With nothing better to do, this morning, I decided to tune into the draw for the UEFA Champions League and Europa League quarter-final ties.
Whilst the draw, as usual, seemed to take an age, I could not stop my mind from wandering.
I could not help but ponder whether, somewhere down the line, the Hatters would one day be involved in European football.
It may not come in my lifetime, after all I am advancing in years, but it might happen one day, and Power Court could herald a whole new era for the Hatters.
Then, still waiting for the draw to happen, I recalled a time when Luton Town were involved in a form of European football, in the Anglo-Italian Cup, in 1973.
It was, to put it mildly, a weird competition.
Eight teams were allocated to a group, four from England and four from Italy, but you only played the Italian opposition and with two points for a win and one for a draw, you qualified for the next round if you came in the top two in your national group.
The four Italian sides were Bari, Fiorentina, Hellas Verona and Lazio while the English sides in our half of the draw were Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Hull City and ourselves.
The Hatters first game, a fixture I can clearly remember, came against Bari and the Hatters stormed to a 4-0 win.
Well poised for a good competition, Luton’s next game was against Hellas Verona and the Hatters slipped to a 2-0 defeat.
With a win and a defeat from the opening two games, Luton added another win to their record when they welcomed Fiorentina to Kenilworth Road, beating the Italian side 1-0.
The last game, of Group A. saw Luton make a trip to Rome to take on Lazio with Luton earning a creditable 2-2 draw, thereby giving the Hatters a total of 5 points from the 4 games.
Unfortunately, it was not enough to qualify for the next round with Crystal Palace topping the group with 7 points followed by Manchester United with 6 points.
Luton were not to play in the Anglo Italian Cup until the 1992 / 1993 season,
I can recall the game against Bari but none of the others, can you?
COYH’s
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Preston v Luton?
Preston to Win!
Luton to Win
A Draw!
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