# 2000–01 Luton Town F.C. season

The 2000–01 season was the 115th season in the history of Luton Town Football Club, the club's 80th consecutive year in the Football League and its 83rd overall. Luton ended the season relegated from the Second Division, dropping into the basement level of League football for the first time since the 1967–68 season. The club went through a total of three managers following the departure of Lennie Lawrence; firstly Ricky Hill, then Lil Fuccillo, and eventually settling on Irishman Joe Kinnear. Under Kinnear's management, Luton underwent an initial resurgence, winning five of out of his first seven games. However, they failed to win any of their games in the final quarter of the season and ultimately slipped into the Third Division. Luton won only nine league games all season, setting a club record for the fewest wins over a 46-game season.
This article covers the period from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001.

## Season summary

One of new chairman Mike Watson-Challis' first acts was, on 4 July, to sack manager Lennie Lawrence and look to appoint his own man. Ex-player and fan favourite Ricky Hill was appointed a week later, and was provided with the resources to build his own squad. One signing was that of goalkeeper Mark Ovendale from AFC Bournemouth, who cost £425,000; the most the club had spent on a player since the 1995–96 season when they were competing in the First Division. Ovendale struggled to make an impact, which was the story of most of Hill's acquisitions, who included among their number untested foreign players Friedrich Breitenfelder, Petri Helin and Kent Karlsen.
Hill's reign began with a defeat to Notts County and did not improve from there; one win in their first ten league games left Luton in the relegation zone and the fans voicing their displeasure. A penalty shootout victory over Peterborough United in the League Cup set up a tie with Premier League side Sunderland, but Luton collapsed to a 5–1 aggregate defeat. One further league win followed, but even more defeats left Luton in 23rd place by early November. Hill resigned on 15 November to be replaced by his assistant, another former Luton player, Lil Fuccillo. John Moore, who had led the club to their highest-ever league finish in the 1986–87 season and was in charge of the youth team, was installed as Fuccillo's assistant. Luton's fortunes failed to improve under this tenure, suffering seven further league defeats, though a run to the Third Round of the FA Cup did offer some respite.
With the club failing to impress on the pitch and facing the prospect of relegation, Watson-Challis acted to recruit a Director of Football to oversee "all football matters". Former Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear was appointed to this role on 8 February, but his first act was to immediately demote Fuccillo to assistant and place himself in charge. Kinnear's arrival prompted an initial resurgence in form – Luton won five of their next seven games and were one point away from 20th position, and safety, by 6 March. However, they failed to win again during the campaign and, on 24 April, were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in 33 years following a 1–0 loss to Rotherham United.
With the season drawing to a close, Kinnear signed striker Steve Howard from nearby Northampton Town for a fee of £50,000, released five players, and transfer listed four others.

## Match results

Luton Town results given first.

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Friendlies

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Notes |
| 22 July 2000 | Bromley | Away | 5–2 | Unknown | Fotiadis, George (2), Mark Stein, Brennan | |
| 26 July 2000 | St Albans City | Away | 2–1 | 900 | Carter, A. Douglas | Luton XI |
| 27 July 2000 | Welling United | Away | 1–0 | Unknown | Mark Stein | |
| 31 July 2000 | Grimsby Town | Away | 1–1 | 3,475 | Fotiadis | |
| 2 August 2000 | Hull City | Away | 1–0 | 1,415 | Mark Stein | |
| 4 August 2000 | Rushden & Diamonds | Away | 5–1 | 3,065 | Mark Stein (2), Spring (pen), Taylor, Boyce | |

