Luton Town
Last updated : 13 January 2007 By Honestman
1951 was Festival of Britain year and massive national celebrations took place. Football was not to be left out and matches took place up and down the length and breadth of the country. Ayr United took part by playing a series of matches in England, four matches in almost as many days.Their first match was against Luton Town on 12th May 1951 at Kenilworth Road.
United were 3-0 down at half time but a second half goal by Dougie Stockdale brought them back in and when Alec Beattie made it 3-2 the game was in the balance. However, Luton struck late on to make a final score of 4-2. A programme was produced. |
Festival of Britain Programme |
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It was 45 years before the clubs again met. By 24th July 1996, Luton Town had just been relegated from England's second division and their visit to Somerset Park saw Ayr record a 1-0 win from a Steve Kerrigan goal in a friendly.
The programme for this match was a joint one for a series of pre-season friendlies at Somerset Park. The cover of the programme was rather pinker than the the white colour shown above.
The programme also contained an excellent article on 5 players with common links between Ayr United and Luton Town. These players were Neil McBain (1914, Billy Middleton (1913), John Semple (1915), Barrel Carroll (1940) and Johnny Kilgannon (1962).
