Where would we be without those who so cleverly wrestled the club from that scumbag. Many names to mention but Gary Sweet take a bow. It’s almost a miracle what we have achieved since then. That game against Port Vale when we were simply grateful to have a team to support. Never forgotten, but forever appreciative of those who allowed us to dream again.
20 years later and look at where you are now Luton. Credit to you and all that you've achieved, may something like this never happen to you or any club again.
Absolutely insane this club has gone from national League to prem league in 9 years. Well done, true Hollywood story here, especially via a penalty shootout.
From the late 70s untill the mid 80s I had a season ticket at LTFC. I was there when we won promotion to the old First Division. I was there when we beat Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs. i was at Wembley when we lifted the cup with a last gasp winner against Arsenal and that wonderful penalty save by Andy Dibble. i was the member of the same snooker club frequented by LTFC players and personally got to know Ricky Hill, Brian Stein, Foster, and the rest. I was there in Kuwait when LTFC played the Kuwait National team. I had a LTFC kit for my brother who wore it to the game. He was he only person in the ground with a LTFC strip. I have not lived in Luton since 1990 but follow them religiously every week and I am rooting for them to go up thi syear. A wonderful chance against some fancied teams in Sunderland and potentially Middlesboro or Coventry. Fingers crossed
A masterclass in how the fans can stop bloated suits from destroying a club. Our steady progress over the last few years has been heartwarming. Gary Sweet you are a legend!! 👏👏👏
Absolutely brilliant! Sherrie the chairwoman is one of those quietly amazing women who hold businesses like that together, but the suits just see numbers to be streamlined. What a brilliant doc tho - amazing story and it didn't end there. Has there been a follow up documentary made?
Loved the comment at the end, "I got a feeling this will be our season" every football fans eternal statement at the beginning of a new campaign, Come on you Hatters !! (You will never take the Oak road)
Coming from a Swansea fan, I know how this feels, we was bought for a quid by our now chairman. Will be good to see you back in the Football League. Well done! RESPECT FROM SWANSEA.
Legal papers stated that the "consortium" was just a wealthy Chinese restaurant owning family who had possibly been told they were being sold a cash cow. This "bridging brokering" is all but illegal now. That Craig White fella, up in Scotland, tried the same with Glasgow Rangers.
How is Mike Newell not picked up to manage these days, did well at Luton, until all the big players were sold... strange. Mike got them to tenth in the championship during all this business. Big achievement.
Because he was sexist to a female linesman, I think that damaged his reputation and perhaps his heart wasn't in it so much because he hated agents ruining the game with greed. Google Marvin Johnson my best eleven he did a podcast with Mike Newell in the last year. Very good podcasts with lots of ex football players.
He causes trouble everywhere he goes, always fighting with someone. he's an alcoholic too, goes drinking with the influential players who run the changing room
To me as a neutral viewer, this almost comes across as a caricatural black comedy show on football (with the comically corrupt and arrogant chairman as its main character), making it all the more tragic and bizarre that this an actual documentary with events shown as they are happening. Thank goodness Luton got out of this catastrophic mess.
Same here. I ended up taking nearly 2 hours to watch this as there were points when I had to pause and watch something else because it was so cringeworthy in the extreme.
GURNEY- "If I have to walk away, I'll make sure there's nothing to walk away from." .....Two years later, a Gurney-free Luton won the League One championship and it was Gurney who went down the pan.
I loved it when someone booted Gurney's flash motor in and the little fella was a tough nut to tackle as it took about 4 big coppers to arrest him. Think he went to prison for it.
Manager idol!! Im so glad muppets like this will never step foot in our club again, nice to see us so well run now and on the way up. New stadium looking more likely than ever to!
Brilliant move by the Supporters Trust to buy shares in Hatters Holdings and then call in their loan in order to force Gurney out. Unfortunately, the Bill Tomlins period was still to come. Despite our promotion season of 2004-05, I would still rate BT on a par with Gurney!
To outsource the shop and ticket office would surely have increased the overheads of the club. It would have meant that money going through the turnstiles would have gone straight into Gurney’s pocket. Ironically, the boycott of season tickets saved us. But this underhand sale of Football Clubs is something that the FA and Football League need to outlaw. A similar thing happened at Notts County.
