This interview appeared in our programme against Coventry City.
For this final interview of the season we talked to Chris Clark who, after nine memorable years as club secretary is moving on to a new role at Liverpool. We asked Chris to reflect on his time at Kenilworth Road.
First of all, Chris, please tell us something about yourself and how you came to Luton.
After graduating from Uni with my degree in management and French I wanted to do something I enjoyed, and combine my love of sport with my career.
My first job was in motorsport, but I’m a football fan, and as club secretary is the highest role in the administration side of a football club, I decided that’s the level I would aim to get to.
I started at Charlton Athletic with an entry-level role as a training ground administrator but had a fantastic insight into the football side of a club. Then, with the introduction of the Elite Player Performance Programme (EPPP) in 2011 and youth football being redefined through the Academy system, I saw a route to the club secretary role, by following the player pathway – and I moved into their academy department as the academy administrator, working with Paul Hart and Nathan Jones.
I then joined QPR, where I also started a Master’s Degree in Sports Law. A club secretary role came up quickly at Stevenage and I moved there, earlier than expected, where I had an excellent grounding at first-team level. However, when the Luton position became available in 2016, I believed in the club’s potential to be at Championship-level, even though both clubs were in League Two at the time. Little did I know what an amazing and rewarding nine years were to follow!
Could you tell us a little bit about what your role as club secretary involves?
It has evolved over the years and up the leagues, bringing more complexities and new challenges, but I’m a football administrator and the core functions of the role are typically player registrations and fixture management and/or operations.
It’s very much on the football side of the club but often crosses over into other departments. The club secretary is responsible for compliance and a guardian of the club, and as we’ve seen, non-compliance can lead to points deductions and financial penalties, so getting that right is crucial. The club secretary is often the point of contact with the governing bodies – be that the EFL, the FA and FIFA – and they all have their own rule books so there’s a bit of a matrix to abide by, on top of legislation. And their rules change from season to season, sometimes within seasons, so adaptability, creativity and attention to detail are paramount; and that’s my job – to navigate the rulebooks and translate them into actions.
I enjoy finding the solution that will give the greatest benefit or advantage to the club: a certain Mr Hylton’s disciplinary record provided some amusing moments and challenges around that – all ‘off the record’ of course!
My job brings a lot of variety and I’ve had a technical role in some of our project developments and operations – from pre-seasons to play-off logistics, to being Covid-compliant for the team to return to training and playing, and then fans to return to Kenilworth Road; coordinating three-hour bus parades, preparing the stadium to be ready for Premier League football, the installation of safe standing in Oak Road and now with Power Court.
What has your time at Luton been like?
I love this club. It’s a very special place. A true family club. Absolutely unique. I’d worked at a few clubs before but I’d never seen such a connection where the chief executive and the board and staff will be mixing with other fans – often in the pub before games – which has become something of a regular tradition at Luton, because they’re all fans too… and whether we were playing Accrington or Arsenal, that hasn’t changed.
It’s representative of an unparalleled connectivity, which, when I came into the club, I wasn’t aware of – but it’s absolutely captured me. I’m not Luton born and bred, I came here professionally, but Luton accepted me, welcomed me and made me feel part of the club and the town.
We still hold the traditions of football. Our owners are local people who have been successful and have been able to put back into the community through their team. The club is a real foundation of the community and we’ve seen when the club does well, the town does well.
The struggles before I came and what Luton has been through, what’s happened in the town and these amazing last nine years are part of the history of the club and what’s shaped it. It also forms part of its future as it informs and guides the thought processes going forward and the culture of the club. Decisions will not be made that could jeopardise its future, unlike the past at Luton and the present at many other clubs. LTFC is looking forward to long-term sustainability with Power Court. And doing things our way: we’re all Luton, we’ll do it our way and we’ll do it with an edge. That’s the club, the town and the supporters alike!
