Coventry City boss Mark Robins has previously touted this year’s Championship play-off final as “one for the romantics”.
But will it be the Sky Blues or the Hatters who will enjoy a fairy tale ending at Wembley?
Two teams with more illustrious pasts, respectively winning the Wembley Cup final a year apart – Coventry winning the FA Cup in 1987 and Luton winning the 1988 League Cup final – both trying to return to the top flight just five years after being together in Ligue 2.
This season alone started with Coventry bottom of the league, having to postpone four games because of their damaged pitchwhile Luton had to bounce back from their manager Nathan Jones leaves them a second time, be covered by Rob Edwardswho had started the season as sacked by fierce local rivals Watford after just 10 league games.
But one of them will move up the M1 on Saturday after locking in a windfall, estimated by Deloitte to be at least £170m over the next three seasons.
Both clubs have clearly suffered. But who suffered the most?
Luton – ‘A lot of hard work from amazing people’
Victory at Wembley would cap a remarkable change of fortune for Luton, who dropped out of the Football League in 2009, before taking five seasons to return in 2014 under John Still – still a hugely popular figure among fans.
They took the next two steps under Jones, back-to-back promotions in 2018 and 2019 before moving to Stoke.
Returning for a second spell to establish the Hatters as contenders for Championship promotion, Jones then left again in November, this time to Southampton.
Edwards took over and has since presided over 16 wins and just five losses in 31 matches in charge, to take the team to third place and now, via a two-way semi-final victory against Sunderland, at Wembley.
But Edwards isn’t shy about giving credit to the likes of general manager Gary Sweet and longtime fan favorite Mick Harford, who has served Luton in many roles – striker, manager, coach, caretaker boss and now Director of Recruitment.
“For bringing the club back from the brink, Gary and the board deserve so much credit,” Edwards told BBC Three Counties Radio. “Then Mick Harford and the role he played, the recruiting team, the various managers – John Still, Nathan and others.
“It’s thanks to the hard work of so many people and the fans too. They deserve it. They were amazing.”
After recovering from the brink of liquidation, promotion to the Premier League would transform the club’s fortunes.
For starters, it would help fund the construction of the new stadium which is central to Luton’s plans and seen as key to securing their future.
“It would mean so much to everyone. We know it’s a huge opportunity,” Edwards added. “I realize what it could do for the club. From a financial point of view, it could secure the club for such a long time and put it on a solid footing. So I know there is a lot to be done.
“It’s something we have to try to embrace and hope for that brings out the best in us on the pitch.”
Luton, relegated from the top flight in 1992, the year the Premier League started, would have to spend around £10million just to upgrade their aging Kenilworth Road home for the Premier League – and even then they would have the smallest capacity.
But, despite the stakes being so high, Edwards is confident his players can keep their cool.
“Every time we’ve had great games and great chances this season the guys have stepped up and performed well,” he said. “I don’t think they will be intimidated by it. It will bring out the best in them.”
Coventry has its own ‘story of doom’ – Robins
“People talk about travel, where we both come from,” said Coventry boss Robins. “It’s one for the romantics.
“Luton come from the National League. I remember that well. It was a tough road for them.
“They dropped out of the league when I started my managerial career,” said Robins, whose own side Rotherham United were deducted 17 points for breaking Football League rules at the same level in 2008- 09, the year Luton were docked 30 points and relegated to fifth.
“But the road has been difficult for us too,” added Robins, who returned to Coventry for a second spell in charge in March 2017 when they were already well on their way to a second relegation in five years.
“We have our own stories of doom. But we are one game away from the Premier League. To be a part of this is fantastic. A game far from fulfilling a dream and changing the future of the club very quickly.
“The change of ownership has accelerated our five-year plan. We have to try to finish this, but to be able to do it is in itself incredible.
“This season has been exceptional in terms of the start we’ve been given and all the well-documented issues.
“The fact that I stayed on when others didn’t. To be last in the league in October is generally unacceptable.
“But we managed to navigate our way through a really tough time and come out the other side. The fans understood the situation and really supported it, and without them it wouldn’t have happened.
“That’s why it makes it so special because, for me, the biggest achievement since walking through the door is the reconnection between me and the players and the fans.”
Who can bear the pressure of Wembley?
Coventry captain Liam Kelly was part of the Sky Blues side that beat Exeter City to win the Ligue 2 play-off final in 2018.
“I just remember it went so fast,” he told BBC CWR. “It’s an opportunity but you have to play the game. As soon as the whistle blows, that’s our main objective. We just need to run and play and keep a cool head at the right times.
“Everyone knows what an important game it is. People didn’t expect us to be in this position. But our form has been fantastic and we can take confidence from that.”
The other side of the coin was the experience of Luton striker Carlton Morris, who was in Shrewsbury Town’s side beaten 2-1 just a day earlier by Rotherham United in the 2018 Ligue 1 final.
He was stretched just eight minutes after Shrewsbury’s equalizer. And the Millers won in overtime.
“The worst has already happened to me at Wembley so I have nothing to fear” Morris told BBC Three Counties Radio. “Unfortunately I did my ACL and we lost so it was a double whammy. But any experience can be turned into a positive and that has for me.”
Now he finds himself the 20-goal top scorer in a two-striker Luton front line with Elijah Adebayo at 10 goals who, with assists added, has been responsible for two-thirds of the Hatters’ goal tally this season – 57 in 46 league games, one shy of Coventry’s total of 58.
Not much different from the combined output of Coventry pair Viktor Gyokeres – second top scorer in the Championship this term, with 21, plus 11 assists – and Gus Hamer – with 10 goals and 10 assists.
Matt Godden also weighed in crucially with five goals for Coventry since returning to fitness after three months out, to atone for what at the time seemed the crucial Boxing Day loss. playmaker Callum O’Hare.
The only senior Luton player missing is striker Cauley Woodrow, who has not recovered from a knee injury.
The Forms Book
Coventry have failed to beat Luton in any of their last nine meetings for a Sky Blues won 3-0 at Kenilworth Road in October 2017 – in the season when both teams moved up from League Two.
Both meetings this season have ended in a draw – and Coventry have never led in either game.
Luton Town 2 (Morris 4, 15) Coventry City 2 (Gyokeres 11, Hamer 61)
Coventry City 1 (Godden Paddock 45) Luton Town 1 (Lockyer 1)
