Editing Luton Town F.C. (section)

===Early 20th century (1900–1950)===
Eight years after arriving at Dunstable Road, Luton moved again, settling at their current ground, [[Kenilworth Road]], in 1905.<ref name=TLTS3/> [[Captain (association football)|Captain]] and [[Midfielder#Winger|left winger]] [[Robert Hawkes|Bob Hawkes]] became Luton's first international player when he was picked to play for [[England national football team|England]] against [[Ireland national football team (1882–1950)|Ireland]] on 16 February 1907.<ref name="England 1–0 Ireland">{{cite web |title=England 1–0 Ireland |url=http://englandstats.com/matches.php?mid=89 |publisher=England Stats |access-date=15 December 2016 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220112706/http://englandstats.com/matches.php?mid=89 |url-status=live }}</ref> A poor [[1911–12 Southern Football League|1911–12 season]] saw Luton relegated to the Southern League's Second Division; the club won promotion back two years later.<ref name=FCHD/><ref name=Hayes156>{{cite book |first=Dean P. |last=Hayes |title=Completely Top Hatters! |year=2002 |publisher=Book Castle Publishing |location=Dunstable |isbn=978-1-903747-27-8 |page=156}}</ref> After the [[World War I|First World War]] broke out, Luton took part in [[The Football Combination|The London Combination]] during [[1915–16 in English football|1915–16]], and afterwards filled each season with [[Exhibition game|friendly matches]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Timothy |last=Collings |title=The Luton Town Story 1885–1985 |year=1985 |publisher=Luton Town F.C. |location=Luton |isbn=978-0-9510679-0-1 |pages=22–26}}</ref><ref name=TDLTFC8>{{cite book |first1=Brian |last1=Ellis |first2=Alan |last2=Shury |first3=Steve |last3=Bailey |title=The Definitive Luton Town F.C. |year=1997 |publisher=Soccerdata |location=Nottingham |isbn=978-1-899468-10-2 |page=8}}</ref> A key player of the period was [[Ernie Simms]], a [[Forward (association football)|forward]]. Simms was invalided back to England after being wounded on the [[Italian Front (World War I)|Italian front]],<ref name=Hayes156/><ref name=TDLTFC8/> but recovered enough to regain his place in the Luton team and scored 40 goals during the [[1916–17 in English football|1916–17 season]].<ref name=Hayes156/>

[[File:Paynevbristolrovers.jpg|thumb|left|1936: [[Joe Payne (footballer, born 1914)|Joe Payne]] ''(white shirt, left)'' scores one of his record-breaking 10 goals in one match|alt=A black-and-white newspaper photograph: taken from behind the goalkeeper's left-hand goalpost, a football is pictured on the right-hand side, in the foreground; an association football player in a white shirt and black shorts is seen on the left-hand side.]]

The Luton side first played in the white and black colours which it has retained for much of its history during the [[1920–21 in English football|1920–21 season]], when the club rejoined the Football League;<ref>{{cite book |first=Timothy |last=Collings |title=The Luton Town Story 1885–1985 |year=1985 |publisher=Luton Town F.C. |location=Luton |isbn=978-0-9510679-0-1 |pages=26–27}}</ref> the players had previously worn an assortment of colour combinations, most permanently [[sky blue]] shirts with white shorts and navy socks.<ref name=HFK>{{cite web |url=http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Luton_Town/Luton_Town.htm |title=Luton Town |website=Historical Football Kits |publisher=Dave Moor |access-date=5 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401045039/http://historicalkits.co.uk/Luton_Town/Luton_Town.htm |archive-date=1 April 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Such was the quality of Luton's team at this time that despite playing in the third tier, a fixture between Ireland and England at [[Windsor Park]] on 22 October 1921 saw three Luton players on the pitch—[[Louis Bookman]] and [[Allan Mathieson]] for Ireland, and the club's top goalscorer, Simms, for England.<ref name="Ireland 1–1 England">{{cite web |title=Ireland 1–1 England |url=http://englandstats.com/matches.php?mid=127 |publisher=England Stats |access-date=15 December 2016 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220112611/http://englandstats.com/matches.php?mid=127 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=TLTS27>{{cite book |first=Timothy |last=Collings |title=The Luton Town Story 1885–1985 |year=1985 |publisher=Luton Town F.C. |location=Luton |isbn=978-0-9510679-0-1 |page=27}}</ref> However, after Luton finished fourth in the division, the squad was broken up as Simms, Bookman and Mathieson joined [[South Shields F.C. (1889)|South Shields]], [[Port Vale F.C.|Port Vale]] and [[Exeter City F.C.|Exeter City]] respectively.<ref name=TLTS27/><ref>{{cite book |first1=Brian |last1=Ellis |first2=Alan |last2=Shury |first3=Steve |last3=Bailey |title=The Definitive Luton Town F.C. |year=1997 |publisher=Soccerdata |location=Nottingham |isbn=978-1-899468-10-2 |pages=92–97}}</ref> Luton stayed in the [[Football League Third Division South|Third Division South]] until [[1936–37 in English football|1936–37]], when the team finished top and won promotion to the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]], at that time the second tier of English football.<ref>{{cite book |first=Timothy |last=Collings |title=The Luton Town Story 1885–1985 |year=1985 |publisher=Luton Town F.C. |location=Luton |isbn=978-0-9510679-0-1 |pages=46–50}}</ref> During the promotion season, [[Forward (association football)|striker]] [[Joe Payne (footballer, born 1914)|Joe Payne]] scored 55 goals in 39 games; during the previous season he had scored 10 in one match against [[Bristol Rovers F.C.|Bristol Rovers]], which remains a Football League record today.<ref name="10goalsinagame">{{cite news |first=Simon |last=Burnton |title=The forgotten story of&nbsp;... the Football League's record scoring trio |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/oct/18/forgotten-story-football-league-record |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=18 October 2011 |access-date=14 February 2015 |archive-date=14 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214200815/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/oct/18/forgotten-story-football-league-record |url-status=live }}</ref> Towards the end on the 1936-37 season [[Eddie Parris]] became the first Black player to represent Luton when he made his debut on 13 March 1937 in a home game against [[Northampton Town]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hern |first1=Bill |last2=Gleave |first2=David |title=Football's Black Pioneers |date=2020 |publisher=Conker Editions |location=Leicester |isbn=9781999900854 |pages=168–169}}</ref>