### Football League Second Division

    All results, goals, attendances etc. taken from Soccerbase
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 12 August 2000 | Notts County | Home | 0–1 | 7,059 | – |
| 19 August 2000 | Wigan Athletic | Away | 1–2 | 6,518 | Watts |
| 26 August 2000 | AFC Bournemouth | Home | 1–0 | 5,221 | Spring (pen) |
| 28 August 2000 | Wycombe Wanderers | Away | 1–1 | 6,001 | Kandol |
| 2 September 2000 | Rotherham United | Away | 1–1 | 4,061 | Fotiadis |
| 9 September 2000 | Northampton Town | Home | 0–2 | 6,712 | – |
| 12 September 2000 | Walsall | Home | 0–0 | 4,362 | – |
| 16 September 2000 | Swansea City | Away | 0–4 | 6,011 | – |
| 23 September 2000 | Swindon Town | Home | 2–3 | 4,933 | Stein, George |
| 30 September 2000 | Bristol Rovers | Away | 3–3 | 7,901 | Kandol (2), George |
| 8 October 2000 | Millwall | Home | 0–1 | 5,345 | – |
| 13 October 2000 | Cambridge United | Away | 1–2 | 6,191 | Stein |
| 17 October 2000 | Oxford United | Away | 0–0 | 4,537 | – |
| 21 October 2000 | Brentford | Home | 3–1 | 5,382 | Stuart Douglas (2), Spring (pen) |
| 28 October 2000 | Wrexham | Home | 3–4 | 5,341 | Stein, Watts, George |
| 4 November 2000 | Bury | Away | 1–1 | 2,861 | Helin |
| 11 November 2000 | Bristol City | Home | 0–3 | 6,595 | – |
| 25 November 2000 | Port Vale | Home | 0–3 | 4,194 | – |
| 2 December 2000 | Stoke City | Away | 3–1 | 12,389 | McLaren, Thomson (2) |
| 16 December 2000 | Colchester United | Home | 0–3 | 4,791 | – |
| 23 December 2000 | Reading | Away | 1–4 | 10,771 | Nogan |
| 26 December 2000 | Peterborough United | Home | 3–2 | 7,374 | Spring, Holmes, Boyce |
| 30 December 2000 | Wigan Athletic | Home | 0–2 | 5,332 | – |
| 1 January 2001 | AFC Bournemouth | Away | 2–3 | 5,411 | Fotiadis, Locke |
| 12 January 2001 | Wycombe Wanderers | Home | 1–2 | 4,551 | Locke |
| 23 January 2001 | Oldham Athletic | Home | 0–2 | 3,011 | – |
| 10 February 2001 | Northampton Town | Away | 1–0 | 6,633 | Douglas |
| 13 February 2001 | Notts County | Away | 3–1 | 4,333 | Boyce, George, Fotiadis |
| 17 February 2001 | Swansea City | Home | 5–3 | 7,085 | Mansell (2), Douglas, Rowland, George |
| 20 February 2001 | Walsall | Away | 1–3 | 4,816 | Spring |
| 24 February 2001 | Swindon Town | Away | 3–1 | 7,160 | Rowland, Boyce, Mansell |
| 28 February 2001 | Bristol Rovers | Home | 0–0 | 7,405 | – |
| 6 March 2001 | Cambridge United | Home | 1–0 | 6,370 | Taylor |
| 10 March 2001 | Millwall | Away | 0–1 | 11,691 | – |
| 27 March 2001 | Peterborough United | Away | 1–1 | 5,425 | Mansell |
| 31 March 2001 | Colchester United | Away | 1–3 | 4,271 | Howard (pen) |
| 3 April 2001 | Reading | Home | 1–1 | 6,132 | own goal |
| 7 April 2001 | Stoke City | Home | 1–2 | 6,456 | Mansell |
| 10 April 2001 | Oxford United | Home | 1–1 | 6,010 | Watts |
| 14 April 2001 | Oldham Athletic | Home | 0–0 | 4,886 | – |
| 16 April 2001 | Wrexham | Away | 1–3 | 3,339 | Watts |
| 21 April 2001 | Bury | Home | 1–2 | 4,902 | George |
| 24 April 2001 | Rotherham United | Home | 0–1 | 4,854 | – |
| 28 April 2001 | Bristol City | Away | 1–3 | 9,161 | George |
| 3 May 2001 | Brentford | Away | 2–2 | 3,287 | Howard, McLaren |
| 5 May 2001 | Port Vale | Home | 1–1 | 5,260 | Howard |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| First round | 17 November 2000 | Rushden & Diamonds | Home | 1–0 | 5,771 | George |
| Second round | 9 December 2000 | Darlington | Away | 0–0 | 3,667 | – |
| Second round replay | 19 December 2000 | Darlington | Home | 2–0 | 3,563 | Nogan, McLaren |
| Third round | 6 January 2001 | Queens Park Rangers | Home | 3–3 | 8,677 | Fotiadis, George, Douglas |
| Third round replay | 17 January 2001 | Queens Park Rangers | Away | 1–2 | 14,395 | Mansell |

### Football League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| First round first leg | 22 August 2000 | Peterborough United | Home | 0–0 | 3,175 | – |
| First round second leg | 5 September 2000 | Peterborough United | Away | 2–2 (aet) | 4,286 | Stein, Scarlett |
| Second round first leg | 19 September 2000 | Sunderland | Away | 0–3 | 24,668 | – |
| Second round second leg | 26 September 2000 | Sunderland | Home | 1–2 | 5,262 | Kandol |

### Football League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Notes |
| Southern Section First Round | 5 December 2000 | Peterborough United | Away | 0–1 | 2,075 | – | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 20 | Swindon Town | 46 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 47 | 65 | −18 | 52 | |
| 21 | Bristol Rovers (R) | 46 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 53 | 57 | −4 | 51 | Relegation to Football League Third Division |
| 22 | Luton Town (R) | 46 | 9 | 13 | 24 | 52 | 80 | −28 | 40 | Relegation to Football League Third Division |
| 23 | Swansea City (R) | 46 | 8 | 13 | 25 | 47 | 73 | −26 | 37 | Relegation to Football League Third Division |
| 24 | Oxford United (R) | 46 | 7 | 6 | 33 | 53 | 100 | −47 | 27 | Relegation to Football League Third Division |

