Hi everyone,
So our collective journey is coming to an end in what was a season in the glare of the bright lights of the Premier League and all the whistles and bells that brings.
Often when clubs are relegated there is a sense of impending doom. There is normally a myriad of reasons why clubs are relegated but nearly always the finger of blame is aimed at the management and board of directors. It is normally a time of great uncertainty of what is to come. Players become unsettled and the better performing ones are sold or leave for pastures new. We were no different in previous relegation, but this time it is different. We are facing the inevitable, unless of course, one of the greatest escapes of all time happens with us and Burnley start hitting the back of the net and overturn the goal difference Forest have over us, we can live in hope, but as the saying goes "its the hope that kills you in the end".
This particular relegation is different to the rest we have endured over the long history of this club. We leave the glitterati of the Prem not as the whipping boys we were predicted to be by some, but as a club who have given it a real go and won many friends along the way with the way the players rolled up their sleeves and had a right go at trying to stay up. The players being applauded off by the West Ham fans is testament to this.
Our support from the terraces in many ways harked back to days when grounds where full of noise songs and chants. I think it’s fair to say many of us were surprised how the citadels of the English game are in many respects quite dull and devoid of atmosphere. The only one that really stood out was Anfield.
Our support has been nothing short of outstanding both home and away. To stand as one at the end of a defeat, sometimes a heavy one, to sing and applaud our players when the rest of the ground has emptied when we have been on the road means we have something very special here. Bigger clubs than ours would die for that kind of loyalty, but most clubs have not been on the journey we have, which stretches back over a very long period, but ultimately back to the non league days when that game when a certain Sir John Still invited a supporter on to the pitch to be a part of the team and thus started a revival of unity that has stayed to this very moment. We never looked back and our club was reborn with a determination that Luton Town FC had better times ahead.
Its been brilliant over the last decade. Our rise up the leagues has been nothing short of a miracle based on a shoe string budget. So with this in mind don't be down about our relegation back to the Championship, be proud that you have lived through the best period this club has ever had of continued promotions and that we have something very special amongst us all and that is we support a club who are going places in the next few years, and a club that is stable financially with a fantastic future ahead of us.
In closing lets all enjoy next Sunday, make a racket and show how proud we are of our club, and also, look forward to likely renewing our acquaintance with the basket case down the road once again in the new season as a Championship club.
Come on you Hatters!
WE STAND TOGETHER!
Kevin Rouse
Chairman LLSC
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