Luton win ‘richest game in football’ and reach Premier League for first time
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Luton Town have been promoted to the Premier League for the very first time after beating Coventry City in the Championship play-off final.
It took penalties to separate the two sides at Wembley, but the Hatters came out on top and will be playing top-flight football next season.
11 successive spot-kicks were expertly converted until Coventry defender Fankaty Dabo blazed his effort over the bar to cement one of the most unlikely promotion stories in recent history.
READ MORE: Luton star Tom Lockyer stretchered off after 'scary' fall with no one near him
Jordan Clark had put Luton ahead in the first half before Gustavo Hamer equalised to send the game to extra time. Joe Taylor thought he'd sent the Hatters to the Premier League with a late goal but it was ruled out for handball and the match went to penalties.
The result means Luton, who will join Burnley and Sheffield United in the big time next season, will receive a guaranteed £120million lift in revenue next year just for participating in the Premier League.
Speaking after the game, Luton midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanz dedicated the win to team-mate Tom Lockyer, who was stretchered off in the first half after worryingly falling to the ground with no one around him.
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"We won it for him," Mpanzu said. "He’s been a warrior. I feel like I’ve completed football now! I might retire!"
Carlton Morris, who netted Luton's first penalty in the shootout, added: "[Lockyer] has been incredible all season for us. I don’t even know what happened yet, it’s a bit of a shellshock. But the lads got behind him, and that’s how big a character he is, he’s still here in spirit.
"If you’re watching this at home, Locks, I love you and hope you’re all right."
It's been 30 years since the Hatters were in the top flight, having been relegated the season before the formation of the Premier League at the end of the 1991/92 campaign.
They've spent the majority of the last three decades flip-flopping between the third and fourth tier, and they were in the fifth tier as recently as 2014.
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