Luton Town

Tom Lockyer: Luton Town captain thought he could be dying during cardiac arrest..By Michael Emons, BBC Sport.

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Tom Lockyer suffered cardiac arrest in Luton's Premier League game with Bournemouth on 16th December

Tom Lockyer thought he could be dying after his cardiac arrest during Luton Town's game at Bournemouth - but says he wants to play football again.

The 29-year-old was resuscitated after his heart stopped beating for two minutes and 40 seconds in the Premier League game in December.

Medics' actions saved Lockyer's life and he will not go against medical advice about resuming his career.

"I'm incredibly lucky to be alive," Lockyer said on Sunday on Sky Sports.

"We will be dictated to by the medical staff and specialists but if there was a chance I could play again, and I'm not going to do anything against the specialists' recommendations, then I would love to.

"It's far too early to say, there are a lot more tests and things that need to happen in the background, but I wouldn't write it off."

It was the second time Lockyer has had a heart problem after collapsing in the Hatters' play-off final win against Coventry City at Wembley last May.

After minor surgery he was able to play again and has captained Luton in the top flight - including scoring his first Premier League goal - before the second incident on 16 December at Vitality Stadium.

"It was just a normal day and that's the most worrying thing about it," said the Wales defender.

"I was running up to the halfway line and went really light-headed. I remember thinking 'I will be OK in a second' and eventually I wasn't.

"I woke up and the paramedics and everyone were everywhere. It happened in May as well, but I knew instantly this was different. Last time I woke up from almost a dream, this time I woke up from a nothingness.

"Straight away there was a little bit more panic from the paramedics, physios and club doctors. I was a little bit disorientated, couldn't speak or move, I was just trying to work out what was happening.

"While that was going on I remember thinking 'I could be dying here' and it's quite a surreal thought thinking that and not being able to move and respond."

Lockyer says he could feel medics putting the drip into his arm and spoke of his "relief" when he came around.

"After what happened in May I have a little recording device under my chest," he added.

"Two minutes 40 seconds I was out for. I needed the defibrillator to shock me back. A massive thank you to the paramedics and club doctors involved - because without them I wouldn't be here."

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Tom Lockyer scored the winner for Luton in their 2-1 victory at Everton in the Premier League

Lockyer's girlfriend is pregnant with their baby due soon and the centre-back, who says he is doing "really well", is focused only on his family at the moment.

He added: "I've just been living it, but everyone watching it, especially my family, has had it worse than I have.

"My old man was there [at Bournemouth] and my girlfriend was seven months pregnant at the time so instantly that's where my thoughts go.

"I kind of just woke up and as soon as I got my bearings I was OK, I felt fine. I didn't have any soreness, light-headedness or pain.

"My mum was at home and listening on the radio with my brother. Bournemouth scored and she made a cup of tea and my brother had turned the radio off.

"She was like 'what are you doing?' and he had to say 'Tom's gone down off the ball again'. So it's things like that which are the bigger picture and that's the hardest thing to deal with."

Lockyer was at Kenilworth Road on Sunday, working as a pundit for Sky Sports on his side's home match against Manchester United.

He has since had a device fitted, described as an in-built defibrillator, which would automatically shock his heart if required and joked he "almost felt invincible".

"I can't lie, it has been a tough couple of months, but I'm well," he added.


Tom Lockyer's Career Stats: Age 29, Played 468, Goals 15, Clubs: BRFC, Charlton Athletic, Luton Town, Wales U21 & Wales...

Wednesday 21st February 2024 - Premier League - Result

Liverpool 4 (Van Dijk 56, Gakpo 58, Diaz 71, Elliott 90) Luton Town 1 (Ogbene 12)

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One of Jurgen Klopp's backroom team has just been shown a yellow card.
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GOAL - Liverpool 1-1 Luton - Virgil van Dijk (56 mins)
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GOAL - Liverpool 2-1 Luton - Cody Gakpo (58)
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GOAL - Liverpool 3-1 Luton - Luis Diaz (71 mins)
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GOAL - Liverpool 4-1 Luton - Harvey Elliott (90 mins)
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FULL-TIME - Liverpool 4-1 Luton Town

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Luton's next five league games:

2nd March H v Aston Villa

9th March A v Crystal Palace

13th March A v Bournemouth

16th March H v Nott'm Forest

30th March A v Tottenham

Ross Barkley on England hopes, Luton Town and new midfield role..By Jonty Colman, BBC Sport.

