1999–2000 Luton Town F.C. season

Luton Town
1999–2000 season
Chairman	Cliff Bassett
Manager	Lennie Lawrence
Stadium	Kenilworth Road
Second Division	13th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	First round
Football League Trophy	First round
Top goalscorer	League: George (14); All: George (16)
Average home league attendance	5,658
	← 1998–99 2000–01 →

During the 1999–2000 English football season, Luton Town F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

Background

Luton suffered from severe financial difficulty throughout the 1998–99 season and were forced to sell a number of established players and promising young stars.^{[citation needed]}One of the club's directors, Cliff Bassett, made the decision to place the club into receivership as part of a move to shift controversial^[1] owner David Kohler out of the club. Kohler, accused by Luton supporters of selling the club's assets while continuing to draw a large salary of his own and of promoting an unworkable stadium project (known as the 'Kohlerdome') for his own means, relinquished his position as chairman on 20 February 1999 following the discovery of a petrol bomb in his letterbox.^[1] Despite his departure, Kohler remained as the majority shareholder and held out from selling until a suitable offer was made. Numerous bids from consortia fell through, unable to meet Kohler's demands, until, after being told by the Football League that the club would be unable to compete in the 1999–2000 season unless it was out of receivership, Bassett himself stepped in hours before the deadline and bought out Kohler's shares. Luton finished the 1999–2000 season in 13th position, relying heavily on players brought through the youth system, such as Emmerson Boyce, Gary Doherty, Matthew Taylor, Matthew Spring and Liam George. Bassett made it clear throughout the season that his intention was to find a new owner for the club and, on 23 May 2000, Luton Town was sold to a consortium led by businessman Mike Watson-Challis.^{[citation needed]}

Season summary

Just before the 1999–2000 season, the club was sold to Cliff Bassett, while player sales continued to balance the books.^[2] Young duo Kelvin Davis and Chris Willmott were sold to Wimbledon for £900,000, and Lawrence was forced to sell Gary Doherty late on in the season, but he successfully kept an inexperienced Luton side up once again. Mike Watson-Challis then purchased the club in 2000,^[2] and Lawrence was sacked to be replaced by former Luton player Ricky Hill.^[3]

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
11	Wrexham	46	17	11	18	52	61	−9	62
12	Wycombe Wanderers	46	16	13	17	56	53	+3	61
13	Luton Town	46	17	10	19	61	65	−4	61
14	Oldham Athletic	46	16	12	18	50	55	−5	60
15	Bury	46	13	18	15	61	64	−3	57

Source: ^[4]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

Results

Luton Town's score comes first^[5]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
7 August 1999	Notts County	A	0–0	6,141
14 August 1999	Blackpool	H	3–2	5,176	George (2), Spring
21 August 1999	Reading	A	2–1	8,741	Fotiadis, George
28 August 1999	Cardiff City	H	1–0	5,374	Gray
31 August 1999	AFC Bournemouth	A	0–1	4,797
4 September 1999	Bury	H	1–1	4,633	Fotiadis
11 September 1999	Wrexham	H	3–1	5,121	Taylor, Spring, George
18 September 1999	Brentford	A	0–2	7,039
25 September 1999	Oxford United	H	4–2	6,102	George (2), Fraser, Locke
2 October 1999	Wigan Athletic	A	0–1	6,866
9 October 1999	Oldham Athletic	A	1–2	4,532	Midgley
16 October 1999	Gillingham	H	3–1	6,394	George (2, 1 pen), Douglas
19 October 1999	Wycombe Wanderers	H	1–1	5,820	Douglas
23 October 1999	Oxford United	A	1–0	5,866	George
2 November 1999	Millwall	A	0–1	6,181
6 November 1999	Burnley	H	2–1	7,205	Midgley (2)
12 November 1999	Cambridge United	A	1–3	6,211	George
23 November 1999	Preston North End	H	0–2	5,124
27 November 1999	Bristol Rovers	A	0–3	7,805
4 December 1999	Notts County	H	2–2	5,195	Doherty, Thorpe
17 December 1999	Colchester United	A	0–3	3,049
26 December 1999	Chesterfield	H	1–1	5,870	Locke
28 December 1999	Bristol City	A	0–0	11,832
3 January 2000	Scunthorpe United	H	4–1	5,574	Douglas, Gray, Spring (2)
8 January 2000	Stoke City	A	1–2	10,016	Spring (pen)
15 January 2000	Blackpool	A	3–3	5,262	Locke, Gray, Taylor
22 January 2000	Reading	H	3–1	6,044	Watts, George (2)
30 January 2000	Cardiff City	A	3–1	6,185	Watts, Spring, George
5 February 2000	AFC Bournemouth	H	1–2	5,961	Boyce
8 February 2000	Stoke City	H	2–1	5,396	Gray (2)
12 February 2000	Bury	A	0–1	3,760
19 February 2000	Bristol Rovers	H	1–4	6,520	Gray
26 February 2000	Brentford	H	1–2	6,029	Gray
4 March 2000	Wrexham	A	0–1	2,703
7 March 2000	Burnley	A	2–0	12,080	White, Gray
11 March 2000	Millwall	H	0–2	6,341
18 March 2000	Preston North End	A	0–1	13,731
21 March 2000	Cambridge United	H	2–2	5,379	Doherty, McLaren
25 March 2000	Chesterfield	A	3–1	2,597	Doherty, Watts, George
1 April 2000	Colchester United	H	3–2	5,125	Watts, Doherty, Taylor
8 April 2000	Scunthorpe United	A	2–1	3,811	Gray, Doherty
18 April 2000	Bristol City	H	1–2	4,771	Doherty
22 April 2000	Gillingham	A	0–2	8,667
24 April 2000	Wigan Athletic	H	1–1	5,010	Gray
29 April 2000	Wycombe Wanderers	A	1–0	5,379	Taylor
6 May 2000	Oldham Athletic	H	1–1	5,963	Gray

