Luton paint town white and orange

AS Luton Town's players celebrated their Johnstone's Paint Trophy victory into the small hours today, the significance of the venue would not have been lost on manager Mick Harford.

Luton Hoo played host to Harford's 50th birthday bash in February but, back in the days when the fearsome striker was a regular at the old Wembley with club and country, the stately home close to Junction 10 of the M1 was one of many sites being discussed as the site of the club's new home.

Those grand relocation dreams have been replaced by the nightmare prospect of the club which won the Littlewoods Cup in 1988 disappearing out of the Football League at the end of the season.

Docked 30 points last summer by a vicious one-two from the Football League and the Football Association, Luton are stranded at the bottom, 13 points from safety in League Two and heading for the Blue Square Premier.

Such is the antipathy towards the game's governing bodies from the Bedfordshire club, that the cameras feeding the giant screens inside Wembley were required to find an angle keeping Football League chairman Brian Mawhinney out of shot from the 40,000 Luton fans as skipper Kevin Nicholls lifted the silverware yesterday. Nicholls was an inspiration as Luton beat a Scunthorpe side fighting for promotion to the Championship 3-2 thanks to substitute Claude Gnakpa's extra-time winner.

Harford and his chairman Nick Owen steered clear of fuelling the fans' protests but were adamant that the club still had a future.