List of Luton Town F.C. players


is an English football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, Luton Town became the first professional team in southern England six years later and joined The Football League in 1897. After leaving the League in 1900 due to financial strife, Luton Town competed in the Southern League until Football League membership was regained 20 years later. After an 89-year period of League membership, the team was relegated to the Conference Premier in 2009 due to a 30-point deduction imposed by the football authorities. Five seasons later, the club won promotion back to The Football League.
Luton Town's first team has competed in numerous nationally contested competitions, and the 50 players judged in 2009 the club's best by Denis O'Donoghue of The Times are listed below. In addition, all players who have appeared 100 times for the club in these competitions are given. Club record holders are also included, regardless of the number of matches they played.
Fred Hawkes holds the record for most league appearances for the club, having played 509 matches between 1901 and 1920. The closest to Hawkes's record is Bob Morton, who appeared 495 times between 1948 and 1964. Including all senior competitions, Morton leads the chart with 562 compared to Hawkes's 549. As of 1 July 2009, the player who has won the most international caps while at the club is Mal Donaghy, who appeared 58 times for Northern Ireland.
The goalscoring record is held by Gordon Turner, who scored 276 goals between 1949 and 1964. Turner's tally of 243 league goals is also a club record. Turner's nearest rival is Andy Rennie, whose 147 league goals, 162 in total, were scored between 1925 and 1934. Joe Payne holds the Luton Town record for the most goals scored in a season, set in 1936–37, with 55 league goals in 39 Third Division South games and 58 in all competitions. Payne also holds the Football League record for most goals in a match, with 10 during a 12–0 victory over Bristol Rovers on 13 April 1936. Turner holds the club record for most goals in a top-flight season, with 33 league goals and 38 overall during 1957–58.

Key

  • Players with name in bold currently play for the club.
  • Players with this background and text in bold in the "Nationality" column won full international caps for their country while with the club. If no reliable source has yet been found for the exact number of such caps won, the caps column will be empty and a reference will be supplied for the player having been capped during the relevant period.
  • ¤ Players with this background and symbol in the "Notes" column are club record holders, and have footnotes detailing their achievements.
  • † Players with this background and symbol in the "Club career" column played for Luton for their entire football career.
  • Years are the first and last calendar years in which the player appeared in competitive first-team football for the club.
  • League appearances and goals comprise those in the Southern Football League, the United League, the Football League and the Conference Premier.
  • Total appearances and goals comprise those in the Southern Football League, United League, Football League, Conference Premier, FA Cup, Football League Cup, Associate Members' Cup/Football League Trophy and several now-defunct competitions including the Anglo-Italian Cup, Texaco Cup, Watney Cup and Full Members' Cup.

    Notable players

''The Times'' top 50 (2009)

File:Bruce Rioch.jpg|thumb|upright|Bruce Rioch, pictured here in 2008, played for Luton from 1964 to 1969 and later became the first captain of Scotland born in England.|alt=A portrait photograph of a grey-haired man wearing glasses and a black suit.
File:Paul Walsh.JPG|thumb|upright|Paul Walsh played for Luton from 1982 until 1984, when he was sold to Liverpool. He is seen here in that club's colours following a 2008 match featuring former players.|alt=A middle-aged, blond-haired man in a red shirt walks towards the viewer's right at a 45-degree angle.
File:Foster signing.JPG|thumb|upright|Steve Foster, pictured in 2006, played for Luton from 1984 to 1989 and captained the club to its Football League Cup victory of 1987–88.|alt=A dark-haired, middle-aged man in a black suit sits at a table, signing autographs.
File:ChrisCoyne.jpg|thumb|upright|Chris Coyne played for the club from 2001 to 2008, captaining it from 2006. He is pictured here playing for Australia in 2008.|alt=A young, dark-haired, bearded man in a yellow, green and white football shirt looks to his right, the sun casting a shadow across his body.
NameNationalityCapsPositionClub careerLeague
apps		League
goals		Total
apps		Total
goals		Notes
Forward1925–1934307147335162-
'1Forward1934–19388387¤
Forward1938–194887639570-
'1Goalkeeper1946–195727603010-
'3Defender1947–195938834233-
Midfielder1948–1964 †4954856255¤
Forward1949–1964406243450276¤
Midfielder1951–19551064111943-
'3Goalkeeper1952–196538804320-
Forward1952–19543236-
'19Forward1953–19611842121230-
'7Midfielder1958–19602710233-
Forward1963–196684649066-
Midfielder1964–19691494616751-
Midfielder1965–1973182212023-
Defender1965–19732741330614-
Goalkeeper1965–19722031223312-
Midfielder1965–19732752831232-
Defender1967–1971101911819-
Defender1968–19721441116011-
Forward1968–197045225325-
Forward1969–19714910158-
Midfielder1972–19781743120137-
Defender1972–197820962397-
Defender1972–197611011352-
Midfielder1973–19812851631717-
Defender1974–197812391359-
Defender1974–197813111421-
Forward1974–19781204013343-
'3Midfielder1975–19894365450765-
'1Forward1977–1988
1991–1992		427130496154-
'58Defender1978–1988
1989–1990		4151648821¤
Midfielder1978–19852218824594-
Defender1978–198422722482-
Midfielder1980–1984100910810-
Midfielder1981–1984118813210-
'5Forward1982–19842428¤
Defender1983–199021032623-
Goalkeeper1983–199020702590-
Defender1984–19891631121314-
2Forward1984–1990
1991–1992		1686921692-
Midfielder1984–19953362139427-
Defender1987–2002 †373744010-
Forward1993–1998
1998
1999
2002–2003		1647019385-
Defender1999–20021291614617-
Forward2001–200621296228103-
Defender2001–20082211425217-
Midfielder2001–2006
2008–2010		2163023733-
Midfielder2001–2002346406-
Defender2003–200522¤