Luton Town lose to West Brom as second relegation confirmed with a heavy 5-3 defeat against the Baggies at Hawthorns.
Luton Town suffered a second successive relegation and will play in League One next season.
Only a year after leaving the Premier League, the Hatters needed a victory to ensure their Championship safety, but they lost badly at the Hawthorns and were demoted to the third division.
In addition to a header from injured scorer Daryl Dike, Albion’s Tom Fellows and Callum Styles each scored twice, making Millenic Alli’s double and Jordan Clark’s goal for Luton meaningless.
Additionally, Luton dropped into League One on a lower goal differential after finishing with 49 points, while Portsmouth failed to save Matt Bloomfield’s team by defeating Hull City.
Midway through April, Luton appeared doomed, but three straight victories—a well-timed run of Championship form—lifted them from second bottom to one spot above the relegation zone, giving them control of their destiny going into the final day.
They started off with confidence, but their good start was cut short after just seven minutes when Fellows managed to get a shot past Luton custodian Thomas Kaminski.
Luton fell to the bottom three as a result, but they quickly recovered to get back out of it.
Luton’s equaliser was sent into the far corner after Alli dribbled past Kyle Bartley after Thelo Aasgaard regained control in midfield.
However, the visitors’ defence and afternoon swiftly and catastrophically collapsed.
Hull started by pushing the Hatters back into the drop zone at Portsmouth.
After that, Luton had a mountain to climb after Dike’s header at the half—his first league goal since March 2023 on his first league start since April 2023—and Fellows’ second goal three minutes later.
Due to Luton’s dire circumstances, Bloomfield made the bold decision to make two substitutions, including removing captain Carlton Morris and altering the lineup at halftime.
At first, it didn’t make much of a difference, but when word leaked out that Portsmouth had equalised, Luton was encouraged.
Bloomfield’s team needed Portsmouth to finish their comeback and defeat Hull at Fratton Park after Styles scored two goals in four minutes.
With two minutes remaining, Alli made it 5-3 as Clark curled in a second Luton goal just four minutes later. Isaac Price of Albion then nearly scored an odd own goal.
However, Luton’s comeback was too little, too late, and they will return to League One for the first time since 2018–19.