Nathan Jones returns as manager of Luton Town with ‘repaired differences’

Nathan Jones has been reappointed as manager at Luton, just 16 months after leaving the club for Stoke.

Having announced former boss Graeme Jones was leaving the Championship club during April as a means of reducing costs during the hiatus caused by the coronavirus crisis, the Welshman has been confirmed as successor on his 47th birthday.

Jones had a brief spell at Kenilworth Road as a player in mid-1990s and enjoyed success as manager there between 2016 and 2019. The club was well placed for promotion to the Championship when he left for Stoke in January 2019 against the Luton hierarchy’s wishes.

That ill-fated reign at the bet365 Stadium came to an end in November with Stoke second-bottom of the second tier. Jones will be assisted by Mick Harford, who as caretaker helped finish the job of gaining promotion from League One.

“Everyone knows exactly what we thought about Nathan when he left for Stoke – we hardly made our disappointment a secret,” said the Luton CEO Gary Sweet.

“Clearly, we couldn’t move forward without those issues being mostly corrected and over time, with the board, this has been done. Nathan has been humble with us and we’ve repaired our differences.”