The match for 220 million euros: Luton Town and Coventry City sniff ticket for football treasure trove | Foreign football

Burnley won the Championship, England’s second football league, and Sheffield United came second. With this, those teams assured themselves of a starting ticket for the new Premier League season. Just like in the Netherlands, our overseas neighbor has a play-off competition with the aim of promotion to the highest level. The difference is that in England 4 teams from the Championship participate and in the Netherlands 6 from the Kitchen Champion Division and one from the Eredivisie.

After the semi-finals in mid-May are Luton Town and Coventry City the last teams standing. Luton knocked out Sunderland 3-2 over two games, Coventry defeated Middlesbrough 1-0. The two fallen English clubs already smelled a place in the football treasure trove, but the cult clubs proved too strong and will compete for the glitz and glamor in front of 90,000 frenzied supporters at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 27 May.

Any romantic football fan would love it: Luton Town in the Premier League. Not a wealthy owner who keeps pouring money into the club and certainly not a state-of-the-art stadium in Bedfordshire. No, an old-fashioned stadium in the middle of a Luton residential area.

In fact, Luton’s home venue is so ‘cult’ that a renovation is necessary for promotion. The facilities are outdated and the FA rules for a stadium are stricter in the Premier League. Of the 220 million euros, ‘only’ 5 percent will go to the renovation, leaving a nice pot for transfers. In 2024 there will be a brand new stadium anyway. It is closer to the center and can accommodate 17,500 people. Now 10,000 fans can enter Kenilworth Road.

The history of Luton Town, founded in 1885, is great, but the success is rather scant. In the 1987/1988 season it won the only main prize, namely the League Cup. The title was won once at the second level, in 1981/1982. Even longer ago, in 1958/1959 The Hatters the FA Cup final. This was lost 2-1 against Nottingham Forest.

What makes the story more beautiful is that the club was still playing in League Two, the fourth level in England, in 2017/2018. At the time Luton finished second behind Accrington Stanley. This resulted in a promotional ticket. Became a season later The Hatters champion in League One and thus ended up in the Championship.

Over the last four seasons, Rob Edwards’ team has steadily developed into a promotion contender to the Premier League. And that word PhD candidate can therefore be converted into PhD candidate with one win. One game is still to be won, against Coventry City. If that succeeds, Luton will be back in the Premier League after 31 years. The 7th place in 1986/1987 is the highest ever position for Luton Town.

The other promotion play-off finalist is a bit more modern than Luton. Coventry City has a stadium as big as that of PSV. In addition, it offers facilities that a tourist would say to you when visiting that city. The Coventry Building Society Arena (CBA Arena) features a hotel, shopping center and casino. You can also watch football there, possibly at Premier League level next year.

The Sky Blues present an award for best player every season. Both this and last season, the prize went to a compatriot. Gustavo Hamer (former player Feyenoord, FC Dordrecht and PEC Zwolle) was the best in the eyes of the fans. Since arriving in 2020, he has made 122 appearances for Coventry and Saturday against Luton will be the most important ever for the 25-year-old Brazilian-born Dutchman.

In the final on May 27, 2019, Anwar El Ghazi was a decisive factor during the play-off final. He scored the opening goal for Aston Villa in a 2-1 win against Derby County. That feat may now be reserved for Hamer. He already scored the only and winning goal in the semi-finals against Middlesbrough.

Coventry City won the FA Cup once. In the 1986/1987 season 3-2 too strong for Tottenham Hotspur. At the time, this resulted in a ticket for the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. But the West Midlands team stayed home because England was not allowed to send teams into Europe due to the Heysel disaster.

After that, things slowly got worse for the club. In 2001 it was relegated from the Premier League and in the 2017/2018 season it was even active in the fourth level. Since then Coventry’s advance has been similar to Luton’s. Through promotions and steady development combined with stability, a Premier League ticket is suddenly close for coach Mark Robins’ team.

With promotion, the old club record can be hunted. In 1969/1970 Coventry City, which was founded in 1883, finished in 6th place in the top English league. Although the general expectation is that that record will remain for the time being.