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 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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
Bruce Rioch
, pictured here in 2008, played for Luton from 1964 to 1969 and later became the first captain of
Scotland
born in England.
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.
Mick Harford
, pictured in 2009, is regarded as "one of Luton's finest players",
[
16
]
and represented the club as both player and manager.
Steve Howard
, pictured in 2009, scored 103 goals for the club between 2001 and 2006, giving him the club's sixth-highest goals total.
Chris Coyne
played for the club from 2001 to 2008, captaining it from 2006. He is pictured here playing for
Australia
in 2008.
Fred Hawkes
, born in Luton and pictured c. 1906, holds the record for most Luton Town league appearances.
Bob Hawkes
, pictured in 1908, represented Luton for 19 years and was the team's first international player.
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.
Midfielder
David Oldfield
, seen in 2010, played for Luton from 1986 to 1989 and from 1995 to 1998.
Scott Oakes
, a Luton player from 1991 to 1996, pictured in 2010.
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.
Forward
Rowan Vine
, pictured in 2011, scored 33 goals for Luton between 2005 and 2007.
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.