I haven't seen this for years -- I remember (but want to forget) that horrible feeling that we were potentially going to get destroyed by "our owners". Look at us now - still with a "slightly" older Gary Sweet & 2020 steering us in the right direction. Amazing turnaround especially after the -30 points in 2009 and 5 years in non-league, to now be sitting mid-table in the Championship. It's always been one hell of a ride supporting the "least boring" club in the World. COYH.
I’m a Lutonian by birth and while I support a London team my family are Hatters, and I’m always glad to see them do well. One group of people I did not see offering support to the lowly paid staff…the players. I apologise if they did weigh in but it seems to me that at whatever club gets into trouble, the support staff always suffer, and the players are nowhere to be seen putting pressure on the owners to get the staff paid. As I say, if I’m being unfair and it did happen I’d gladly apologise.
As a Torquay fan we are going through a power struggle with Clarke Osbourne and his mates. They want the land the ground is built on for housing and don’t give a shit about the club. Going from a football league club to the National South is a disgrace.
The only people that want involvement with lower/non-league clubs are purely interested in their assets-land etc. Also massaging their own egos. It's sick
I can't believe they were so calm when the consortium rep. tried to get out of paying the wages on time, stating the owners couldn't understand why they couldn't wait until the end of the month. If they tried that shit in China the workers would have locked her in the office and not let her out until the wages were paid.
The message has to be....... keep the inspection covers firmly fixed on your sewers. Otherwise a Gurney might crawl out and take over your football club. Or join the Board of a major bank. Or become an MP. Or set up a Payday loan company. Or...(etc, etc). COYH
Felt it for luton so many idiots running clubs now even in non league. Am glad they got promoted but that antique stadium has had its day and they deserve a championship sized ground
Thank god the club is now in a much better place. I hope Gurney rots in hell for the damage he did. Poor Cherry, I really feel for her as she has put her heart and soul in to the club.
You have the resources and fanbase to start going up the league now. It wouldn't surprise me to see you in the Championship within 5 years. You should have gone up the year that we topped the Conference because you were the better team in the playoff final against AFC Wimbledon. Not so easy getting out of the Conference as there's only one guaranteed spot.
How could John Gurney and the consortium not know about the debenture prior to buying the club, that has got to be a rookie mistake for not spotting that beforehand, questions their ability as businesspeople.
Always sad to see this mess in Football.... as a neutral it’s good now to see Luton on the cusp of the second tier after spending time in the Non League.... we have seen it with Portsmouth and currently Coventry, how do these Clowns get to buy Clubs!
This all sounds so very familiar, 40 years of bad management brought us to were we are now---> 10 years in second division with 22 million € of debts and a stadium that is falling appart. We have managed to avert bankrupcy the last 3 years and now a part our fans, the Antwerp Community Trust, ACT as 1, are trying to take over the club, wich won't be for now just yet....Our old president, Eddy Wauters, the man who left us behind (he was kicked out by the new management) and created all these debts in his 40 year reign, also started a procedure to get his 5 million € he alledgedly invested in the club, better said filled the gaps he's responsable for, with his own money to keep the club all this time alive. Anyway, happy to see you Luton guys in a few weeks. Greetings with respect from a Royal Antwerp fan!
Tranmere fan here an its sad to see people like that gurney to buy clubs when they have no interest in the club whatsoever an then ruin it ! And its not a company. its a club!!!
Does anyone know the name of the club secretary in this, Sherry Newburry it sounds like to me? (Might be misunderstanding Baker's (?!?!?!?!) lilt). Anyone have any information on her now? Would love to know how she's feeling.
Fans of Rangers FC in Scotland should have seen this. No good will ever come of local councils, football clubs etc going cap in hand to businessmen because they are only in it for número uno.
Didn’t think I’d be hearing Tom Baker narrating a luton town documentary but here we are
Where would we be without those who so cleverly wrestled the club from that scumbag. Many names to mention but Gary Sweet take a bow. It’s almost a miracle what we have achieved since then. That game against Port Vale when we were simply grateful to have a team to support. Never forgotten, but forever appreciative of those who allowed us to dream again.
And look where we are now. Never forgive, never forget. We are Luton Town.
PROMOTED TO PREMIER LEAGUE.
REMEMBER THE DATE
27 TH MAY 2023 .
20 years later and look at where you are now Luton. Credit to you and all that you've achieved, may something like this never happen to you or any club again.
Always enjoyed my trips to Luton with Kidderminster back in the Conference days, glad to see the Hatters doing well again.
