Andy Dibble: I'd love to see Luton Town stay in the Championship

If ex-Town keeper Andy Dibble could pick one side to stay up in the Championship this term it would be his former club Luton.

The 54-year-old rose to fame for the Hatters during April 1988 when he saved a penalty as Town won the Littlewoods Cup Final beating Arsenal 3-2 at Wembley.

He is now on the coaching staff with Luton’s Championship rivals Cardiff City, but wants to be coming up against the Hatters next season in the second tier.

Although that will depend on a number of factors, one being whether the current campaign is actually completed due to the coronavirus, Dibble said: “They still have a chance, and if there’s one club I want to stay in the Championship, it’s Luton Town, because they are a special club for me.

“I just hope that they come back fresh if we can restart the season and they can get some wins on the board.

“It’s a very, very tough league and 46 games, it’s a marathon of a season.

"We've still got nine games left, it’s such a sad time, I just hope we can get back to playing football soon.

“I’d love to see the season finished, I really would, as there’s a lot of things that need to be decided.

"However, it’s such a sad time and we’ve got to respect the health and welfare of people.

"It’s going to be down to the government and we’re just waiting to see what they say."

Although Dibble made just 39 appearances for the Hatters during his four years with the club, it was clear that Town still had a big place in his heart.

Signed from Cardiff City in 1984 by David Pleat, he played 13 out of the opening 15 Division One matches that term, keeping clean sheets against Stoke City and Chelsea, before suffering a bad injury in the 2-0 defeat at Manchester United on November 17.

That saw Les Sealey come and nail down the number one jersey for the following three seasons, Dibble heading to Sunderland and Manchester City on loan, as although he went on to become a hero for his part in Luton's Wembley victory, the Welshman moved on in the summer of 1988 for Manchester City permanently.

On his time at Kenilworth Road, he said: "It was brilliant, if you think about it, it’s the equivalent of the old Premier League and I cant speak too highly about my time there, it's something that I'll never forget.

"When I first came to the club, my first run of games, I remember my grandfather coming to watch me, and although Les took over when I got injured, I'd like to think that I settled into the team pretty quickly.

"That injury at Old Trafford cost me, but I enjoyed my debut and it was a really good time at the club, as I played with some fantastic players, international players.

Les was a top goalkeeper too, great to learn from.

"I'm a young lad when I sign, I’m 19, just turning 20, so I would be in awe of people and Jake Findlay too, they were good people to learn from."

Dibble has witnessed Town up close twice this term, as he was in the dug-out when Luton fell to an injury time 2-1 defeat in Wales, ex-Hatter Isaac Vassell on target, and were then beaten 1-0 at Kenilworth Road.

In each encounter Dibble felt he had seen enough from the Hatters to think they had a chance of remaining in the league on merit, as he continued: “Luton played really well in both games.

“I’m down on the touchline and I was impressed with them in both games.

“Even in the away game at Kenilworth Road, we were pretty fortunate because they had the better chances early on, but you know what football’s like, they score early, it might have been a different game.

"It was nice to come back with Cardiff though and see people.

"I always enjoy going back and I've still got friends there."

When asked who specifically had impressed him in a Luton shirt, Dibble added: “James Collins was the one I was going to mention, I like him.

“I think he works tirelessly, I think he’s got a goal in him, he’s got a great attitude towards football.

“I do all the looking at the opposition strengths and weaknesses for the goalkeepers, we do a review on them and build a training session around them, he stuck out in my mind.”