Luton Town were familiar opposition a few decades ago, none more famously than on the grand Old Wembley stage in the 1994 FA Cup semifinals, when Glenn Hoddle’s Chelsea beat David Pleat’s Luton, 2-0, thanks to a Gavin Peacock brace.
Chelsea would go on to lose the final that followed, but have since experienced three decades of nearly unparalleled success, certainly in the club’s own history, on both the domestic and the European front.
Luton meanwhile were headed the other way. They suffered relegations in 1992, 1996, and 2001 to fall from the top flight (just prior to the advent of the Premier League) to the bottom tier of the Football League in the space of a decade. And worse was to come, as they went into administration twice before dropping out of the Football League entirely and into non-league football in 2009. They returned to the professional divisions five years later, and have since been on the rise, earning promotion to the Championship in 2019.
After that rollercoaster, they come to Stamford Bridge for the first time in 30 years, where emotions are just as heightened, yet look hilariously privileged compared to the visitors’ journey.
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