David Moss: We had something special at Luton Town during promotion-winning campaign

Luton Town had ‘something special’ during their 1981-82 Division Two title-winning season according to one of the stars of the campaign, David Moss.

The winger, who joined from Swindon Town three years earlier, scored 15 goals in 36 appearances for the Hatters that term as they easily clinched the promotion to the top flight along with the championship, finishing eight points clear of main rivals Watford.

Moss had seen the Hatters' league positions improve from 18th to sixth and then fifth prior to their top spot under manager David Pleat, as speaking exclusively to the Luton News, he said: “We had something special for a few years there and I just think the likes of myself, Ricky (Hill), Brian Stein, just with that extra couple of years experience, became better players.

"The first season was maybe a rebuilding season for David’s new players to bed in.

"He looked at it and thought 'we need a few changes,' so next season he made some changes, he didn’t really get it right for two or three years, although he was trying to rebuild, but his beliefs were the same, it was always attacking football.

“That was the difference, I think we were just ready for it, and then the addition of Brian Horton for example, was just the icing on the cake.

"We had the same nucleus of players and the manager didn't change his style of play, his beliefs, so it was just kicking on to the next level and we did it comfortably in the end as we won the title, which we thoroughly deserved as it was a superb season.

“It was a brilliant team, great players, great team spirit, everything just seemed to click and we had a nice shape and a nice balance about the team.

“We had some wonderful victories and some great scorelines.

"But I think what Brian Horton brought to the team, when we were not at our best, we would win 1-0 somewhere and scrape that with a penalty, which was sort of digging in, as opposed to to everything being silky football.

"We went to places, got the results and when you’re looking for promotion, you have to get some of those scores."

After four wins and two defeats in their opening six outings, a 4-1 success over bitter foes the Hornets, Moss on target with two penalties and Brian Stein grabbing a double, saw Hatters begin the push that led to the title, only losing on two other occasions.

The winger continued: "That set the season up for us when we beat Watford, they hung on to our coat-tails and pushed us all the way, but all in all it was a great season.

"Going to Blackburn and winning 1-0 with a penalty, beating Crystal Palace 1-0 at home with a penalty.

"We were 2-0 down at home to Newcastle, I was injured, and we won 3-2 thanks to Brian's hat-trick, so games like that.

"Maybe the season before we wouldn't have come back from that, that’s how it changed for the better."

It meant that Luton could celebrate twice in front of their own fans, securing promotion when beating Shrewsbury 4-1 on April 30 and then the title when QPR were defeated 3-2 on May 11.

Moss said: "It was brilliant. Against Shrewsbury we didn't play that well and probably 4-1 flattered us a little bit, but it was typical of what we were capable of.

"We scored the goals, we got promoted with a 4-1 win, clinched the championship with a 3-2 win, which kind of epitomised the way we were and the way the manager was.

"He would rather have won 3-2 to win the title than 1-0."

Moss himself had missed out on the first four games of the campaign due to a spell out in America with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

After three wins and one defeat, he returned and was back in the side, only absent for two more matches that term, as on his spell across the pond, he continued: "You weren’t allowed to be loaned in those days, so I was sold to Tampa Bay for a pound or something and brought back for a pound, something stupid like that.

"They changed the rules as so many people were going to the States in the summer to play and earn some money, so you could only go on a permanent thing, but I always knew I was coming back to Luton.

"My first game back we won away to Leicester City, and I made both the goals, so it was a good comeback.

“I played through the season, and they talk about it now, being tired, but for me it was just come back from there and straight back into it with no pre-season training, so I was absolutely fine.

“I enjoyed it, there were some English players over there, a lot of South Americans and South Africans, so it was a good blend.

"It was far harder than people imagined, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and was a nice place to live for a few months.

“Frank Worthington was in my team, John Gorman was in my team, Kevin Keelan, who was a goalkeeper from Norwich City many years ago, Gordon Jago was the English, ex-Millwall manager, so it was good, a good experience.”

Once back in a Luton shirt, Moss saw the Hatters find the back of the net 86 times during the season, with a goal difference of plus 40, as Brian Stein (21) and Steve White (18) both reached double figures too.

Like Brian Horton, Moss felt it was down to an attacking mentality instilled in the squad by Pleat, as he sad: “He was a good guy to play for David, a very good coach.

"I didn’t really know much about him, he was a young guy when I joined from Swindon, but he was very much a tracksuit manager that wanted to be on the pitch and taking the training sessions.

"He was very much an attack-minded coach, so it suited me down to the ground.

"It brought the best out of the likes of Brian Stein, Ricky Hill, Paul Walsh eventually, people like that, so a very good coach, good guy to play for and I still keep in touch to this day.

"We were a goalscoring team, we were an attacking team and on our day we could hammer anybody, but by the same token, we had some poor defeats as well."

It wasn’t just Stein and White that were in stellar form that term, but Ricky Hill as well, with the midfielder eventually named in the PFA Team of the Year, along with Moss himself, Kirk Stephens and Horton.

On Hill’s influence on the side and the spirit within the group at Kenilworth Road, Moss, who eventually made 245 appearances for the Hatters, scoring 94 times, added: "Ricky was a wonderful footballer and a great guy as well, a real humble guy, he was unbelievable.

“He had a great understanding with Brian Stein, they were great mates.

"Ricky used to create a lot of goals for Brian, but we weren’t selfish, we didn’t have selfish players.

"Everybody was helping each other, everybody was creating chances for each other, as long as we played well and got the result, nobody was miffed if they hadn’t scored for example.

"You sometimes get the impression now watching certain teams and certain players that if the main man doesn't score he doesn't always celebrate with the goalscorer.

"Well, in our day whoever scored the goals it was a celebration and we were all in it together, so there were some great players."