Across the space of three days, over 200,000 football fans are set to pack out Wembley filled with hope.
A bit of belief, too.
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But there will also be a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs of what could happen if, at the end of 90 minutes or longer, the cards doesn’t fall their way.
It is of course the English Football League’s weekend of playoff finals as six teams compete for the ultimate goal of promotion from their respective league.
Carlisle United and Stockport County will look to rise from the EFL’s bottom rung to the third tier.
Barnsley hope to bring Sheffield Wednesday’s thundering momentum to a shuddering halt after the Owls recorded one of, if not the most remarkable comeback in playoff history against Peterborough United.
But all eyes will be trained on Sunday morning’s (AEST) action between Luton Town and Coventry City in the Championship playoff final, dubbed the richest game in football.
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The prize, of course, is a spot in the Premier League and the estimated $322 million windfall that comes with it simply by being promoted, per The Athletic.
Given this fixture has been decided by one goal in nine of the last 11 playoff finals, nervy times await.
For Luton and Coventry, it has been over two decades since either was last in the English top flight.
Both clubs have had their share of financial and emotional turmoil over the years with Luton dropping out of the EFL entirely while Coventry was essentially homeless for three of the last 10 seasons.
And that’s just the very, very narrow tip of the iceberg for the pair.
But both have risen from the doldrums of the EFL to sit agonisingly close to a seat at the richest table in football.
Foxsports.com.au takes a look at the journey of both clubs this season and where the contest could be won and lost in a match Coventry manager Mark Robins described as “one for the romantics.”
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HOW $7 PURCHASE LED LUTON TO VERGE OF $322 MILLION DREAM
Luton got its first taste of the Championship playoffs last season but fell short against Huddersfield Town in the semi-finals.
However, the arrival of star striker Clayton Morris from Barnsley and the fact the Hatters have improved its league position every season since Nathan Jones’ arrival in 2016 raised expectations for the 2022/23 campaign.
Although Luton took five games to secure their first win of the season and were in the relegation zone, Jones quickly turned the form around and led the Hatters all the way up to 4th in mid-October.
But there would soon be a major hitch in Luton’s operation.
Jones was plucked from his post at Kenilworth Road to fill the vacancy at Premier League outfit Southampton, who had just parted ways with Ralph Hassenhuttl.
The last time Jones left Luton for a different job, it left the club in free fall and took the Welshman returning to the club to save them from being relegated to League One in the 2019/20 season.
Time would tell if lightning would strike again as Rob Edwards, who was sacked by Watford after 10 league games this season, was announced as Jones’ replacement.
Edwards was announced during the mid-season break for the World Cup, gifting him weeks to learn and understand the squad he had at his disposal.
It turned out to be the mini pre-season which kickstarted Luton’s promotion push.
From December 10 onwards, Luton won 14 of their final 25 fixtures under Edwards and tallied just three losses.
What made Edwards’ style of play so successful with this Luton team was his ability to see out narrow victories.
Of the 14 wins, nine of them were by a one-goal margin.
But, more importantly, Luton under Edwards found a steely resilience and conceded just 17 goals in the 25-game span, with 12 clean sheets.
A key element to the success at keeping the opposition at bay was the January loan signing of defensive midfielder Marvelous Nakamba.
The Zimbabwean international plays the perfect role as a screen for the backline, forcing the opposition to funnel their attacks to the wings.
But the main figure behind Luton’s on-field success has undoubtedly been Morris, who scored a staggering 20 league goals.
However, neither man comes close to the heartwarming story behind Hatters midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu.
The 29-year-old first joined Luton in 2013 on loan from West Ham United when the Hatters were knocking about in the Conference Premiership, the highest level of non-league football.
But as Luton climbed up the English football pyramid, so too did Mpanzu.
He now stands 90 minutes away from being the first footballer to rise all the way from non-league football to the Premier League.
Talk about a Hollywood story for player and club.
To get to this point has by no means been a straightforward journey for Luton.
This is the same club that was slapped with a 30-point deduction to start the 2008/09 League Two season — a figure which remains the English record to this day — for illegal agent payments and an inability to complete an insolvency agreement to the required standard of HMRC.
It is also the same club who boasted an owner by the name of John Gurney who bought it for $7 in 2003 and revealed plans of building a 70,000-seat stadium over a motorway in an eventful 55-day stint in charge.
