Luton – Unsung Heroes – Ron Futcher

It is time to, once again, delve back into the past and throw the name of another unsung hero into the mix.

This time around, I have chosen Ron Futcher, a forward who played for the Hatters between 1974 and 1978.

Ron Futcher arrived at Kenilworth Road, along with his twin brother Paul, in June 1974.

The Hatters picked up something of a bargain with Harry Haslam signing the duo from Chester City for a very modest fee of £125,000 for the pair.

The previous season Luton had been promoted to the top-tier of English football and the duo had been purchased to enhance the Hatters chances of remaining in the division.

Sadly, that did not happen with Luton being relegated after that solitary season in the top-flight.

Ron made 17 appearances in that season scoring 7 goals including a hat-trick against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The other goals coming against – Ipswich (a), Newcastle (h), Carlisle (a) and Arsenal (a).

Ron would have, perhaps, made more appearances that season if he was not faced with competition for the strikers role with Barry Butlin and Adrian Alston.

Subsequent seasons also saw Ron hit the net with a degree of regularity, in the 75/76 season he scored 10 league goals, in the 76/77 season he scored 13 league goals and in the 77/78 season he managed 10 league goals.

In those latter two seasons, Ron was joint top scorer for the Hatters, sharing the accolade with Jimmy Husband (76/77) and Phil Boersma (77/78).

A clip of Ron in action can be seen below with the striker getting on the scoresheet in the 5-0 demolition of Carlisle on 26-March-1977, the clip is particularly interesting to me as I can see myself, if I freeze the action, stood immediately behind the Kenilworth Road goal.

Ron’s Luton career came to an end in August 1978 when, along with his twin brother Paul, David Pleat sanctioned a deal that saw the pair move to the top-flight side Manchester City.

His stay at Maine Road was brief, just one season, with Ron making 17 games and scoring on 7 occasions with the highlight of his stay being a hat-trick in the 4-1 demolition of Chelsea.

After leaving Manchester City, Ron went on to play for a host of clubs including:

• Minnesota Kicks
• Portland Timbers
• Southampton
• Tulsa Roughnecks
• NAC Breda
• Barnsley
• Oldham Athletic
• Bradford City
• Port Vale
• Burnley
• Crewe Alexandra
• Boston United

As an awe-struck teenager, I was among those who enjoyed the Hatters brief one season stay in the top-flight, back in 1974/1975 and Ron’s contribution will always remain etched on my mind.

Sadly, Ron’s brother, Paul passed away on 23-November-2016 after losing his fight against cancer – RIP.

If you have any former players who you would like to see featured in this ongoing, summer long series, please feel free to drop their names into the comment facility beneath this article and I will see what I can do.

COYH’s

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Does Elliot Lee Still Have A Future At Luton?