Hatters boss thanks Luton Town and West Ham fans for 'very special' ovation

Town boss Rob Edwards was incredibly grateful to both the Luton and West Ham supporters for their response to his side’s realistic relegation at the London Stadium on Saturday.

With the Hatters needing a point at the very least to try and take the battle to stay up into the final day of the campaign due to Nottingham Forest’s late kick-off against Chelsea, they failed to do so after letting a 1-0 half time lead slip to lose out 3-1 to the Hammers, who were able to mark the final game of manager David Moyes’ reign in style.

Following the final whistle, the visiting players slumped to the floor in crushing disappointment that their fate had been sealed, before slowly heading over to their travelling army of 3,000 fans, where they were met by a wonderful ovation that lasted for a good 10 minutes, the Town supporters able to pick up a number of souvenirs from their heroes in the process.

A visibly emotional Edwards soon joined them and after thanking each and every member of his squad for their efforts, allowed himself time to stand in front of the supporters and take in what was another terrific send-off, as has been a common theme from the Hatters fans this term, whatever the venue and whatever the outcome.

Discussing just what it meant to him afterwards, the Luton chief said: “It’s very special, I’m not too sure you see that anywhere these days. We’re in an age where people want results right now, they want success and they want it right now. Our supporters have shown a real intelligence and an understanding, an incredible amount of support for us this year and I think that’s because of what the players have given them over a long period of time now. The players have earned that, we’ve been on this amazing journey together, so that was very, very special at the end.”

It wasn’t just the Luton supporters who showed their appreciation either, with Hammers fans who were waiting for their own side to come back out once more for a lap of the pitch, applauding the Town management staff and players off, demonstrating the growing respect there has been for the way in which the Hatters have tried to compete in the top flight this term.

Edwards added: “We know clearly we haven’t got enough points, we haven’t got enough results, that’s why we’re in this position now. It’s not about earning people’s respect, because you want to earn points, but we do want to do it a certain way. I think the fact that we’ve been brave, we haven’t stepped off teams, we have shown a lot of growth and a lot of improvement this year that maybe we’ve earned one or two fans along the way or changed people’s minds along the way. It was very, very touching the way the West Ham fans were with us afterwards walking off.”