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| Ian Dunbavin watches on (picture from Luton Town) |
Shrewsbury Town 0-2 Luton Town
20/04/02 Gay Meadow, attendance 7,858
Shrewsbury Town: Dunbavin, Thompson, Rioch (Moss 62), Tolley, Redmile, Heathcote, Lowe, Atkins (Murray 73), Rodgers, Guinan (Aiston 52), Woan. Subs not used: Wilding, Cartwright.
Luton Town: Emberson, Neilson, Perrett, Coyne, Taylor, Forbes (Boyce 87), Hughes, Spring, Valois (Johnson HT), Howard, Crowe (Kabba 66) Subs not used: Hillier, Ovendale.
Ten years ago, before relegation, Everton, the Conference, New Meadow, Joe Hart, play-off finals, Paul Simpson and the ultimate return of the messiah, Town went into the last game of the season looking very healthily level on points with Rushden & Diamonds in the final play-off spot.
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| Going into the final match |
With a win needed to guarantee a ticket in the play-off lottery, and both Hartlepool and Scunthorpe breathing down Town’s neck, the opponents that bright day in 2002 were the already-promoted Luton Town, a team left with nothing to play for following Plymouth’s 4-1 title-winning romp against Darlington the previous Monday.
Of course, Town lost that day, and with both teams behind winning, ended up finishing 9th. But with much changing in the subsequent decade, it’s worth taking a trip down memory lane and seeing just how much things have changed...
Players
In 2002, it was considered the norm for Division Three clubs to sign creaking old Premier League rejects on relatively massive salaries, their commitment as questionable as their waistband and their lives lived on past glories. Sporadically capable of the odd dead-ball reminiscent of the good old days, but mainly a lumbering burden with their head stuck in 1993, Kevin Ratcliffe was a particular fan and whilst he seemed to get the blend somewhat correct this season, it would prove his undoing the following year. I’m looking at you, Ian Woan.
This practice has thankfully been stamped out at Town in recent years and especially by Graham Turner. These days, Town have had significant purchasing power thanks to a combination of Joe Hart money and being generally very well ran in recent years – I’ll generously gloss over rising ticket prices and an increasing sense of detachment from the average fan – and genuinely exciting young players have been a regular feature.
Several ex-Town players have made it to the Premier League recently, and nearly as impressive as the youth team products of Hart and Dave Edwards have been players such as Marc Tierney and Grant Holt, who have shown that the difference between the very top and the basement division has significantly contracted. Players in League Two are fitter, faster, and more skilful than they were ten years ago as even the lower league game becomes big business.
Of course, all squads at this level will always have the journeymen and for Steve Guinan and Andy Thompson ten years ago read Ian Sharps and Marvin Morgan today. The rules mentioned above still apply though (or is it Town simply improving?) as Sharps and Morgan have both had their moments in coming across as very good footballers who could easily play at a higher level. Morgan’s clothing company provides threads to JLS: a 2002 equivalent of this might be Greg Rioch supplying One True Voice, which seems a bit less likely.
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| Rioch and Morgan: times change (pictures from Shrewsbury Town and Shropshire Star) |
Another constant in League Two will always be a gamble on cost-effective youngsters, but whilst several of the 2002 XI came through Town’s system, the majority today are brought in from elsewhere as standards rise. Graham Turner’s team simply would not carry substandard young players for sentiment’s sake (as has finally been proven with Steve Leslie), instead preferring to bring in highly-rated kids on loan from larger clubs. As standards have rise along with Town’s budget, the reliance on home-grown talent has – for good or for bad – resided. This said, potential top players such as Jon Taylor and Tom Bradshaw will always find a way into the side: but Karl Murray they are not.
Manager
We all know what happened to Ratcliffe’s Shrewsbury the following season, with the high of Everton tempered by a shameful relegation. He jumped before he was pushed ahead of the last game against Scunthorpe, of which Mark Atkins took charge despite some brilliant rumours regarding Frank Skinner.
Jimmy Quinn, Gary Peters, and Paul Simpson all had their good times and bad, the latter two scraping Town into the League Two play-offs with two equally dramatic semi finals followed by two equally lifeless final defeats. Quinn remains the only manager since 1994 to win promotion with Town, setting the precursor with two shootout victories in the 2004 Conference play-offs after finishing about 634 points below losing semi-finalists Hereford.
The return of Graham Turner has brought a change in attitude and a genuine buzz around the club, and for the first time in my 13 years of watching Town I am genuinely convinced by promotion this season. Watching Town play good, winning football and with swelling attendances, the next decade looks far more promising than this or many of the ones before it.
The club
People say what they like about New Meadow – and I certainly have done regarding its soulless, sterile atmosphere and boring identikit design – but nobody can even begin to pretend that we would ever advance with Gay Meadow.
One of the most charming and romantic grounds in the Football League, two words which actually, of course, mean ‘decrepit’ and ‘ramshackle’, only the most plastic, heartless, clipart fan wouldn’t miss it dearly. We’ve all got our sepia-tinged Meadow memories, but the truth has gradually been absorbed: for Town to ever challenge the upper reaches of the Football League, the Greenhous Meadow is a necessity.
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| The Riverside - a glorious relic |
Elsewhere: Roland is still Roland, Lenny is still Lenny, and you still see the same faces in the ticket offices and club shop, which is no longer a portakabin. The cheapest adult Early Bird season ticket for 2012/13 sets you back £270 compared to £208 ten years ago, a 30% rise, with juniors rising from £120 to £150.
Another change has been the hugely popular switch to the new badge, which manages to promote strong brand diversity and corporate awareness whilst remaining in touch with the fanbase and the roots of the club. Or something like that.
A note on the opposition
It’s fair to say Luton have had their own share of drama in the subsequent decade since promotion that season. Promoted as Champions to the Championship in 2005, this was quickly followed by three successive relegations which included 40 points deducted in the latter two seasons for various financial problems. One merciful bright spot was the 2008/09 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, won on the backdrop of a gallant attempt to claw back their 30 point deduction that season.
Things have quietened in past couple of years for the Nick Owen-owned club (well, except for this, obviously) as they have struggled to break out of the Conference – and at the time of writing they once again look unlikely to win a place in the play-offs. Luton look like slipping into a rut that Town may only have avoided thanks to Scott Howie’s heroics.
What if...?
So... what if the score was reversed in this game and Town took a 2-0 victory into the play-offs? Cheltenham would have been the opponents, finishing five points ahead but having already lost 2-1 at Gay Meadow that season. Rushden & Diamonds would have waited at the Millennium Stadium having only finished ahead of Town on goal difference.
If they had been beaten, how would Town have coped in Division Two? Would funds have been made available to make Town a constant at that level? Would we still have the new ground, and would it be the same? How would Luke Rodgers and Sam Aiston handle the step up? Would Town have done a Luton and ended up in the Championship? Or would we have just come straight back down and delayed relegation to the Conference by one more season – an inevitability of the club’s state at that time?
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