Luton Town – Recollections Of 1974-1975 – Liverpool (h)

It had been a long, long summer. My first as a teenager and one I wanted to pass quickly.

I was excited, memories of the Hatters exploits from the previous season were still very fresh in my mind, a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion, a game I couldn’t get to, was enough to ensure my Luton Town would be making a return to top-flight football.

I’d gone to the last home game of the season, a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Sunderland, but the result didn’t matter, it was a giant party inside Kenilworth Road, a celebration of what the team had achieved under the stewardship of Harry Haslam.

I can remember walking home that night, along Leagrave Road, stopping for a bag of over-salted chips, my preference, at the chip shop opposite SKF. The walk home saw my mind racing with thoughts, who’d be our first game, would I be able to get a ticket, would Luton Town cope with life in the top flight?

The ticket problem was soon solved, with cash in hand from an evening paper round, I was able, during the summer, to take a walk to the ticket office and purchase a standing ticket for the Maple Road enclosure, with my payment consisting of a lot of coinage.

Summer seemed to drag on and on, the wait for the fixtures seemed to be an eternity but when they were finally released, the thought of entertaining the mighty Liverpool had me delivering my bag of newspapers with a grin on my face.

Counting the days down, sleep proved to be impossible on the night before the game, my mind was racing, my heart was pumping, my first taste of supporting a top-flight team was almost upon me, a dream had come true, a dream I’d harboured since my father had first taken me to Kenilworth Road, back in 1967.

On the morning of the game, I was up early, choosing what clothes to wear and making sure I had to hand my Luton Town scarf. Soon I was off down the road, cheerily waving goodbye to my mum who told me to be careful, especially with the away supporters, from Liverpool, descending upon the town.

Wandering down Leagrave Road and into Dunstable Road, the atmosphere was starting to build. I walked as far as the West Side Centre, looking for my best mate. My eyes were darting around, keeping an eye out for unfamiliar faces, wary of being the young teenager away supporters might take advantage of.

I thought about treating myself to some chicken and chips, but mindful of how little money I had left, I opted for a quick visit to the supermarket, grabbing a choccy bar or two, to last the match. Soon I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was my school mate, surveying the growing mass of people around us, we were soon making our way towards the ground, walking up Hazelbury Crescent.

Soon the vast terrace that was the Kenilworth Road end was visible, looking around to see if it had changed much during the summer, we were soon entering the Maple Road stand, showing our season ticket vouchers before walking down the dozen or so steps to take a view of the pitch. It looked magnificent, like a lush lawn, carefully decorated with the white lines associated with the game we loved, almost too good to tread on and probably deserving of a ‘Keep Off The Grass’ notice.

The ground was starting to fill up, we’d taken our places, right at the front, next to the Luton Town dugout, next to two lovely ladies, one of whom we were later to find out was Bobby Thompson’s sister. As kick-off neared and with the ground almost full to capacity, I was disappointed that there were not more Liverpool fans in the Kenilworth Road end.

There was no swaying mass like you see on Match of the Day, of the famous Kop, instead there was a group standing together, trying to get a few songs going with others scattered around, mingling with the Luton support that chose to use the open terrace. The Oak Road were in full voice and the moment I had longed for, all summer, was almost upon us.

A roar greeted the entrance of the teams, the vast numbers crammed into the central section of the Oak Road swayed in unison, taunting the opposition with the odd little ditty or two. Soon the action was underway, I watched it almost spellbound not quite able to believe my Luton were taking on a Liverpool side that contained the likes of, among others, Kevin Keegan, Emlyn Hughes and Ray Clemence.

Cheering the lads on I was dancing my own special jig of joy when, with just twenty-seven minutes gone, Barry Butlin rose the highest to send a header into the net, in front of the adoring Oak Road. The ground was awash with a cacophany of sound, Luton were ahead against the might of Liverpool.

I hoped that lead could be preserved until half-time, possibly beyond, but it wasn’t to be, Liverpool equalised through their veteran defender, Tommy Smith, just four minutes later and, in the seventy-fourth minute, the speedy winger, Steve Heighway, scored to give Liverpool all three points, almost silencing the enthusiastic home support and serving to highlight that there were a few more Liverpool supporters, in the Kenilworth Road end than I’d originally thought.

With ten minutes to go, I bade fawell to my mate and left, I had the Saturday evening papers to deliver and I had negotiated a time limit with the lovely lady I worked for. Walking as fast as I could along Dunstable Road and then into Leagrave Road, I hoped I’d hear that dramtic roar signalling that Luton had scored an equaliser, but it didn’t come and I knew that by the time I was trotting down Bishopscote Road, on the way back to Limbury Mead, the full-time whistle would have gone.

Delivering my sack of papers, walking down Bramingham Road, I could see groups of Luton supporters, getting off buses heading towards Marsh Farm, chatting amongst themsleves, carrying out their own post-match analysis, some looked miserable and some not quite so. Me, I was reasonably happy, we hadn’t been overwhelmed by Liverpool, we’d held our own on occasions and, on another day, might have earned a draw.

Finishing my paper round and with my bag tucked under my arm, I pulled my season ticket out of my pocket and thought what a great investment it had been, even if the means I had used to acquire it meant I’d have to leave all Saturday games ten minutes early.

Next up, a night game and a visit from West Ham United!

17-August-1974 – Luton Town 1 Liverpool 2

Attendance – 21,216

Team – Horn, Ryan, Thompson, Anderson, Litt, Gardner, Hindson, Husband, Butlin, West, Aston

COYH

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