Luton Town F.C.

Luton Town Football Club /ˈluːtən ˈtaʊn/ is an English association football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. Founded in 1885, it is nicknamed "the Hatters" and affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association. Its first team is contesting the fourth tier of English football, League Two, during the 2015–16 season. The club's history includes major trophy wins, several financial crises, numerous promotions and relegations, and some spells of sustained success. It was perhaps most prominent between 1982 and 1992, when it was a member of English football's top division, at that time the First Division; the team won its first major honour, the Football League Cup, in 1988.

The club was the first in southern England to turn professional, making payments to players as early as 1890 and turning fully professional a year later. It joined the Football League before the 1897–98 season, left in 1900 because of financial problems, and rejoined in 1920. Luton reached the First Division in 1955–56 and contested a major final for the first time when playing Nottingham Forest in the 1959 FA Cup Final. The team was then relegated from the top division in 1959–60, and demoted twice more in the following five years, playing in the Fourth Division from the 1965–66 season. However, it was promoted back to the top level by 1974–75.

Luton

Luton (ⁱ/ˈluːtən/ LOOT-ən,local /ˈluːʔən/) is a large town, borough and unitary authority area of Bedfordshire, England. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 258,000. It is located 20 miles (30 km) east of Aylesbury, 14 miles (20 km) west of Stevenage, 30 miles (50 km) north-northwest of London, and 22 miles (40 km) southeast of Milton Keynes.

Luton is home to League Two team Luton Town Football Club, whose history includes several spells in the top flight of the English league as well as a Football League Cup triumph in 1988. They play at Kenilworth Road stadium, which has been their home since 1905.

London Luton Airport, opened in 1938, is one of England's major airports. During the Second World War it doubled as an RAF base.

The University of Bedfordshire is based in the town.

The Luton Carnival, which has traditionally been held on the Whitsun May bank holiday, is the largest one-day carnival in Europe. It has for the past two years been held on the Sunday instead. In 2012, it was moved to July to coincide with the Olympic Torch Relay and celebrations.

Luton (disambiguation)

Luton is a large town in Bedfordshire. It may also refer to the following.

See also

Luton (UK Parliament constituency)

Luton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Luton in Bedfordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

The Bedfordshire Southern or Luton constituency was created for the 1885 general election as a county division of Bedfordshire, when the former Bedfordshire county constituency was abolished.

Luton became a borough constituency in 1950 ().

At the February 1974 general election the Borough constituency was abolished, and replaced by two new borough constituencies: Luton East and Luton West.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Boroughs of Dunstable and Luton, the Sessional Divisions of Leighton Buzzard, Luton, and Woburn, and part of the Sessional Division of Ampthill.

1918-1950: The Municipal Boroughs of Dunstable and Luton, and the Rural District of Luton.

1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of Luton except the wards of Leagrave and Limbury.