It’s been quite a rollercoaster ride in the Vertu Trophy and, on Wednesday night, a packed Kenilworth Road will see either the Hatters or Northampton secure a place in the Wembley final.
The other Hatters, Stockport, are waiting under The Arch in April, so let’s get into it shall we?
First and foremost
Tickets for this have almost sold out within a week of reaching the semi-final. Tickets are priced just £5 for adults and £1 for under-16s.
The Luton Town ticket office are advising all supporters to buy in advance for this fixture. You can do that, here.
Cobblers up for the cup
Northampton’s run in the competition has been a highlight of a disappointing season so far for Kevin Nolan’s side.
A run of just one win in their last 15 gams in League One has seen our visitors slip into the bottom four of the table. Saturday’s draw with local rivals Peterborough ended a run of three straight defeats but leaves them two points from safety with 11 league games left to play.
However, their performances in the Vertu Trophy have given Cobblers fans the opportunity to dream of Wembley.
Nolan’s side, who have former Town midfielder Cameron McGeeehan in their ranks, have won all six of their matches in the competition, which included group-stage victories over Chelsea Under-21s, Walsall and Shrewsbury, and knockout wins over Wycombe, Walsall again and AFC Wimbledon – the latter setting up tonight’s tie.
Only Northampton of the semi-finalists have a 100 per cent record in the competition, but have scored 14 times compared to the Town’s 15. The Cobblers’ Kamarai Swyer has five goals – only Doncaster’s Billy Sharp, with six, has more.
Haven’t we met before?
Tonight is the first time Northampton have made the short journey here since they beat us 4-3 here in a League Two meeting in December 2015. Paul Benson scored twice and Danny Green converted a penalty but it was not enough for John Still’s side as the Cobblers earned victory to take them top of the table.
This evening will be our third meeting with the Cobblers in the Football League Trophy, having crossed paths twice 10 years apart, firstly in 1997 and then in 2007.
In 1996/97 the Town were playing in the Auto Windscreens Shield for the very first time and had beaten Leyton Orient 2-1 at Kenilworth Road in the first round.
Third Division (now League Two) Northampton were up next in what was the first meeting between the two clubs in 28 years. It would also be the Town’s first ever visit to the Cobblers’ new Sixfields stadium.
Over 1,100 Hatters fans made the short trip up the M1 but, despite boss Lennie Lawrence naming a strong side, the travelling supporters watched on in horror as the Town succumbed to an 88th minute winner from the hosts Matthew Rush.
Northampton won at Plymouth in the southern section quarter-finals before losing at Colchester in the southern area semis.
Having been relegated from the second tier in 2007 the Town were back in the competition, this time sponsored by Johnstone’s Paint.
On a balmy September evening at Kenilworth Road, the Hatters eased to a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Don Hutchison (pictured above) and substitute Paul Peschisolido. It would prove to be the only goals both players scored in their brief spells in Bedfordshire.
The Town would bow out in the next round, going down 4-3 at Gillingham in what would prove to be their final defeat in the competition until promotion back to the Football League in 2014 having lifted the trophy at Wembley in April 2009.
Tonight’s game represents the furthest Northampton have gone in the competition while the Hatters have previously reached the semi-final stage twice, beating Brighton on penalties in 2009 and losing to Oxford in 2017.
Watch it
If you’re not coming to Kenilworth Road, if you’re in the UK it’s live on Sky. If not, and you’re overseas, the game is available to stream on LTFC+ in the following (deep breath) 104 countries, territories, and regional groupings around the globe.
Albania, American Samoa, Angola, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guam, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Niger, Niue, Norfolk Island, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Solomon Islands, South Korea, South Tyrol (Italy), Spain, Switzerland, Tahiti (French Polynesia), Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Zambia aaaaaaaannndddddd Zimbabwe.
Please be aware this match is not included in monthly or annual subscriptions and match passes must be purchased.
If you are an ex-pat overseas, take advantage of the half-season Global Hatters subscription which is now just £150. All the details are right here.
Town team news
You can read this piece in full here but, in a nutshell, we learned this week that Teden Mengi is likely to miss the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury he sustained against Plymouth last week and has had surgery.
In his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, manager Jack Wilshere revealed that Gideon Kodua is fit to return after missing Saturday’s draw at Port Vale and defender Mads Andersen trained on Tuesday and will be assessed after suffering a knock to his foot against Argyle.
Elijah Adebayo is in the boss’ thoughts of inclusion in the squad having played, and scored, for the Under-21s last week, while Wilshere also confirmed that goalkeeper James Shea will start having played in all of the Vertu Trophy games this term.
Jack’s presser
Watch the manager’s press conference on LTFC+ as he looks ahead to what he hopes will be special game under the lights. All 21 minutes and 48 seconds are here for all to see for free without any logging in faff. Enjoy.
And finally...don’t be THAT fan.
A reminder to all supporters, no matter who you are, how old or who you’re supporting, to go about your day with respect. We continue to support the Love Football, Protect the Game campaign.
Luton Town Football Club has committed in its customer charter to providing safe match-day experiences for all supporters regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation, and this applies equally to home and away fixtures.
In the event that any Luton supporters do make discriminatory chants, the Club will work with the police and football authorities to help identify such individuals. Any such fans would then face the strictest club sanctions, including football banning orders that would prevent them attending any matches, in addition to any criminal charges.
Furthermore, we would like to warn against pitch incursions and the use of pyrotechnics or missiles – including any type of object that is thrown onto the pitch during a match – which could lead to potential prosecution.
The Club can also be held responsible for the behaviour of its supporters, which could lead to substantial fines being imposed.
This also includes entering the playing field after the full-time whistle. Not only are there six home matches remaining – and we’d like the pitch to be in good nick for those – we would also be fined, just like we were after the play-off semi-final win in 2023.
As a diverse and inclusive football club, we also stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our fellow EFL clubs in supporting the FA’s ‘Love Football. Protect the Game’ campaign and call on all fans to enjoy the game in a positive spirit.
If you are offended by any discriminatory abuse of any kind at any of our games, you can report it by clicking HERE, or by contacting your nearest steward immediately.
Alternatively, email [email protected], or report the incident via Kick it Out's free, confidential reporting app on the App Store and Google Play.
We're all Luton.
What we’re liking this week.
What a day this was.
