A case in point: Derby need to learn lesson from Luton on success of sustainability

Maryan Broadbent, from Luton Town Supporters Trust, says the resurrection of the Hatters is a lesson for Derby

WITH Derby County receiving a 21-point deduction for financial regulatory infringements, now is a good time to look at the only club which has faced a more stringent punishment by the football authorities – Luton Town.

Forty points deducted: 10 in 2007/08, followed by an unprecedented 30-point deduction for the following season meaning an unavoidable slide into non-league, with very substantial debts and a fine to pay too: nearly a death sentence.

Now, here’s the thing: while the Derby mismanagement has come from profligate spending under the current owner, Luton Town’s punishment was for the misdemeanours of previous owners. By the time the -30 was decided on, the club had been taken over by the 2020 consortium of supporters – people completely innocent of any ‘wrong doing’.

What has happened since then is a model of how to completely rebuild a club on a sustainable basis. After five seasons in the quicksands of the Conference and successive promotions soon after regaining league status, they are now mid-table in their third season back in the Championship.

This success hasn’t been achieved by chucking money at players and contracts, unlike many. Far from it. Debt-free Luton have  a ground capacity and budget dwarfed by most Championship clubs.

The -30 season was started with only six players signed up, and all recruits had to be – and still are – affordable, with every penny having to be spent wisely, as the club got back on its feet.

Gary Sweet, Luton CEO, quoted in Nige Tassell’s The Hard Yards, said ‘We believe in a model where you shouldn’t have to rely on the generosity or the egotistical nature of an owner to constantly plough money into the business. We don’t feel that’s right in football. And we certainly don’t think that’s right for Luton. So, it doesn’t matter what league we’re in, we cut our cloth accordingly.’

But that’s only part of the story. The club has reached out to the town’s diverse communities and established education, sports and meals initiatives for kids. It was the first to pay the living wage to all and to say ‘no’ to gambling sponsorship. Most impressively, it is about to revolutionise and revive the town’s centre, with a new ground to replace the much-loved but inadequate Kenilworth Road.

The new ground’s position in the middle of the town is a real statement: “There’s nothing else in Luton that connects that broad church of people, of characters, of backgrounds, of religions, of race, like Luton Town Football Club. We are the glue of all that. And you glue the hub, not the edge of the spindles. We want to be in the heart of the town.”

Sweet expanded on this in his recent programme notes: “Our new stadium simply must be a design masterpiece which will possess the opportunity to elevate an entire town whilst safeguarding the unique intimacy of what we have and what we need to protect.’

That’s what responsible, sustainable custodianship of a club is all about: the Fair Game in deed.