Heroes & Villains – Luton Town
Heroes – The 1988 League Cup winning team
The names of Andy Dibble, Tim Breacker, Rob Johnson, Ricky Hill, Steve Foster, Mal Donaghy, Danny Wilson, Brian Stein, Mick Harford, David Preece, Kingsley Black are ingrained into the history of Luton Town Football Club. They were the starting eleven that beat Arsenal 3-2 in the 1988 League Cup Final to win the club’s first (and so far, only) major honour.
Luton lead for most of the game thanks to a 13th minute goal from Brian Stein. Arsenal’s Martin Hayes scored an equaliser after 71 minutes to start a frantic last 20 minutes. Three minutes later, Arsenal forward Alan Smith slotted home a goal in the 74th minute to give Arsenal the lead.
The turning point of the match then happened with 80 minutes on the clock when Nigel Winterburn had his penalty saved by Luton goalkeeper Andy Dibble (You can listen to an interview with Andy Dibble here).
If Winterburn had converted the spot kick, Luton would surely not have been able to come back and it would have been Arsenal’s name on the trophy. As it was, Luton went straight own the other end of the pitch and equalised through Danny Wilson.
Brian Stein then added his second goal of the game in the 90th minute to secure an unlikely victory.
Villains – Liverpool
Luton Town fans will never forgive Liverpool for the ban imposed on English football from 1985. The 1988 League Cup winners never got the opportunity to play in the UEFA Cup the following season, so European football was never played at their Kenilworth Road home.
Various other smaller clubs missed out on European nights such as Coventry City, Oxford United and Wimbledon.
About Author