Absolutely insane this club has gone from national League to prem league in 9 years. Well done, true Hollywood story here, especially via a penalty shootout.
Cant write a better story for sure
From the late 70s untill the mid 80s I had a season ticket at LTFC.
I was there when we won promotion to the old First Division.
I was there when we beat Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs.
i was at Wembley when we lifted the cup with a last gasp winner against Arsenal and that wonderful penalty save by Andy Dibble.
i was the member of the same snooker club frequented by LTFC players and personally got to know Ricky Hill, Brian Stein, Foster, and the rest.
I was there in Kuwait when LTFC played the Kuwait National team. I had a LTFC kit for my brother who wore it to the game. He was he only person in the ground with a LTFC strip.
I have not lived in Luton since 1990 but follow them religiously every week and I am rooting for them to go up thi syear. A wonderful chance against some fancied teams in Sunderland and potentially Middlesboro or Coventry.
Fingers crossed
A masterclass in how the fans can stop bloated suits from destroying a club. Our steady progress over the last few years has been heartwarming. Gary Sweet you are a legend!! 👏👏👏
Gary Sweet. Saved us twice. He is Luton Town. COYH
Well done Luton. Back in the top flight.
Absolutely brilliant! Sherrie the chairwoman is one of those quietly amazing women who hold businesses like that together, but the suits just see numbers to be streamlined.
What a brilliant doc tho - amazing story and it didn't end there.
Has there been a follow up documentary made?
Watching this as there now in the Premier League
Didn't expect to hear DJ Shadow
As a Luton fan this is so hard to watch! It's a David Brent special
brent wouldn't threaten to destroy the club if he lost it - on camera
@@pudboy123456 pp
Źúźuuj
@@pudboy123456 ⁹j
Good luck for the premier league
'How could anyone invest in a company with a debenture then'
'You did'
Loved the comment at the end, "I got a feeling this will be our season" every football fans eternal statement at the beginning of a new campaign, Come on you Hatters !! (You will never take the Oak road)
Coming from a Swansea fan, I know how this feels, we was bought for a quid by our now chairman. Will be good to see you back in the Football League. Well done! RESPECT FROM SWANSEA.
@Swansea Loyal - And look at Swansea AFC now....
@ Swansea loyal WE R BACK WHERE WE BELONG we made it
Who’s here after they won promotion to the prem
What a cracking story. Fans make football. Asset strippers don't. Heart-warming.
Look at us now!! We are Luton Town!
Conor Fensome Luton on the way up from the brink of death.
Look at us NOW!! Championship team coyh!
I'm an LFC fan but Luton are my second team and have been ever since the days of the Stein brothers when they destroyed Arsenal in 87
@@cardjunkie premiership
Legal papers stated that the "consortium" was just a wealthy Chinese restaurant owning family who had possibly been told they were being sold a cash cow. This "bridging brokering" is all but illegal now. That Craig White fella, up in Scotland, tried the same with Glasgow Rangers.
How is Mike Newell not picked up to manage these days, did well at Luton, until all the big players were sold... strange. Mike got them to tenth in the championship during all this business. Big achievement.
Because he was sexist to a female linesman, I think that damaged his reputation and perhaps his heart wasn't in it so much because he hated agents ruining the game with greed. Google Marvin Johnson my best eleven he did a podcast with Mike Newell in the last year. Very good podcasts with lots of ex football players.
He causes trouble everywhere he goes, always fighting with someone. he's an alcoholic too, goes drinking with the influential players who run the changing room
@@Zwia. never heard that, players liked playing for him, he gave them some slack I heard but in return they loved playing for him and gave everything.
To me as a neutral viewer, this almost comes across as a caricatural black comedy show on football (with the comically corrupt and arrogant chairman as its main character), making it all the more tragic and bizarre that this an actual documentary with events shown as they are happening.
Thank goodness Luton got out of this catastrophic mess.
Same here. I ended up taking nearly 2 hours to watch this as there were points when I had to pause and watch something else because it was so cringeworthy in the extreme.
GregCathalina God bless ya thankyou for what said
Agree. Ricky Gervais could dream of writing something like this.
its tragic as burys demise
as a leeds fan i cant help but sympathise
If any bastard tried to kill my football club the way gurney tried to kill Luton, I'd happily do time.
Felt so bad for the lady
Best mockumentary ever.
GURNEY- "If I have to walk away, I'll make sure there's nothing to walk away from." .....Two years later, a Gurney-free Luton won the League One championship and it was Gurney who went down the pan.
