Luton Town completes incredible journey to Premier League after 31 years

Luton Town FC is headed back to the top flight of English football for the first time in 31 years after defeating Coventry City on Saturday in penalty kicks (6-5) at Wembley Stadium in the Championship promotion playoff. 

That win earned the club a promotion -- along with Burnley and Sheffield United -- to the Premier League. 

Luton Town will become the 51st team to play in the Premier League since it began in its current form in 1992, and it completes an improbable journey that saw them go from a non-league team all the way back up to the top flight of English football. They are the first team in English football history to go from a top-flight team, to non-league, and then climb all the way back up to the top flight. 

During the 2008-09 season, when Luton Town was already playing in the lowest level of the English Football league, the club was docked 30 points for financial irregularities that knocked it out of the league entirely. 

They then spent five years playing non-league football before finally earning promotion back into the football league in 2013-14.

What followed over the next nine years has been a rapid ascent up the latter with successive promotions from League Two and League One in 2017 and 2018, before finally earning a promotion to the Premier League on Saturday.

It will completely change the fortunes of the club.

Promotion to the Premier League means an additional $200 million in income over the next three years. 

That will come in handy because the club will have to make immediate upgrades to its facility to make it up to Premier League standards, including bigger locker rooms, better lighting, and a VAR system. 

Luton Town's home stadium has been getting increased attention in recent weeks as promotion became more possible given its small size (only about 10,000 capacity) and the fact it is literally located in the middle of houses.