Gurney also sacked popular manager Joe Kinnear at the time and allowed fans to have their say for who the next manager should be via a phone vote, which Kinnear won with 82 per cent of the vote.
Thankfully for the Luton faithful, the phone votes, financial disasters and all-round gross mismanagement are a thing of the past as a return to the top flight after 31 years away beckons.
THE HOMELESS CLUB WHO REGAINED ITS HEARTBEAT
With one half of Wembley set to be coloured in orange, the other will be decked out in the elegant sky blue of Coventry City.
A team who was in the Premier League 22 years ago and winners of the 1986/87 FA Cup, Coventry has lurched from one disaster to the next since the turn of the century.
The club’s plight was exarcebated by the decision to sell Highfield Road and move into the Ricoh Arena in 2005.
As debts continued to mount, a London-based hedge fund Sisu Capital saved Coventry from being wound up in 2007 with just 20 minutes to spare.
However, the group would quickly turn from saints to sinners as Coventry dropped all the way down to League Two in 2017 for the first time since 1959.
Sisu was also locked in a bitter battle over the rent figures at the Ricoh Arena, which forced the Sky Blues to play their home games at Northampton’s turf in the 2013/14 season as well as Birmingham City’s ground, St Andrews from 2019 to 2021.
Eventually Sisu’s hellish rule of the Midlands club came to an end in January this year when local businessman Doug King purchased 85 per cent of the club, which subsequently turned into full ownership later that month.
Coventry’s on-field fortunes this season have lurched from one extreme to the next, but sometimes the destination matters more than the journey.
Mark Robins’ side were bottom of the league on October 15 and only escaped the relegation zone on November 1.
It seemed as if Robins, who was in his second stint as Coventry manager, had run out of his managerial magic having guided the Sky Blues up from League Two in 2018 all the way to the Championship.
However, Coventry’s fortunes changed and went into the World Cup break with four wins on the trot and breathing significantly easier all the way up in 11th place.
The form did not carry over once the action resumed, as Robins’ side lost four of the first eight games and recorded just one win in that time.
But from January 28 onwards, Coventry picked up steam and surged up the ladder.
The Sky Blues won nine and lost just two games from their last 19 to snatch a spot in the playoffs right at the death as their rivals continued to trip over their own feet in the race for a top six spot.
Such was the last-gasp nature of Coventry’s run of form, they were only in the top six for the final three matchweeks.
Robins’ remarkable ability to extract every ounce of talent and energy from his troops is an undeniable factor behind Coventry’s success.
But most important is how he has helped Swedish marksman Viktor Gyokeres find his best form.
Gyokeres finished the season with 21 league goals and 10 assists, an improvement on his 17-goal haul in the 2021/22 campaign.
The Swede can score but, more importantly, he has a tremendous ability to either bring the ball up the field or hold it up and get his teammates into the game.
His all-round game is central to Coventry’s lightning-quick counter attacks, none more evident than when they scored the only goal of their playoff semi-final clash against Middlesbrough.
The Sky Blues won the ball on the halfway line before Gyokeres was placed into space.
He brought down the ball and eventually laid it off for midfield dynamo Gustavo Hamer who made no mistake with the finish and secured Coventry’s spot in the playoff final.
It is rather remarkable to consider Luton and Coventry both got promoted from League Two in 2018.
But equally heartening is they have reached this stage after years of financial mismanagement that plunged them to depths never seen before.
They’ve also not had any parachute payments from the Premier League to aid their coffers, either.
In fact, Coventry and Luton have the second-lowest and fifth-lowest wage bills respectively in the Championship, proving further why this fixture is such a special occasion not just for fans of either team, but the neutral.
When it comes to the head-to-head record of Luton and Coventry this season, they have drawn both games: 2-2 on Luton’s home turf and 1-1 on Coventry’s.
It makes this game ridiculously difficult to predict.
However, in positive news for Luton fans, renowned stats website FiveThirtyEighthas the Hatters with a 56 per cent chance of being promoted to Coventry’s 44 per cent.
Time will tell as to whether that prediction rings true.
But one thing’s for sure: it will be a stomach-churning 90 minutes, possibly more, and one team’s lengthy Premier League exile will finally be over.