Doctor Who Tom Baker doing the voice over great to see Luton Town coming back up the league.
An article today in The Guardian brought me here and all I can say is, John Gurney, I hope by now his head has fallen off!
That's a little off lol...but he wasn't able to do right by the club
What happened to the land that Luton Owned?? That's why this club was bought and no other reason.. IMHO
@@reaper060670We sold that land in 2022 to fund the new stadium and development in the town centre
I loved it when someone booted Gurney's flash motor in and the little fella was a tough nut to tackle as it took about 4 big coppers to arrest him. Think he went to prison for it.
Manager idol!! Im so glad muppets like this will never step foot in our club again, nice to see us so well run now and on the way up. New stadium looking more likely than ever to!
4 yearslater, you're right.
"Swing it for me"
Love the Game and people like John Gurney have no place in it. Wish someone would put some much needed funds into my beloved Gillingham
Brilliant move by the Supporters Trust to buy shares in Hatters Holdings and then call in their loan in order to force Gurney out. Unfortunately, the Bill Tomlins period was still to come. Despite our promotion season of 2004-05, I would still rate BT on a par with Gurney!
Power Court Approved now!
Quite interesting, the field he takes the interviewer through is the field is where the club wants to build Newland Park
And now a Premier League Club 🎉🎉
Great documentary
Thanks for sharing have not seen this before
Thanks for putting this on youtube. COYH
Ive been looking for this for ages :)
Great work Trondy..........
To outsource the shop and ticket office would surely have increased the overheads of the club. It would have meant that money going through the turnstiles would have gone straight into Gurney’s pocket. Ironically, the boycott of season tickets saved us. But this underhand sale of Football Clubs is something that the FA and Football League need to outlaw. A similar thing happened at Notts County.
Nice to see Luton now in the Premier League
I haven't seen this for years -- I remember (but want to forget) that horrible feeling that we were potentially going to get destroyed by "our owners".
Look at us now - still with a "slightly" older Gary Sweet & 2020 steering us in the right direction. Amazing turnaround especially after the -30 points in 2009 and 5 years in non-league, to now be sitting mid-table in the Championship. It's always been one hell of a ride supporting the "least boring" club in the World. COYH.
Fair play to Luton what a comeback
I’m a Lutonian by birth and while I support a London team my family are Hatters, and I’m always glad to see them do well. One group of people I did not see offering support to the lowly paid staff…the players. I apologise if they did weigh in but it seems to me that at whatever club gets into trouble, the support staff always suffer, and the players are nowhere to be seen putting pressure on the owners to get the staff paid. As I say, if I’m being unfair and it did happen I’d gladly apologise.
As a Torquay fan we are going through a power struggle with Clarke Osbourne and his mates.
They want the land the ground is built on for housing and don’t give a shit about the club.
Going from a football league club to the National South is a disgrace.
The only people that want involvement with lower/non-league clubs are purely interested in their assets-land etc. Also massaging their own egos. It's sick
STAND. The ole Luton moto. RESPECT.
David Brent the football chairman
I can't believe they were so calm when the consortium rep. tried to get out of paying the wages on time, stating the owners couldn't understand why they couldn't wait until the end of the month. If they tried that shit in China the workers would have locked her in the office and not let her out until the wages were paid.
Cherry is life and soul of Luton
So glad my club was finally run by good people, true fans 2020. WEMBLEY CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY OFF FINAL ON SATURDAY!
Prem here we come?
COYH 🧡🎩🧡
Welcome to the prem bud. It'll be challenging, hope you lot don't go down early like Leeds did.
Should have done one about Brighton back in the day. Bhafc.
Is that really how they picked the manager or is this a joke?
Popular manager Joe kinnear!😉
Amazing where Luton are now
Keep the Faith. Albion.
Very clever use of Labi Sifre in the intro
14:54 - hillarious !
And to think that they're in the Prem now.
Manager Idol? no wonder the club went tits up lol, love the oak stand btw, brill the way you enter by a normal house, class that
I know one time Luton Town was the most HATED club in the UK since they banned aways fans, but the Luton Town fans don't deserved this!
Fucking incredible how Luton have gotten outta the shite. Jesus, things were fucking dire. I hate seeing smaller football clubs get fucked over.
