1996 Bristol Rovers H 3–0 2,643 Grant, Thorpe (pen), Oldfield
R1 2nd Leg 3 September 1996 Bristol Rovers A 1–2 (won 4–2 on agg) 2,320 Oldfield
R2 1st Leg 17 September 1996 Derby County H 1–0 4,459 James
R2 2nd Leg 24 September 1996 Derby County A 2–2 (won 3–2 on agg) 13,569 Grant, Thorpe
R3 22 October 1996 Wimbledon A 1–1 5,043 Hughes
R3R 12 November 1996 Wimbledon H 1–2 (a.e.t.) 8,076 Blackwell (own goal)

Football League Trophy

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
SR1 10 December 1996 Leyton Orient H 2–1 1,594
SR2 4 February 1997 Northampton Town A 0–1 4,201

Squad

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[4] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK England ENG Nathan Abbey
GK England ENG Kelvin Davis
GK United States USA Ian Feuer
DF Scotland SCO Graham Alexander
DF England ENG Ben Chenery
DF England ENG Steve Davis
DF England ENG Richard Harvey
DF England ENG Julian James
DF England ENG Marvin Johnson
DF England ENG Des Linton
DF England ENG Gavin McGowan (on loan from Arsenal)
DF Northern Ireland NIR Darren Patterson
DF England ENG Trevor Peake
DF England ENG Aaron Skelton
DF England ENG Mitchell Thomas
DF England ENG Matthew Upson
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF England ENG Chris Willmott
MF England ENG Sean Evers
MF Bulgaria BUL Boncho Genchev
MF Wales WAL Ceri Hughes
MF England ENG Paul McLaren
MF England ENG David Oldfield
MF England ENG Paul Showler
MF Republic of Ireland IRL Gary Waddock
FW England ENG Stuart Douglas
FW England ENG Andrew Fotiadis
FW Republic of Ireland IRL Liam George
FW Ghana GHA Kim Grant
FW England ENG Andy Kiwomya (on loan from Bradford City)
FW Jamaica JAM Dwight Marshall
FW England ENG John Taylor
FW England ENG Tony Thorpe

Player details

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Players arranged in alphabetical order by surname.
Pos. Name League Cup Playoffs Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
DF Scotland Graham Alexander 44 (1) 2 11 (1) 0 2 0 57 (2) 3
GK England Kelvin Davis 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF England Steve Davis 43 (1) 8 12 1 2 0 57 (1) 9
FW England Stuart Douglas 2 (7) 0 1 (1) 0 0 0 3 (8) 0
MF England Sean Evers 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
GK United States Ian Feuer 46 0 11 0 2 0 59 0
FW England Andrew Fotiadis 9 (8) 3 0 (4) 0 1 (1) 0 10 (13) 3
MF Bulgaria Boncho Genchev 15 (12) 1 6 (4) 0 0 0 21 (16) 1
FW Ghana Kim Grant 8 (17) 2 6 (2) 3 0 (1) 0 14 (20) 5
DF England Richard Harvey 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (1) 0
MF Wales Ceri Hughes 36 4 12 2 0 0 48 6
DF England Julian James 44 1 11 1 1 0 56 2
DF England Marvin Johnson 44 0 10 1 1 0 55 1
FW England Andy Kiwomya 5 1 0 0 0 0 5 1
DF England Des Linton 3 (4) 0 4 0 0 0 7 (4) 0
FW Jamaica Dwight Marshall 9 (15) 4 5 (1) 3 0 (2) 0 14 (18) 7
DF England Gavin McGowan 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW England Paul McLaren 13 (11) 0 0 (1) 0 2 0 15 (12) 0
MF England David Oldfield 31 (7) 6 5 (2) 2 2 3 38 (9) 11
DF Northern Ireland Darren Patterson 8 (2) 0 3 (1) 0 2 0 13 (3) 0
MF England Paul Showler 21 (2) 6 7 (2) 0 1 0 29 (4) 6
MF England Aaron Skelton 2 (1) 0 3 0 0 0 5 (1) 0
DF England Mitchell Thomas 42 3 9 0 2 0 53 3
FW England Tony Thorpe 39 (2) 28 6 (1) 3 2 0 48 (3) 31
DF England Matthew Upson 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0
MF Republic of Ireland Gary Waddock 38 (1) 2 8 0 2 0 48 (1) 2

References

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  1. ^ Fox, Norman (15 May 1997). "Crewe hit back to knock out Luton". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  2. ^ "England 1996–97". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  3. ^ "Luton Town 1996-1997 Results - statto.com". Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  4. ^ "All Luton Town players: 1997".