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	30 October 1999	Kingstonian	H	4–2	4,682	Gray, George, Spring, Taylor
R2	19 November 1999	Lincoln City	H	2–2	4,291	Doherty (2)
R2R	30 November 1999	Lincoln City	A	1–0	3,822	Douglas
R3	11 December 1999	Fulham	A	2–2	8,251	George, Spring
R3R	21 December 1999	Fulham	H	0–3	8,170

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	10 August 1999	Bristol Rovers	H	0–2	2,984
R1 2nd Leg	24 August 1999	Bristol Rovers	A	2–2 (lost 2–4 agg)	4,414	Kandol, Doherty

Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
SR1	7 December 1999	Oxford United	A	0–2	1,220

Squad

^[6] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Nathan Abbey
2	DF	ENG	Gavin McGowan
4	MF	ENG	Matthew Spring
5	DF	ENG	Alan White
6	DF	ENG	Marvin Johnson
7	FW	NIR	Phil Gray
8	MF	ENG	Paul McLaren
9	FW	ENG	Stuart Douglas
10	MF	SCO	Michael McIndoe
11	FW	IRL	Liam George
13	DF	SCO	Stuart Fraser
14	FW	ENG	Andrew Fotiadis
15	DF	ENG	Matthew Taylor


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	MF	CIV	Landry Zahana-Oni
17	DF	BRB	Emmerson Boyce
18	FW	COD	Trésor Kandol
19	DF	ENG	James Ayres
20	MF	UGA	Jerry Moses
21	MF	ENG	Andre Scarlett
22	GK	ENG	Daniel Tate
23	DF	ENG	Jude Stirling
24	GK	ENG	Scott Ward
28	MF	ENG	Adam Locke
32	GK	ENG	Ben Roberts (on loan from Middlesbrough)
40	DF	ENG	Julian Watts

Left club during season

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
27	MF	SCO	Ray McKinnon (to Livingston)
30	FW	ENG	Neil Midgley (on loan from Ipswich Town)
39	FW	ENG	Tony Thorpe (on loan from Bristol City)
3	DF	NGA	Efe Sodje (to Colchester United)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
12	DF	IRL	Gary Doherty (to Tottenham Hotspur)
25	MF	ENG	Ryan Davis (Released)
26	MF	ENG	David Castro-Pearson (Released)
31	FW	ENG	Paul Read (Released)

Player details

Players arranged in alphabetical order by surname.

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		FL Trophy		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Nathan Abbey	32 (1)	0	5	0	2	0	1	0	40 (1)	0
DF	James Ayres	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
DF	Emmerson Boyce	23 (7)	1	0 (2)	0	2	0	1	0	26 (9)	1
DF	Gary Doherty	40	6	5	2	0 (2)	1	1	0	46 (2)	9
FW	Stuart Douglas	35 (5)	3	5	1	2	0	1	0	43 (5)	4
FW	Andrew Fotiadis	8 (14)	2	0	0	0 (2)	0	0	0	8 (16)	2
DF	Stuart Fraser	20	1	5	0	1	0	1	0	27	1
FW	Liam George	35 (7)	14	5	2	0 (1)	0	1	0	41 (8)	16
FW	Phil Gray	28 (1)	11	1	1	2	0	0	0	31 (1)	12
DF	Marvin Johnson	44	0	5	0	0	0	1	0	50	0
FW	Trésor Kandol	1 (3)	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2 (3)	1
MF	Adam Locke	27 (7)	3	3 (1)	0	1	0	1	0	31 (8)	3
DF	Gavin McGowan	9 (3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9 (3)	0
MF	Michael McIndoe	2 (14)	0	0 (2)	0	2	0	0	0	4 (16)	0
MF	Ray McKinnon	0 (3)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1 (3)	0
FW	Paul McLaren	25 (4)	1	4)	0	1	0	0	0	30 (4)	1
FW	Neil Midgley	8 (2)	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	8 (2)	3
FW	Paul Read	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0
GK	Ben Roberts	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	0
MF	Andre Scarlett	2 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0	2 (2)	0
DF	Efe Sodje	5 (4)	0	1 (1)	0	2	0	1	0	9 (5)	0
MF	Matthew Spring	44 (1)	6	5	2	1	0	1	0	51 (1)	8
DF	Matthew Taylor	39 (2)	4	5	1	1	0	0	0	45 (2)	5
FW	Tony Thorpe	3 (1)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3 (1)	1
DF	Julian Watts	45	4	5	0	2	0	0	0	52	4
DF	Alan White	16 (3)	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	18 (3)	1
MF	Landry Zahana-Oni	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (1)	0

References

^ ^a ^b "Kohler goes after bomb in letterbox". The Guardian. 20 February 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Luton Town Football Club". Luton Borough Council. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
^ "Managers: Ricky Hill". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
^ "England 1999–00". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
^ "Latest Luton Results, Fixtures & Betting Odds - Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com.
^ "FootballSquads - Luton Town - 1999/00". www.footballsquads.co.uk.

[Kohler-1] "Kohler goes after bomb in letterbox". The Guardian. 20 February 1999. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

[council3-2] "Luton Town Football Club". Luton Borough Council. Retrieved 20 May 2009.

[3] "Managers: Ricky Hill". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 February 2019.

[rsssf-4] "England 1999–00". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.

[5] "Latest Luton Results, Fixtures & Betting Odds - Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com.

[6] "FootballSquads - Luton Town - 1999/00". www.footballsquads.co.uk.

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