Sweet thanks Jones for creating 'fantastic memories' after Town boss makes Saints switch

Hatters chief executive Gary Sweet has thanked outgoing manager Nathan Jones for creating what he descried as some ‘fantastic memories’ during his two spells in charge of Kenilworth Road.

The 49-year-old, whose move to Premier League side Southampton was confirmed this morning, had originally appointed back in January 2016, leading Town out of League Two after finishing second in 2018, then into the upper echelons of League One before moving to Stoke City just under three years later.

After only lasting eight months with the Potters, Jones returned to Bedfordshire in May 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, and masterminded the club’s Great Escape in the Championship, Luton having looked dead and buried with nine games to go.

He then established the Hatters in the second tier by finishing in 12th place, before reaching the play-offs last term, beaten 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals by Huddersfield Town.

Having managed 303 matches, the third most of any Luton manager, he has now left with first team coach Alan Sheehan and assistant manager Chris Cohen to move to the top flight Saints, as Sweet told the club’s official website: “Together with his staff, and of course the brilliant group of players he has nurtured for the best part of six and a half years, he has given us some fantastic memories and a team to be constantly proud of.

“We all wish him well in his new role and thank Southampton for the way in which everything has been handled.

"They have acted in a most professional manner since first making their approach to us, as has Nathan.

"The events have panned out exactly as described over the last few days and we appreciate it's highly frustrating to watch, but we would rather it be transparent and, genuinely, the formalities only came to a conclusion in the early hours of this morning.

"Until then, there remained two possible outcomes.

“Nathan leaves behind a fantastic legacy, along with Alan and Chris, who have both also played a significant part in taking us on a journey from League Two, in Alan’s case, to establishing us in the higher reaches of the Championship.

"We thank them both too and wish them every success.”