The message has to be....... keep the inspection covers firmly fixed on your sewers. Otherwise a Gurney might crawl out and take over your football club. Or join the Board of a major bank. Or become an MP. Or set up a Payday loan company. Or...(etc, etc). COYH
what's the music at the start?
I wonder where those late votes came from lmao
and now in the championship play offs!
Unfortunately lost in the semi, it's would be great if them promoted to pl next season
Reminds me when Joe Spano tried to buy the New York Islanders. IT was a big three card monty scheme
I am not sure Trust in Luton bought the shares. I did not receive any money for mine. I gave them my shares in order to get rid of Gurney.
Whats the song ID from 2:16
In business any old clown can sometimes slide through. Here he is.
Felt it for luton so many idiots running clubs now even in non league. Am glad they got promoted but that antique stadium has had its day and they deserve a championship sized ground
And the new one has just got through planning
They're Premier League bound now.
"You'll have to sway it then ..."
Nods and turns away, remembers he's on camera, comes back
"No won't have to ..."
Even says “…consider it” before remembering not to say “done” so as not to make the whole thing look as crooked as it so obviously was 😂
Thank god the club is now in a much better place. I hope Gurney rots in hell for the damage he did. Poor Cherry, I really feel for her as she has put her heart and soul in to the club.
The financial director is Charlie kray double!!🤣🤣
This is a mockumentary right ?
Expect to see you back in the league next season, its where you belong IMO.
Thanks! We hope to be back with a vengeance!
You have the resources and fanbase to start going up the league now. It wouldn't surprise me to see you in the Championship within 5 years. You should have gone up the year that we topped the Conference because you were the better team in the playoff final against AFC Wimbledon. Not so easy getting out of the Conference as there's only one guaranteed spot.
MrPaulc222 in 2027/18 Luton are going up #COYH
Right about the championship
You were right we are in the championship
How could John Gurney and the consortium not know about the debenture prior to buying the club, that has got to be a rookie mistake for not spotting that beforehand, questions their ability as businesspeople.
He sure is!
Always sad to see this mess in Football.... as a neutral it’s good now to see Luton on the cusp of the second tier after spending time in the Non League.... we have seen it with Portsmouth and currently Coventry, how do these Clowns get to buy Clubs!
This all sounds so very familiar, 40 years of bad management brought us to were we are now---> 10 years in second division with 22 million € of debts and a stadium that is falling appart. We have managed to avert bankrupcy the last 3 years and now a part our fans, the Antwerp Community Trust, ACT as 1, are trying to take over the club, wich won't be for now just yet....Our old president, Eddy Wauters, the man who left us behind (he was kicked out by the new management) and created all these debts in his 40 year reign, also started a procedure to get his 5 million € he alledgedly invested in the club, better said filled the gaps he's responsable for, with his own money to keep the club all this time alive. Anyway, happy to see you Luton guys in a few weeks. Greetings with respect from a Royal Antwerp fan!
London Luton wtf it is Luton town
Now in the Premier League for season 2023/24.
So glad Preston are the only club that is debt free and that's thanks to a owner who wants successs but won't go out a pay millions
Barnsley are also debt free. Might not have quite been when you said this, although I think they were.
Tranmere fan here an its sad to see people like that gurney to buy clubs when they have no interest in the club whatsoever an then ruin it ! And its not a company. its a club!!!
4:41 Idols Theme
Thought they would have got Simon cowell and a judging panel to do manager idol!!
What was the whole point of the voting if you still choose the coach as management?
50p per call
Does anyone know the name of the club secretary in this, Sherry Newburry it sounds like to me? (Might be misunderstanding Baker's (?!?!?!?!) lilt). Anyone have any information on her now? Would love to know how she's feeling.
To this day that man isnt welcome back at our club
Fans of Rangers FC in Scotland should have seen this. No good will ever come of local councils, football clubs etc going cap in hand to businessmen because they are only in it for número uno.
You’ve got to feel sorry for Luton Town FC. After David Evans and his stupidity they get this lot in charge.
It even got worst! The consortium that took over after this guy was the guys that got us -30 points at the start of the 2007/2008 season!
Alex Nyheim if it doesn’t rain it pours !! Least you’re on the up now with promotion to the championship hopefully secured soon.
Series producer Kate Middleton? 38:22
Anyone got any idea what John Gurney is up to now?
He was made bankrupt in 2008.
luton has been well took over.allah the best luton town fc.
Apparently, the pair of them lost their hair through fear, back in March 1983.
She's power mad