The waiting is over. The 2019/20 EFL Championship season gets underway under the lights on Friday night. Kenilworth Road is the venue with promotion-chasing Middlesbrough the visitors to League One champions Luton Town, who get their second-tier return underway.
EFL Championship Season Kicks off With Luton Town v Middlesbrough
Luton Town Form
The Hatters are unbeaten in 27 home games and went the entirety of 2018/19 without defeat in Bedfordshire. Pre-season has gone well as per usual, with fixtures against local sides such as Biggleswade Town, Bedford Town and Welwyn Garden City. However, a reality check was bestowed upon Graeme Jones’ side when Norwich City, preparing for their return to the Premier League, ran out 5-1 winners last Saturday. Jones was coy post-match, insisting he’d rather see that result in a friendly than against Boro. Despite this, it hasn’t stopped some sections of Luton supporters feeling anxious.
Expectations
Since 2006, the club gone from a tenth-place finish in the Championship, to a low of seventh in the then-named Blue Square Premier, now the Vanarama National League. It’s been quite the ride for most Luton fans and one they could have done without.
2012/13 was a bizarre season for the Town. The first non-league side to knock a Premier League club out of the FA Cup gave supporters one of the best days in recent history. A distraction from a dismal league campaign, just days later reality stung the club out of dream-state as Luton lost 1-0 at lowly Barrow. This wasn’t to be the lowest moment in Luton’s history, as before the end of the campaign, they were dealt a 5-1 thrashing at Gateshead and a 2-1 reverse at home against Hyde United; nobody could blame the fans for wondering if this famous old club would ever escape.
Following play-off heartbreaks in 2011 and 2012, the latter to an offside goal at Wembley, Spring 2014 provided the euphoric moment every Hatter waited half a decade for. Promotion back to the Football League achieved with 101 points, a 27-match unbeaten run and scores of 5-0, 6-0 and 7-0, Luton were released from the shackles. Belief was back and narrowly missing out on the play-off positions in their first year back, was merely the start of CEO Gary Sweet’s ambitions. To reach the Premier League were his words shortly after lifting the Skrill Premier trophy. However, with an 11th placed finish in 2015/16 and the sacking of modern-day legend John Still, instability could easily have arrived back on the shores.
Fast-forward to now, the semi-final play-off heartbreak in the final moments vs Blackpool seems a thing of the past. Ask any Luton supporter, and survival will be the minimum and only demand.
Middlesbrough Form
A run of six straight defeats in March effectively killed Boro’s play-off chances. It also arguably was a factor in Tony Pulis’ departure as head coach.
Expectations
Replaced by former player Jonathan Woodgate in the summer, Middlesbrough supporters will travel down south with a mix of emotions. The transfer window has been a weird one for the club. The departure of Aden Flint to promotion-rivals Cardiff City wouldn’t have been the best news to read, but the signings of young players Marcus Browne, 21, on a season-long loan from West Ham, and reported Luton target Marc Bola, also 21, from Blackpool are ones to be positive about.
With Stuart Downing heading to Blackburn Rovers, the 34-year-old needed replacing. With a change of style being a fundamental aim for Woodgate, looking to the future with attack-minded players is one way to appease the home faithful. Pulis was never truly accepted on Riverside. Since his appointment in 2017, there was unrest over the departure of fan-favourite Aitor Karanka.
Since relegation from the Premier League, Boro have fared better than most. The two sides relegated alongside them, Sunderland and Hull City, have had their own issues. The Riverside faithful need to be grateful for the job Steve Gibson continues to do. A life-long Boro fan, Gibson has seen his fair few ups and downs during his time as club chairman. From a League Cup win and a UEFA Cup final in the 2000s, their 11-year top-flight stay came to an end.
What followed was an era of mediocrity. Gordon Strachan’s dismal spell in charge led to him stepping down, as did Tony Mowbray only a few years later. It wasn’t until the arrival of Aitor Karanka, a pragmatic coach and one-time assistant to Jose Mourinho, that Middlesbrough had a club to be proud of. Back in the Premier League as runners-up in 2016, Boro arrived with a squad not fit for purpose. Weak up front and defensively poor, the club finished second-bottom, sandwiched between their North-East rivals.
There’s never a quiet time at the Boro. Woodgate will need time during his first year as a manager, and the fans will no doubt give him that. A top-six push will be on the minds of all those associated with the club. Everyone will be awaiting how this pans out.
Prediction
Luton 2-1 Middlesbrough
Main Photo