## Player statistics

    Last match played on 5 May 2001. Players with a zero in every column only appeared as unused substitutes.
| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | FL Trophy | FL Trophy | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| MF | Matthew Taylor | 45 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 54 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Matthew Spring | 41 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Liam George | 37 (6) | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 (7) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Emmerson Boyce | 42 | 3 | 2 (1) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 (1) | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Paul McLaren | 35 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Mark Stein | 19 (11) | 3 | 1 (1) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | 23 (13) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Julian Watts | 26 (2) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 (2) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Mark Ovendale | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Adam Locke | 17 (8) | 2 | 2 (1) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 (10) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Petri Helin | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Andrew Fotiadis | 12 (10) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 (10) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Stuart Fraser | 10 (5) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Nathan Abbey | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Stuart Douglas | 15 (6) | 4 | 1 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 (7) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Peter Holmes | 12 (6) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 (7) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Richard Dryden | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Lee Mansell | 17 (1) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 (1) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Trésor Kandol | 6 (7) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 (8) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Peter Thomson | 4 (7) | 2 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 (9) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Adrian Whitbread | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Steve Howard | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Keith Rowland | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Andre Scarlett | 5 (4) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 (5) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Dean Brennan | 2 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (9) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Marvin Johnson | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Lee Nogan | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 10 (1) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Jude Stirling | 5 (4) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Kent Karlsen | 4 (2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Paul Shepherd | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Gavin McGowan | 5 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Friedrich Breitenfelder | 2 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Rocky Baptiste | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | James Ayres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Scott Ward | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Managerial statistics

    Only competitive games from the 2000–01 season are included.
| Name | Nat. | From | To | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Honours |
| Name | Nat. | From | To | PLD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W% | Honours |
| Ricky Hill | | 10 July 2000 | 11 November 2000 | 21 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 20 | 36 | −16 | 009.5 | – |
| Lil Fuccillo | | 16 November 2000 | 8 February 2001 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 28 | −11 | 026.7 | – |
| Joe Kinnear | | 8 February 2001 | – | 20 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 25 | 29 | −4 | 025.0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 56 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 62 | 93 | −31 | 019.6 |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Fee |
| 14 July 2000 | Mark Stein | AFC Bournemouth | Free |
| 1 August 2000 | Friedrich Breitenfelder | St. Pölten | Free |
| 2 August 2000 | Peter Holmes | Sheffield Wednesday | Free |
| 7 August 2000 | Mark Ovendale | AFC Bournemouth | £425,000 |
| 10 August 2000 | Dean Brennan | Sheffield Wednesday | Free |
| 11 September 2000 | Peter Thomson | NAC Breda | £100,000 |
| 24 October 2000 | Rocky Baptiste | Hayes | Free |
| 2 November 2000 | Petri Helin | FC Jokerit | Free |
| 3 November 2000 | Kent Karlsen | Vålerenga | Free |
| 23 November 2000 | Lee Nogan | Darlington | Free |
| 2 February 2001 | Richard Dryden | Southampton | Free |
| 22 March 2001 | Paul Shepherd | Scunthorpe United | Free |
| 22 March 2001 | Steve Howard | Northampton Town | £50,000 |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2000 | Michael McIndoe | Hereford United | Free |
| 16 July 2000 | Alan White | Colchester United | Free |
| 17 July 2000 | Phil Gray | Burnley | Free |
| 24 July 2000 | Efe Sodje | Crewe Alexandra | Free |
| 24 November 2000 | Paul Read | Exeter City | Free |
| 11 January 2001 | James Ayres | Released | Released |
| 12 February 2001 | Lee Nogan | York City | Free |
| 20 April 2001 | Nathan Abbey | Released | Released |
| 20 April 2001 | Rocky Baptiste | Released | Released |
| 20 April 2001 | Friedrich Breitenfelder | Released | Released |
| 20 April 2001 | Gavin McGowan | Released | Released |
| 20 April 2001 | Andre Scarlett | Released | Released |
| 31 May 2001 | Mark Stein | Released | Released |
| 31 May 2001 | Julian Watts | Northern Spirit | Free |
| 8 June 2001 | Paul McLaren | Sheffield Wednesday | Free |

### Loans in

| Date | Player | From | End date | Ref. |
| 25 January 2001 | Keith Rowland | Queens Park Rangers | 8 May 2001 | |
| 23 November 2000 | Adrian Whitbread | Portsmouth | 24 January 2001 | |