page_title: Luton Town F.C.–Watford F.C. rivalry
section_title: The 21st century
hierarchical_section_title: Luton Town F.C.–Watford F.C. rivalry / History / The Football League / The 21st century
caption_attribution_description: English: Rookery stand
context_page_description: South-eastern English football clubs Luton Town and Watford have been rivals since their respective formations in the late 19th century. The clubs are respectively from Luton, Bedfordshire, and Watford, Hertfordshire, and for this reason a match between the two teams is sometimes called a "Beds–Herts Derby". Another name occasionally used in the press is "M1 Derby", which comes from the M1 motorway, which passes both towns. The clubs, which were both founded during the 1880s, met competitively for the first time in the 1898–99 FA Cup. Following this they played each other regularly in the Southern League and The Football League until 1936–37, when Luton's promotion separated them in league competition until 1963–64. The animosity intensified during the late 1960s and the 1970s, and reached a peak during the 1980s, when both teams played in the top-flight First Division. Watford were relegated at the end of the 1987–88 season, while Luton followed four years later.
  The clubs regularly played against each other in the league for six seasons during the 1990s, in the second and third tiers of English football.
context_section_description: A League Cup meeting at Vicarage Road on 10 September 2002 was marred by hooliganism (much of which was blamed on totally inept preparation by the Police who were warned in advance of the match that there would be trouble), with fighting in Watford town centre, railway station and approaches to the football ground before the match. Once in the ground but before the game, Luton fans invaded the pitch several times and this led to the kick-off being delayed by a quarter of an hour. A minute's silence, intended to mark the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks, was also abandoned. When the match finally got under way, Luton went on to win 2–1. After the game prosecutions were brought against 29 supporters; 25 from Luton – some of whom were banned from all football grounds for life – and four from Watford.
  The two clubs were briefly back in the same division when Luton won League One and promotion into the Championship for a renewal of the rivalry during the 2005–06 season. This time the Police in Luton and in Watford took no chances of a repeat of the 2002 trouble. Watford won 2–1 at Kenilworth Road on 2 January 2006, and the return fixture was a 1–1 draw at Vicarage Road on 9 April. Watford ended the season with promotion to the Premier League, while Luton finished 10th. Although Watford were relegated back to the second-tier Football League Championship at the end of the 2006–07 season, Luton were concurrently relegated straight back to the third tier. A Further relegation followed for Luton in the 2007–08 season to the fourth tier; and yet another relegation in 2008–09 season (this time outside of the Football League altogether) to the Conference Premier. This was largely due to docked points and financial mismanagement. 
  Following Watford's promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2014–15 season, and their subsequent ability to stay there, the two clubs financial differences could not be more starkly demonstrated. At the end of the 2019–20 season Watford's turnover was in the region of £260m, with the club ranked the 28th richest football club in the world. Luton, by comparison have a tiny turnover which means that any future upward momentum will be severely restricted. The contrast can also be seen in the two club's respective stadia: Vicararge Road, Watford has had massive infrastructure spending put into it in the last ten years, resulting in a current capacity of 23,700 (rising to 30,900 by the 2021–22 season, while Kenilworth Road, Luton has a capacity of just 9,250. Luton were hoping to move to a new stadium closer to the town centre in time for the 2020–21 season, but as of the end of the 2019–20 season no plans to break ground have been put forward. 
  As of the end of the 2019–20 season, Luton have not won a league match against Watford for more than 26 years (since 17 September 1994, eight matches – two Watford wins and six draws), or a competitive match of any kind against Watford for more than 18 years (since 10 September 2002, two matches – one Watford win and one draw). Watford have been the higher ranked team at the end of every season since 1997 (and for 28 out of the last 29 seasons, with only 1996–97 seeing Luton finish higher in the league than Watford). However, Luton Town currently have more wins with 53 over Watford's 36. 
  The league rivalry between the two clubs is set to restart in the 2020–21 season for the first time in 16 seasons after Luton battled to remain in the Championship, and Watford were relegated from the Premier League, both on the last days of their respective seasons.
caption: The Rookery Stand at Watford's Vicarage Road ground in 2007
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