Financial crises during the 1970s led to the sale of important players[10][11] and it was not until David Pleat, a former Luton player, was appointed in 1978 that Luton started to recover.[12] Pleat's team achieved promotion in 1981–82, and remained in Division One until 1992. Luton won the League Cup in the 1987–88 season with a 3–2 victory over Arsenal, but it marked the beginning of decline.[9] Inconsistent performance and financial uncertainty meant that Luton rose and fell through the divisions from season to season,[13][14][15] and in 2007 a collapse began that would result in three successive relegations.[9] The club claimed a Football League Trophy victory in 2009,[16] but with it came the relegation to the Conference Premier made inevitable by 40 points deducted in two seasons.[17][18] Luton contested five years in non-League football, including three unsuccessful play-off campaigns, before winning promotion to League Two as Conference Premier champions in the 2013–14 season.[19] The club were promoted to League One after finishing second in League Two in 2017–18,[20][21] and the following season they won a second successive promotion to the Championship after winning the League One title.[22][23]
Top scorer and number of goals scored shown in bold when he was also top scorer for the division
Division shown in bold when it changes due to promotion, relegation or reorganisation
League results shown in italics for abandoned or wartime competitions
^Luton Town started to enter a team into the Western Football League as well as the Southern League in 1907, but this arrangement only lasted two seasons. 1907–08 was spent in Division 1B, 1908–09 in Division 1A.
^Because of the outbreak of the Second World War, the 1939–40 season was abandoned in September and all results annulled. Three matches had been played.
^During the first season after the Second World War, 1945–46, the Football League was not contested and all FA Cup ties were played over two legs.
^Luton Town's first appearance in a major final. Luton lost 2–1 to Nottingham Forest.