Luton Town have confirmed the departure of striker Joe Taylor, who has joined League One side Huddersfield Town.
Taylor, 22, has joined the Terriers on a four-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee, keeping him contracted to Huddersfield until 2029.
The deal sees Taylor return to League One, where he spent time on loan last season playing for Lincoln City and scored 10 times in 19 appearances.
The Hatters had signed Taylor from Peterborough in January 2023. In all, he made 18 appearances for the Hatters, with his most noteworthy contribution seeing him score in the Championship play-off final’s penalty shootout when Luton won promotion to the Premier League, having had a goal disallowed in extra time.
In a brief statement, Luton said, “We would like to thank Joe for his contribution and wish him all the best for his career.”
Huddersfield Head Coach Michael Duff told the club’s website that he was delighted to see the club get the deal done.
He said, “Knowing how hard the Club have worked on this deal for some time, I’m delighted to see Joe finally unveiled as a Huddersfield Town player and I’m excited to get working with him.
“The way he completed last season on loan with Lincoln City at this level right at the top of the league speaks to his character and will to succeed, and those are values we want to see in our players – you can never have too many winners in your group.
“We have wanted to add to our forward line since the summer, but only with the right profile and standard of player, and we believe Joe is just that. With a lot of important football left to play, we look forward to Joe contributing between now and the end of the season.”
Taylor himself added, “The ambition of the Club was really attractive to me, and after speaking to the Sporting Director and Head Coach, I was left with no doubt in my mind about the decision I wanted to make.
“It’s a league I know well and have enjoyed playing in, and I hope I can make a difference when it matters most to get our supporters out of their seats.”
Luton Town are out of the FA Cup after a 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in the Third Round.
A goal in each half did the trick for the Premier League hosts, with Ryan Yates and Roman Sosa doing the honours for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side against the Hatters in their first game after parting company with Rob Edwards earlier this week.
Defeat means Luton’s interest in the FA Cup is over for another season, despite the managerless Hatters giving a good account of themselves against a side they finished one place behind in the Premier League last season.
The match was a rematch of the 1959 FA Cup Final, which saw Forest beat Luton 2-1 at Wembley in May 1959. In more modern parlance, it saw Luton come up against a side that had finished in the place directly above them in last season’s Premier League, even if Forest stayed up by six points.
Luton were also facing their first contest without Edwards, who had left the club after a slump had seen the club fall into the bottom 6 of the Championship table.
A group of Mick Harford, Paul Trollope and Richie Kyle oversaw the Hatters, with the visitors picking a side that included a start for new signing Isaiah Jones the day after his arrival from Middlesbrough.
With the home side third in the Premier League after an unexpectedly strong first half of the season and facing a big clash against league leaders Liverpool on Tuesday, the hosts made 11 changes compared to Luton’s single alteration.
Luton had themselves a decent early opportunity as a drive by Liam Walsh had to be tipped over by home goalkeeper Carlos Miguel, before an effort from similar range by home skipper Yates hit the crossbar with Thomas Kaminski stranded.
Both sides came close in a competitive first half, with Jones just denied by Miguel after a mazy run before Kaminski made a close-range stop to deny Willy Boly at a set-piece.
A breakthrough would come Forest’s way with five minutes of normal time in the first half remaining, as Sosa’s cross picked out Yates to head past Kaminski and open the scoring for the home side.
The hosts came close to doubling their lead just after the break, but Taiyo Awoniyi’s shot was straight at Kaminski.
A tighter second half saw Luton still hopeful of getting back on terms, but those ambitions took a hit when Forest made it 2-0 with 22 minutes to play. A long pass released Jota Silva down the Forest right and he found Sosa, who nipped in ahead of his marker to tap in the home side’s second goal.
Luton had some opportunities for a goal back, with Tom Holmes having a header cleared off the line before Miguel denied visiting substitute Jacob Brown.
Forest sub Callum Hudson-Odoi flashed a shot over the top just after coming on, while Miguel would make another stop to thwart Carlton Morris after the ball fell the visiting skipper’s way.
But there was no way back for Luton, who are now out of the FA Cup for another season. Attention will return to their league duties next week, as the Hatters welcome Preston North End to Kenilworth Road.
Attacking midfielder Tommy Leigh has left MK Dons and signed for their fellow League 2 outfit Bradford City.
Leigh, 24, has moved to West Yorkshire for an undisclosed fee and signed a two-and-a-half year deal to play for the Bantams.
The move ends Leigh’s spell at MK Dons, which had seen him join the club in the summer from Accrington Stanley.
Leigh had moved to Milton Keynes after a run of 42 appearances in League Two for Stanley last season, scoring 8 times. However, he didn’t quite hit the ground running in Milton Keynes, scoring once in 17 appearances in all competitions.
After initially being a regular, Leigh fell down the pecking order with the Dons, with his last start coming in the EFL Trophy in mid-November and his last appearance coming as a substitute against Chesterfield in early December.
In a brief statement, MK Dons said, “MK Dons would like to thank Tommy for all his efforts during the season and wish him all the best for the future.”
Bradford City manager and former MK Dons boss Graham Alexander told the club’s official site that he was delighted to make the move happen.
He said, ““Bringing Tommy in is another exciting addition to our attacking options.
“He is versatile and has already shown his goal-scoring abilities so far in his career.
“Tommy is up for the challenge ahead and we want to help him take his game to the next level.”
Leigh could be in line to play against his former employers when Bradford play MK Dons in the last game of February.
Northampton Town have confirmed their League One match against Barnsley has been postponed.
A pitch inspection was called to be held today (10/01) at the Cobblers’ Sixfields ground to determine if their clash with Barnsley tomorrow (11/01) could be held, but following a week of sub-zero temperatures in the UK, the pitch failed the inspection.
In a brief statement, Northampton said, “Northampton Town’s Sky Bet League One fixture with Barnsley was postponed because of a frozen pitch. A new date for the game will be confirmed in due course.
“Match ticket holders are asked to keep their match tickets safe until a new date is confirmed. Any tickets purchased for the original game will be valid for the new date, while refund details for match ticket holders unable to make the new date will be confirmed when a new date is known.”
Northampton will next be in action on January 18th when they welcome Lincoln City to Sixfields.
MK Dons’ trip to face Carlisle United tomorrow (11/01) has been postponed due to a frozen pitch.
The Dons had been due to face League 2’s bottom side at 3pm tomorrow, in a game that would’ve seen them take on former boss Mike Williamson for the first time since he left MK Dons to take charge at Carlisle in September.
However, following a week of freezing conditions in England, Carlisle confirmed the pitch at their Brunton Park stadium failed an inspection held by a qualified match official this morning (10/01), and with further freezing conditions expected overnight, the decision was made to postpone the contest.
The game is the third in as many months that MK Dons have seen postponed due to weather-related issues. The Dons’ matches at Fleetwood in November and Barrow in December were both postponed due to stormy weather, although unlike those two games, the decision was made to postpone the Carlisle contest the day before rather than the day of the match.
MK Dons have said, “All ticket and rearranged fixture details will be confirmed in due course.”
