Brentford facing Luton in the Premier League should inspire EFL clubs

It was the final day of the 2008-09 season and Brentford were crowned champions of the division while Luton, who had received a 30-point deduction for breaking rules around exiting administration and transfer irregularities, finished bottom, which meant they dropped out of the English Football League into the semi-professional Conference Premier.

Kevin Gallen left MK Dons in November 2008 to join Luton and made 29 appearances for them as they tried to salvage something positive from that season. The striker spent a large part of his career with Brentford’s west London rivals Queens Park Rangers and had to cope with getting relegated while the neighbours paraded the trophy around the Griffin Park pitch.

Luton did not bounce back straight away. They spent five years in non-League before John Still guided them to promotion into League Two in 2013-14. Andre Gray scored 30 goals for Luton that season, which prompted Brentford to sign him for an undisclosed fee. Luton then achieved back-to-back promotions to reach the Championship in 2019 and last season booked their return to a top flight they had last been part of in 1991-92 via the play-offs.

Osborne stayed at Brentford until 2012, when he moved up a division to join Millwall in the Championship. In June that year, Matthew Benham became Brentford’s majority shareholder and triggered the cultural revolution which led them to the top flight. Brentford finished ninth in League One in 2011-12, agonisingly missed out on automatic promotion the following year when Marcelo Trotta’s penalty hit the crossbar, but then got the job done in 2013-14. They spent seven years in the Championship before reaching the top flight, also via the play-offs, in 2021.

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Brentford survived their first two years in the best league in the world and have set their sights on another top-half finish this season. Their victory at the weekend demonstrated that Luton still have a lot to do if they want to replicate their success. Brentford took 27 shots, with an expected goals of 3.4, and had 69 per cent possession according to Opta.