Luton Town bid farewell to their most disappointing season since dropping to the Conference four years ago. It was a campaign of contrasting emotions as disappointment was the dominant one but there was one magical moment that will never be forgotten by the Hatters fans. Having agonisingly lost a play-off final for a second year running in May, the Hatters were very determined to go all the way this time and kept faith with Paul Buckle at the start of the season after the impact he had at the end of the previous campaign. He was off to a generally good start as Luton won five of their first seven games and displayed attacking potential and creativity that few teams in the league could boast. However, there were early concerns about the inability to defend and cope with physically strong and powerful teams that can use their height to their advantage. A harrowing 3:0 beating suffered at Alfreton in September showed these weakness in their full light and two weeks later Grimsby served up a similar beating, claiming a comfortable 4:1 win. Buckle went back to the drawing board after these two setbacks and Luton were relatively impressive in October as they won five of their next six games. But true consistency and ability to win when things were not going their way continued to be elusive and that was genuinely hampering their title chances. Another defensive horror show away at Newport County saw them conceded five goals and overall the form of the team remained patchy going to the new year. However, 2013 was off to a great start as Championship side Wolverhampton were beaten in the FA Cup 1:0. It set up a great tie against Norwich in the next round and Buckle's men did the unthinkable there, winning at Carrow Road and becoming the first non-league team to beat a top-flight side since 1989. It was a really disciplined display and Buckle was hoping that the momentous victory will inspire a run to promotion in the league. Instead, it had the completely opposite effect as suddenly Luton forgot how to win a league game, going seven games without a victory all the way to March. The FA Cup adventure was meanwhile ended by a meek 3:0 loss at the hands of Millwall at home while Buckle left only a few days after that, citing personal reasons. Suddenly the season was turning into a nightmare just a few weeks after that fairy tale result with the teams in the play-off places fast disappearing up front. The hugely experienced John Still was appointed as a new manager and tried to settle things down for the rest of the campaign. He did not pull any trees in his two months in charge to be fair but at least made the team a bit more solid and tough to beat. He used the remainder of the campaign to evaluate the squad with a view to next season and results were relatively insignificant even though a shameful 5:1 loss at Gateshead was a particular low. Overall, the league campaign was dreadful for Luton who finished 13 points off the play-off places and with a lot to improve for next season when the aim is to final reach the Football League again.
