Revisited: Luton Town’s Manager Idol – Forgotten Stories of Football podcast

Forgotten Stories of Football.

Luton Town's Manager Idol.

How Primetime TV inspired one of the most shambolic managerial appointments in football history.

Written by John Ashdown.

Forgotten Stories of Football from The Guardian.

Before X Factor Strictly and Britain's Got Talent dominated the Saturday evening TV schedules, there was Pop Idol, the Simon Cowell back sing-a-thon on which plucky crooners belted their hearts out for the chance to win a recording contract, while the public called in, in their droves, to vote for their favourites.

On the 9th of February 2002, more than 13 million people tuned in to see Will Young take on Gareth Gates in the final of the first series.

Nearly 9 million votes were cast.

It was a huge ratings and financial success.

Even before the number one singles and multi-platinum albums, the series made £2.5 million from the public's newfound desire to have its say on premium-rate phone lines.

The program would prove the inspiration for one of the most shambolic, with the emphasis on sham, managerial appointments in football history.

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Forgotten Stories of Football.

Luton Town's manager idol.

As the confetti fell on a celebrating Will Young, Luton and their manager Joe Kinnear were travelling back from a defeat at Rochdale.

Kinnear had arrested a decade of decline at Kennerworth Road, taking over as Lutoner relegated to the bottom tier in 2001, the first time the Hatters had been in the fourth tier since the 1960s.

He steered the club back to the third tier at the first attempt and followed it up with a more than respectable ninth place finish in 2002-2003.

Luton though had been caught up in the fallout from ITV Digital's explosion the year before.

There were reports of the club losing half a million pounds a month.

At the end of the season, owner Mike Watson Chalice sold the club to a mysterious consortium for just £4.

The consortium remained anonymous, but a smarmy, smiling frontman arrived at Kenneworth Road, John Gurney.

Gurney claimed to be backed by international investors whose identity would soon be revealed.

Spoiler alert, they never were.

In the meantime, he set about sowing chaos and floating a series of madcap ideas.

He planned to change the club's name to London Luton FC to match the airport.

He suggested a merger with the Milton Keynes band Wimbledon was not out of the question.

He would build a 70,000-seat stadium next to Junction 10 of the M1

on stilts with a Formula One circuit attached.

But in the short term, he needed a new manager.

The vacancy had arisen when three days into the new ownership regime, the hugely popular Kinnear and his assistant Mick Harford were fired by post.

Kinnear had to go to the sorting office to collect his letter as it was sent recorded delivery.

I think it is the saddest day in the club's history, Harford, a bona fide in Luton legend, said.

What have I done to warrant being dismissed in such a cold and callous manner?

My heart and soul was always with Luton Town and I'm devastated.

The original plan had been to appoint Terry Fenwick.

Most recent managerial spell, a seven-game winless tenure with Northampton, but fan fury at the sackings prompted a rethink.

Roger Terrell and Lee Power, set to take the roles of chairman and vice chairman, quit before they started after being greeted at Kennerworth Road by a hail of fruit flung by irate supporters.

With supporters boycotting the club, Gurney needed to get the fans on side.

An attempt to renegotiate with Kinnear and Half had floundered, then came the brainwave.

Manager Idol.

We've got to find an acceptable way of having an appointment made without being seen to give way to the mob, said Gurney.

So, we've come up with the idea of Manager Idol based on Pop Idol.

Fans were presented with a short list of candidates.

Fennec, Kinnear,

Nigel Clough, Steve Cotterell, Mike Newell, Stuart Pierce, Gardiner Spears and Goodjin Torderson.

and invited to text in their votes.

On Monday the 16th of June the first set of results were announced and and the list whittled down to three.

Kinnear, who polled around 70%, Cottrell, recently sacked by Sunderland and Newell, who had most recently had a mixed time of it at Hartlepool.

The final decision would be split between five votes.

Players,

shareholders, season ticket holders, the board and the general public.

The premium lines, 50p per call, were open.

They closed at midday on Monday the 23rd of June.

A press conference for the unveiling was scheduled at 1 p.m.

The same day.

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Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It was the new game day scratches from the California lottery.

Play is everything.

Those games sent the team's energy through the the roof.

Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

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Luton Towns Manager Idol

Gurney set about attempting to agree terms with the shortlisted trio.

It was all predictably chaotic.

Gurney initially revealed he had agreed terms with Kinnear to return should he win, then admitted he had been unable to contact the former manager all week.

No matter.

We've got two excellent candidates in Steve and Mike Newell, Gurney cheered.

But the day before the polls closed, Cottrell threw a spanner in the works.

I had a very good meeting with Mr.

Gurney, he said, and I was very flattered to be offered the job from 70 candidate, but I just think it was the right club at the wrong time.

Handily, filmmakers from the long-running BBC documentary series Trouble at the Top were given behind-the-scenes access for the big day.

The resulting half-hour programme aired a year later really has to be seen to be believed.

With media already gathering at the ground, a fresh-faced Newell arrived at Kennaworth Road.

There was no sign of Cottrell or Kinnear, who with the seconds ticking down towards midday, still led the public phone poll.

There's all sorts of chaos, said Gurney, suggesting there had been some sort of technical problem.

Then came an unbelievable, in a very literal sense, late swing towards Newell in the general public vote.

He conveniently won it by just four votes.

Players and season ticket holders had apparently voted for Kinea.

Shareholders and the general public, thanks to that late swing, for Newell.

So it was down to the board.

We will appoint Mike Newell, regardless of the telephone poll, Gurney told the documentary team, for two reasons.

One is we failed to agree terms with Joe Kinnear.

Steve Cottrell is not here, Mike is.

And we said whoever was available and we agreed terms with by 1 p.m.

today would be the new manager.

So Mike is the new manager.

clear as mud

Newell looked thoroughly bemused throughout the documentary but had an initially successful spell at the club guiding them to promotion in 2004-2005 and 10th in the championship the following season a position that remains their highest since 1992

and gurney

At the end of July, the club supporters trust having denied Gurney revenue with a boycott of season ticket, ticket, ingeniously bought the club's debt from Watson Chalice and placed it into administration, forcing Gurney out.

10 for irregular payments to agents, 20 for failing to come out of administration with a CVA agreement, Luton achieved successive promotions from League Two to the championship in 2018 and 2019.

And Gurney was declared bankrupt in 2008.

Luton Town's Manager Idol was written by John Ashdown.

Additional journalism by Rob Smythe.

The reader was Dermot Daly.

Studio production by Polly Thomas.

Theme music composed by Mike Payne.

Sound design by Eloise Whitmore.

Forgotten Stories of Football is brought to you by The Guardian.

Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It It was the new game day, Scratchers, from the California Lottery.

Play is everything.

Those games sent the team's energy through the roof.

Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

Hey, a little play makes your day, and today it made the game.

That's all for now.

Coach, one more question: Play the new Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams Scratchers from the California Lottery.

A little play can make your day.

Please play responsibly, must be 18 years or older to purchase, play, or claim.