FA Cup / Dan Fitch / 14 January 2008 / 1

The word crisis is used all too often in football these days, but with Luton it's almost an understatement. Dan Fitch reports on a club on the brink of collapse as they approach a game which will give them a much needed financial boost as well as the opportunity to take their minds off their worries for a night.

Sometimes the sheer amount of media scrutiny placed on Premier League clubs can make everyone get things slightly out of proportion. Take Newcastle United for instance. The parting of Sam Allardyce and the subsequent failure to persuade Harry Redknapp to leave his multi-million pound mansion in Sandbanks to move to Byker Grove, has had the papers dusting down their 'club in crisis' headlines. In reality though, Newcastle aren't in a crisis, they're just in a pickle.

No, being in danger of not making the Inter-Toto cup places, does not a crisis make. But below the cash filled streets of the Premier League, there are clubs dealing with real problems. Luton Town are currently in administration, their manager has just given in his notice, they're being sued by their former manager for wrongful dismissal, the players have hardly been paid for weeks and are now being sold off at the sort of bargain prices normally associated with Derek Trotter. My friends, I present to you 'a crisis'.

One of the enduring things about football, though, is that there is always hope. For Luton this comes in two forms. Firstly, a takeover bid fronted by lifelong supporter and former TV:AM host, Nick Owen. Owen is fronting a bid from a consortium of businessmen and has the backing of all three Luton supporter organisations. Nick may not have run a football club before, but his experience of working with Roland Rat should help him to deal with the egos of any self-proclaimed superstars.

The second ray of hope for the Hatters, is the FA Cup 3rd round replay against Liverpool. The match at Anfield will be shown live on Sky on Tuesday night and should see a further £500,000 come into the Luton coffers. Whilst this replay represents a lifeline for Luton, it is nothing but an inconvenience for Liverpool and proves that karma is alive and well in football. Luton, who are losing £400,000 a month, asked Liverpool to donate their half of the gate receipts from the first game. This request was turned down, despite the fact that the figure would only have amounted to around £100,000 or to put it another way, roughly Steven Gerrard's weekly wage.

Though acts of benevolence from the Premier League clubs would be helpful to plug the financial gaps for their lower league counterparts, it is not enough to keep them afloat. The influx of TV money in the Premier League should be shared around the lower league clubs to a greater extent than it is currently, but a far bigger problem is the trickle-down effect on players' wages in the Football League. Particularly vulnerable are clubs like Luton, who find themselves relegated, with players on big contracts. When people talk about footballers getting paid too much, instead of targeting Wayne Rooney, they should look at players at clubs like Luton who earn £8000 a week. This is simply not sustainable and it is the responsibility of the smaller clubs to be sensible regarding their staff's contracts.

Luton boss Kevin Blackwell, has been unlucky enough to be involved with two sides in financial peril and his job is currently being made even more difficult by the club's administrator. Without consulting Blackwell, players such as David Edwards and Chris Coyne have been sold in the last week, and the manager has subsequently given a period of notice to resign on February 9th. It would be nice if any takeover of Luton could be completed in time to retain Blackwell, but if not, hopefully he will soon find work elsewhere. He is clearly a talented manager and without the ten points that were deducted from Luton at the start of the season, they would be pushing for a play of place. After the problems he's faced, Blackwell certainly deserves some good luck.

He'll need more than luck at Anfield though, with Liverpool [1.12], Luton [32] and the draw [11]. A more sensible bet would be either the [1.42] for Liverpool halftime and fulltime, or [6] for the draw/Liverpool. Whatever happens on the field, Luton fans will be more concerned with the financial result. These days, that is the magic of the FA Cup.

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1. apal | 15 January 2008

   With the happenings at Anfield recently involving the Sepo owners are Liverpool not the crisis club?

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