The club and the town are bound together by shared experience and values. There’s a hardworking, industrial heritage with pillars of the community like the hat industry, Vauxhall, the airport – and the football club. The area’s seen hard times and challenges, like the decline of Vauxhall, the 30 points. And whenever the club, and the town, has faced adversity like that it has stood up - and its strength, battling spirit, work ethic and character have come to the fore. I remember Gary shared the values in my job interview and I’ve seen them in action so many times since. The club embodies the town’s resilience and will continue to do so. I believe that the adversities we’ve faced before and the unity of the Luton family will show its strength again, in these last two games and in the longer term.
Does that club-fan connection make a difference to games?
Absolutely yes. As does that mutual defiant spirit. When our backs are to the wall and battling we see some of our best performances on and off the pitch.
That connection also runs from the fans to the players in a wonderful cycle and seeing that on a match day has generated some of my best experiences and atmospheres. The Kenny under the floodlights is like no other. Take that second leg Championship play-offs semi-final against Sunderland for instance. That was just electric. Unbelievable support and belief that we would overcome the deficit – players and fans knowing what had to be done – I don’t think Sunderland knew quite what they were stepping into. And I think that was informed by previous experience in those situations: the semi-final loss to Blackpool, in my first season here, and the loss to Huddersfield.
There’s also that shared sense of being underdogs. Luton gets called all sorts by people and that makes us even more defiant: #teamslikeluton. When you share that unity, it’s fantastic. The fans taking over the whole side of the ground at Notts County, then singing non-stop for, it seemed, forever after the match, at that promotion game. 7,000 fans at Newcastle in the FA Cup. And even behind closed doors we still felt that connection against Blackburn at home to stay up in 2020.
We see how and where the fans travel from and to, home and away, and that’s amazing. With the club being the heartbeat of the community I think there's that draw to come back to Luton, wherever people are from or move to. Our support is fantastic, so resilient – just like the club and the town.
Have you been involved in planning for Power Court and what do you think it means for our future?
Very much so. I have been fortunate to work closely with the project team on compliance and technical matters, and have input where the design will integrate with the operation of the new stadium, to give it functionality and make sure it is our home. Power Court is so important.
It future proofs the club for generations to come, and it’s bringing fundamental change and regeneration to the town centre. It’s an incredible project and it’s going to deliver such a difference: it symbolises the club’s position within the town, at the heart of the community.
Put it this way: I could prepare the paperwork for the club to sign a player, and he can strengthen the team or impact a season, but Power Court is tangible and will make a real difference to people's lives, and for generations to come. The benefits it will bring to the community are so important. And it will be a stadium like no other.
In my time, the club has always been innovative, pushed boundaries and done things differently, and the stadium will do that too. There will be aspects you will never see anywhere else than Luton, as there are at Kenilworth Road – and the design brings some of the unique attributes and spirits of Kenilworth Road to Power Court. One of the toughest decisions about making my move has been leaving before the project is completed, but I am privileged to have played a part.
Tell us about your new role
I will be joining Liverpool as head of player status and administration – it will streamline my role and focus purely on player registrations and administration across all levels of the club.
It was an incredibly hard decision to make because I absolutely love this club. But Gary and the board and staff have been very supportive. They understood what a fantastic opportunity it is for me and I will go there as a representative of Luton.
There are also real parallels between Liverpool and Luton. I think Liverpool, despite their global status, share Luton’s humility and commitment to a community with an amazing spirit and collective unity.
Gary and David Wilkinson have been complimentary of the way Liverpool are run and treated us since our first Premier League meeting when they were sat next to them. I will dearly miss the Luton family – my colleagues, the fans, the players, the town – but I’m going to a place which shares some of the values that make Luton so very special.
Have you a parting message for the fans?
Luton is a family. And your unity with the club, from top to bottom, is such a wonderful, unique connection.
It’s been a privilege working for you – with you – and for the club, and being part of its recent history.
You’re the biggest part of the longer history, of course, and very much its future. And that’s a future which is really bright, with Power Court on the way and everything to play for today!
Thank you Chris – for being such a wonderful, influential (in your words) ‘shadowy figure in the background’, playing such a quiet but important role in your nine eventful years at the club.
On behalf of us supporters, we wish you all the best in your new role, and look forward to welcoming you back – either as a fan or with your new club at Power Court!
Let’s make this another of Chris’ and our amazing Kenilworth Road days and sing and shout our hearts out!
