# 1996–97 Luton Town F.C. season

During the 1996–97 English football season, Luton Town F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

## Season summary

In the 1996–97 season, Luton started just as badly as the last, with three straight defeats. However, the introduction of young forward Andrew Fotiadis saw Luton burst into life, as they shot up the table with a run of eight wins and two draws in eleven games. Tony Thorpe, too, proved to be a revelation, scoring 28 goals to become the division's top scorer. Luton were nearly promoted, but finished in third place, four points off automatic promotion and then lost to Crewe Alexandra in the play-offs.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Bury | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 62 | 38 | +24 | 84 | Division Champions, promoted |
| 2 | Stockport County | 46 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 59 | 41 | +18 | 82 | Promoted |
| 3 | Luton Town | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 71 | 45 | +26 | 78 | Participated in play-offs |
| 4 | Brentford | 46 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 56 | 43 | +13 | 74 | Participated in play-offs |
| 5 | Bristol City | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 69 | 51 | +18 | 73 | Participated in play-offs |

## Results

Luton Town's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 | 16 November 1996 | Torquay United | A | 1–0 | 3,450 | Hughes |
| R2 | 7 December 1996 | Boreham Wood | H | 2–1 | 5,332 | Marshall (2) |
| R3 | 21 January 1997 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–1 | 7,414 | Johnson |
| R3R | 25 January 1997 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 2–6 | 9,713 | Thorpe (2) |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 1st Leg | 20 August 1996 | Bristol Rovers | H | 3–0 | 2,643 | Grant, Thorpe (pen), Oldfield |
| R1 2nd Leg | 3 September 1996 | Bristol Rovers | A | 1–2 (won 4–2 on agg) | 2,320 | Oldfield |
| R2 1st Leg | 17 September 1996 | Derby County | H | 1–0 | 4,459 | James |
| R2 2nd Leg | 24 September 1996 | Derby County | A | 2–2 (won 3–2 on agg) | 13,569 | Grant, Thorpe |
| R3 | 22 October 1996 | Wimbledon | A | 1–1 | 5,043 | Hughes |
| R3R | 12 November 1996 | Wimbledon | H | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | 8,076 | Blackwell (own goal) |

### Football League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| SR1 | 10 December 1996 | Leyton Orient | H | 2–1 | 1,594 | |
| SR2 | 4 February 1997 | Northampton Town | A | 0–1 | 4,201 | |

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Nathan Abbey |
| — | GK | ENG | Kelvin Davis |
| — | GK | USA | Ian Feuer |
| — | DF | SCO | Graham Alexander |
| — | DF | ENG | Ben Chenery |
| — | DF | ENG | Steve Davis |
| — | DF | ENG | Richard Harvey |
| — | DF | ENG | Julian James |
| — | DF | ENG | Marvin Johnson |
| — | DF | ENG | Des Linton |
| — | DF | ENG | Gavin McGowan (on loan from Arsenal) |
| — | DF | NIR | Darren Patterson |
| — | DF | ENG | Trevor Peake |
| — | DF | ENG | Aaron Skelton |
| — | DF | ENG | Mitchell Thomas |
| — | DF | ENG | Matthew Upson |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Willmott |
| — | MF | ENG | Sean Evers |
| — | MF | BUL | Boncho Genchev |
| — | MF | WAL | Ceri Hughes |
| — | MF | ENG | Paul McLaren |
| — | MF | ENG | David Oldfield |
| — | MF | ENG | Paul Showler |
| — | MF | IRL | Gary Waddock |
| — | FW | ENG | Stuart Douglas |
| — | FW | ENG | Andrew Fotiadis |
| — | FW | IRL | Liam George |
| — | FW | GHA | Kim Grant |
| — | FW | ENG | Andy Kiwomya (on loan from Bradford City) |
| — | FW | JAM | Dwight Marshall |
| — | FW | ENG | John Taylor |
| — | FW | ENG | Tony Thorpe |

## Player details

    Players arranged in alphabetical order by surname.
| Pos. | Name | League | League | Cup | Cup | Playoffs | Playoffs | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| DF | Graham Alexander | 44 (1) | 2 | 11 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 57 (2) | 3 |
| GK | Kelvin Davis | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Steve Davis | 43 (1) | 8 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 57 (1) | 9 |
| FW | Stuart Douglas | 2 (7) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (8) | 0 |
| MF | Sean Evers | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| GK | Ian Feuer | 46 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 59 | 0 |
| FW | Andrew Fotiadis | 9 (8) | 3 | 0 (4) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 10 (13) | 3 |
| MF | Boncho Genchev | 15 (12) | 1 | 6 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 (16) | 1 |
| FW | Kim Grant | 8 (17) | 2 | 6 (2) | 3 | 0 (1) | 0 | 14 (20) | 5 |
| DF | Richard Harvey | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| MF | Ceri Hughes | 36 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 6 |
| DF | Julian James | 44 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 56 | 2 |
| DF | Marvin Johnson | 44 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 1 |
| FW | Andy Kiwomya | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| DF | Des Linton | 3 (4) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (4) | 0 |
| FW | Dwight Marshall | 9 (15) | 4 | 5 (1) | 3 | 0 (2) | 0 | 14 (18) | 7 |
| DF | Gavin McGowan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Paul McLaren | 13 (11) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 (12) | 0 |
| MF | David Oldfield | 31 (7) | 6 | 5 (2) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 38 (9) | 11 |
| DF | Darren Patterson | 8 (2) | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 (3) | 0 |
| MF | Paul Showler | 21 (2) | 6 | 7 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 (4) | 6 |
| MF | Aaron Skelton | 2 (1) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (1) | 0 |
| DF | Mitchell Thomas | 42 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 3 |
| FW | Tony Thorpe | 39 (2) | 28 | 6 (1) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 48 (3) | 31 |
| DF | Matthew Upson | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| MF | Gary Waddock | 38 (1) | 2 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 (1) | 2 |