During the 2008-09 season, AFC Bournemouth sat 10 points adrift of safety at the bottom of League Two when a 31-year-old manager was given temporary charge of the team.

Eddie Howe had had a decent if unspectacular playing career that was blighted by injury which turned out to be a blessing for the Cherries as it brought him into management a lot quicker than it may have otherwise. In a shocking turnaround, the club secured survival with a 2-1 win over Grimsby Town in the final home game of the season. Steve Fletcher cemented his already legendary status with the club by scoring the decisive goal.

Howe had secured the greatest of ‘great escapes’ getting a side that started the season on minus 17 points (imposed due to financial problems) out of trouble with a game to spare. He soon set about stamping his authority on a club whose name was synonymous with lower league football. If Bournemouth were on your fixture list you knew you were in division three or four.

Yet with an eye for transfers, a board that backed him to the hilt and an attractive playing style Eddie Howe reformed the club. Despite his young age he had the passion, vision and work ethic to take a club from the brink of League Two oblivion all the way to the Premier League in just six short seasons (even with a short stint at Burnley sandwiched in the middle). So why the ramble about the Cherries?

Well on our recent podcast an interesting question arose asking how far can Luton Town go under Nathan Jones? The similarities between the Welshman’s story (young as it may be) and that of Eddie Howe are quite incredible. The fact that Bournemouth, a side with no higher division pedigree, could be transformed by an ambitious young manager should highlight to Luton fans just how much potential the Hatters have with their own ambitious manager at the helm.

Nathan Jones took over at the club with the Hatters 16th in League Two and since then he hasn’t looked back. They missed out on promotion during his first full season in charge, losing a dramatic play-off double-header 6-5 to Blackpool.

That set-back just spurred him on and he put together one of the most impressive sides League Two has ever seen. The football was scintillating and promotion, in the end, was straightforward. It had taken Nathan Jones just under two and a half seasons to return Luton Town to the third tier after 10 years in the doldrums.

This campaign has been even better with Luton in the automatic promotion spots in League One at the time of writing. Their home form is unbelievable and the style they play not only suits the players at their disposal but it is also very entertaining. As happy as Luton fans will be with things as they are on the pitch the most important decision in the club’s recent history is just around the corner.

The Hatters are looking to move out of their venerated but dated old home at Kenilworth Road to a new site in the town centre. The planning application has been lodged with the council since August 2016. The plan would see a new stadium being erected on Power Court, a site of an old power station. The new ground would have a capacity of 23,000 seats and would also include a live performance venue, bars, restaurants and apartments. The council are set to make a decision on January 30 2019, one which could have massive ramifications for the future of both the town and the football club.

Funding for the stadium is expected to be raised from a building project at Newlands Park on land owned by the club which includes retail, leisure facilities and offices. It is this part of the application that has raised concerns with business owners in the centre of town who claim that it could damage trade. Perhaps that is a valid point if it wasn’t for the fact that a massive stadium which will draw in thousands of fans every week is to be built right at the heart of the town. This will be a massive boost to all business in the area and if it helps the football club grow then the prospects just get better and better.

Imagine the lure of playing at a club who are at the heart of their town and community. Luton could become the go-to football destination and it will almost certainly lead the club into the Championship and I would argue beyond. Reading Football Club are often an example I use when discussing the potential growth at a new Stadium. The club was in League One when they move to the Madejski Stadium but were able to catapult themselves into the Premier League in 2006 after an incredible record-breaking season in which they amassed 106 points.

Luton could easily follow suit with the new ground becoming a real pull for potential signings and also to Nathan Jones himself. There is no doubt that Championship chairmen will be looking in his direction at some point this season but if Luton have this bright future to look forward to then Jones may well be happy to stay. This is not to say he lacks ambition but a glance at how Paul Hurst got on at Ipswich and, indeed, how Eddie Howe has taken Bournemouth to the promised land may be enough for the realisation to dawn that Luton are a club with more prospects than many of the badly run ‘fallen giants’ currently littering the second tier.

With the way Luton recruits using careful due diligence and stringent character testing also put them in good stead. Bringing in the right players is far more important than necessarily bringing in the most talented. It would be heart-breaking if the planning application was turned down and as I said on our latest podcast, would highlight all that is wrong with modern planning laws. Let’s all just hope that common sense prevails.

So where is the Luton Town ceiling? Hard to say but the club played 10 consecutive seasons in the English top flight between 1982 and 1992 yet there is far more going for it than there ever was back then. This campaign could yet turn out to be another unprecedented success and I for one believe that the sky is indeed the limit for Nathan Jones and his Hatters…hope to see you all on cloud nine then.

words James Richards, D3D4 Football