The Town beat York; and set off on their '94 FA Cup run
THE RECORD
The Town have a good record on this day in the history books and have only lost four times in 20 games on 18th January. The Hatters have won eight and drawn eight of the fixtures, scoring 28 and conceding 20. The Town are currently unbeaten in six matches on this day, a sequence stretching back to 1994. The last time the Town lost on 18th January was a 1-0 home defeat to West Ham in 1992 – Mike Small scoring the Hammers’ winner.
LAST TIME OUT
It was FA Trophy action the last time the Town played on this day and a much-changed side were held to a goalless draw against Hinckley United two years ago. A certain Andre Gray was in the Hinckley side that evening whilst the Town included the likes of Alex Lacey, Brett Longden and Jake Woolley in the squad. The Town won the replay a week later 3-0 at Kenilworth Road.
MINSTERMEN BEATEN
The Town don’t have a particularly good recent record against York City – six games without a win in fact – but the last time the Hatters beat the Minstermen they did so in style as five different scores found the target on this day in 2011. Visiting goalkeeper Michael Ingham saw red inside the first 15 minutes and with no goalkeeper on the substitutes’ bench, City captain Chris Smith donned the gloves but was powerless to prevent goals from Andy Drury, Claude Gnakpa, Lloyd Owusu, Zdenek Kroca and Taiwo Atieno.
DRAGON DRAW
This afternoon would have been Wrexham’s second visit to Kenilworth Road on this day in history. The Welshmen visited Bedfordshire in 1997. The Hatters hadn’t played since Boxing Day but couldn’t find their way through the Wrexham defence in a drab goalless draw.
A BIT OF CLARET
The Town have played four games in the top tier of English football on this day in history, all against three clubs who play in claret and blue. The Town have twice beaten Aston Villa at Kenilworth Road. A 3-0 1958 win was followed 28 years later with a 2-0 win in 1986 thanks to goals from Mike Newell and Brian Stein. In 1975 the Town went down 1-0 at Burnley whilst West Ham beat the Hatters 1-0 at Kenilworth Road in 1992 – Luton’s last game in the top division.
THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY
In 1994 a solitary goal from Paul Telfer earned the Town a 1-0 win over Southend United in an FA Cup third round tie at Kenilworth Road. Little did the 7,953 inside the ground know at the time that the Town would go all the way to Wembley in the competition and reach the semi-final. The Hatters hit the headlines on their way to the last four, beating Premier League Newcastle and West Ham in replays.