You are in > manchester.com  > News > Luton Town hit with ten-point penalty for illegal payments

General Sport

Luton Town hit with ten-point penalty for illegal payments

04/06/2008

The Football Association (FA) has sanctioned Luton Town with a £50,000 fine and a ten-point penalty which will be carried into next season.

Luton have been reprimanded due to misconduct over payments made to agents between July 2004 and February 2007 when the club was being run by Bill Tomlins.

Tomlins has been fined individually for his part in the affair, as has financial director Derek Peter. For the 13 charges of misconduct made against him, Tomlins has been fined £15,000 and suspended from all football activities for five years. Peter was fined £3,750 and was handed a one-year ban.

The FA were keen to point out that the club had been found guilty of making payments through a third party rather than via official football association routes and that it had found no evidence of any 'bungs' being paid to agents.

The Hatters are due to be taken out of administration by a group backed by former TV presenter Nick Owen. Their group, LTFC2020, felt that the points deduction handed to the club was unfair.

Although they praised the FA for taking a tough stance against the club's former owners, claiming their behaviour had been "totally unacceptable".

However, they felt that Tomlins and Peter should have been made more responsible for the mishandling of the club's finances and that the Hatters themselves should not have been punished as harshly as the pair have since left.

A statement from LFC2020 said: "Regarding the decision today, we are very disappointed that the FA has not been able to take into account the current plight of the club and the fact that it is soon to be under new ownership.

"To punish the club and the fans in the future with a points deduction, when the perpetrators get away with just light fines is hugely disappointing."

The six agents involved with the deals have all been warned about their future conduct.

The club are considering whether to appeal against the FA's ruling.