Luton Town will play in the Premier League next season, for the first time since 1992, after beating Coventry City in a dramatic penalty shootout at Wembley.
The Hatters took a first half lead through Jordan Clark before Gustavo Hamer hit back for Coventry to take the tie to extra time. This was a fourth tier match as recently as 2018, but when Luton kept their nerve to win the penalty shootout 6-5, they completed a remarkable climb back up the English football pyramid.
Relegated out of the Football League for the first time in their history, in 2009, Luton were promoted to League Two as champions five years later and, within a decade they are now preparing to go toe to toe with Manchester City. It’s a fantastic fairytale story, no big investment, no big names; just a hard working band of brothers who have won the ultimate prize.
With the last round of Premier League 2023 results due on Sunday evening, two of Leeds United, Leicester City and Everton are set to join already relegated Southampton in the second tier to change places with the promoted three. The celebrations for the Hatters will rage on for a few days yet, but then the serious business of trying to stay in the top flight begins.
Let’s take a look at the three promoted teams and try to assess their chances for the 2023/24 season.
Burnley
Vincent Kompany’s Burnley ripped up the Championship in a sensational campaign which saw the Clarets promoted with a record seven games to play, they had a record equalling ten-match winning run and had 19 different scorers. Burnley won the title at the home of local rivals Blackburn Rovers and surged through the 100 point mark with a 3-0 win over Cardiff on the final day.
Following relegation in 2022 the club has had a total makeover, Kompany transforming the ‘toughest team in the top flight’ to becoming an expansive, exciting side playing football which is easy on the eye and has an emphasis on youth. The former Manchester City playing legend retained some of the Clarets old guard including Jack Cork, Ashley Barnes, Josh Brownhill and Connor Roberts and blended them with an array of young stars, Annas Zaroury, Manuel Benson, Jordan Beyer and Nathan Tella.
Burnley are set to invest again over the summer and they will be an exciting team to watch next year with Kompany refusing to rule out any possibilities. The only caveat I’d make here is to admit, for those of you not in the know, is that this SBOTOP writer is a lifelong Clarets fan!
Sheffield United
The Blades, managed by professional Yorkshireman Paul Heckingbottom, were comfortably the second best team in the division, finishing 11 points above Luton who finished third. Sheffield were promoted to the top flight in 2019 and survived one season before crashing out in 2021, and they still have plenty of their ex Premier League stars in their ranks, including Ollie McBurnie, John Egan, Enda Stevens, George Baldock and Oliver Norwood.
This is a big, strong group of players who play a direct form of football; but there is quality in the side from 25 year old midfielder Sander Berge and Manchester City loanee James McAtee, who bid farewell to the Sheffield United fans on the final day of the campaign. The Blades may struggle to hold onto Berge too and their priority is to finish outside the bottom three.
Luton Town
The Play-Off Final between Coventry City and Luton Town pitched together two teams at the lower end of the Championship pecking order, in terms of financial muscle. And the thought of the likes of Erling Haaland arriving at the humble settings of the 10,000 capacity Kenilworth Road is mind-boggling! The fans will make it a difficult place to visit and that will be one of Luton’s best weapons. And manager Rob Edwards is clearly a talented coach and an inspirational leader and he will be plotting a survival plan right now. In his ranks he has record signing striker Carlton Morris, bought for £1.3m (less than a month’s salary for Haaland) and Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, who was bought for £50k in 2013 and is the first player ever to rise from the Conference to the Premier League with one club.
Edwards knows he has a mammoth task on his hands but he can take inspiration from the likes of Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang of the 1990s and, more recently, Sean Dyche’s Burnley who spent seven of eight seasons in the top flight. Of course the pre-season Premier League 2023 betting odds will place the Hatters as the favourites to get relegated but now is not the time to worry about that. And remember, the three sides promoted last year, Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, have all avoided relegation this time around…quite comfortably.
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