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Luton Town midfielder Ross Barkley says he has gone "back in time" this season after a return to his best form with the Premier League newcomers.

Barkley, 30, made a surprise switch to newly promoted Luton last summer following a brief spell in France.

A move to Kenilworth Road has seen him play the most league minutes he has in a season for seven years, and led to talk about an England recall.

"I feel like I'm in a good place again," Barkley told BBC Sport.

"I don't have to worry about anything else other than playing games and enjoying training and enjoying my matches and trying to help my team do as good as possible."

Joining boyhood club Everton at the age of 11, Barkley made his debut for the club in 2011 when he was 18 and comparisons to Wayne Rooney naturally followed.

Roberto Martinez, Barkley's manager at Goodison Park between 2013 and 2016, said the midfielder was "born to play football" and he featured in all three of England's matches at the 2014 World Cup.

A £15m move to Chelsea in 2018 was described as a "fresh start" but Barkley left the Blues by mutual consent at the start of the 2022-23 season after just 100 appearances for the club.

After leaving Stamford Bridge, Sir Dave Brailsford convinced Barkley to join Nice, who are owned by Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos company.

But after just nine starts in 27 appearances in Ligue 1 last season, Barkley returned to England with Luton after their promotion to the Premier League.

Speaking to Football Focus, Barkley opened up on his form for Rob Edwards' side this season, playing in a deeper role and his hopes of an England recall.

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Spending last season with Nice was hugely important as Barkley rediscovered his spark

"I learned quite a lot [at Nice] to be honest, even though I felt like I should have played a lot more than I did there.

"I learned a lot off the ball. In France, they work hard on the defensive side of the game, really aggressive pressing.

"Some tackles I saw in training were dangerous, even some of the youngsters go right through the older players and didn't even pick them up.

"I just felt like I had a lot to prove [before signing for Luton] and I missed my football and playing games.

"I feel like I've gone back in time now. I've not really played [as] much in the past three or four years as I feel like I deserved.

"The manager has helped me a lot since he came in, with his trust and communication. He's got great man-management skills, great togetherness and he's a great man as well."

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Now aged 30 and with more than 250 Premier League games under his belt, Barkley has found recent success as a deeper-lying midfielder than he once was. This role is similar to one he played in youth football before breaking his leg on England Under-19 duty which led to him becoming an attacking midfielder.

"Coming to Luton, my intentions were not playing this role. But because of certain injuries, I've filled in at that role and it's worked out so well for me. I knew I could play in that position, but sometimes all it takes is a manager to trust you in a certain role.

"When I was younger, I was more of a holding midfielder, making tackles and similar to how I'm playing now but still taking some risks.

"Then once I broke my leg and came back, I had no confidence in tackling or leaving my leg in for challenges. It took me a couple of years because every time I saw someone go in for a 50-50, I thought someone could have broken their leg.

"Of course it affected me mentally, so I got moved further forward into more attacking positions because my decision-making when I was younger wasn't as good as it is now. That comes with experience."

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Barkley's form has led to calls from some for a potential England return after almost five years since his last cap for the Three Lions. Former England midfielder Jermaine Jenas said last month that Barkley should be in contention for an England recall, with former Chelsea team-mate Cesc Fabregas saying that "he's playing at a fantastic level".

"Why not? I feel like I'm a much better player now than I was when I was younger.

"I'm not going to lie, it's in the back of my mind, but I know there's a lot of competition for places in the England squad.

"I do back myself. I believe I can add something to the squad. I believe the lower midfield role for me, it's perfect for me now. I have a better understanding of the game.

"I can take risks, create assists and defensively I'm much more disciplined now."

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Barkley will hope that his form will enable him to add to his 33 caps for England

Tom Lockyer: Luton Town captain to thank medics who saved his life at Bournemouth..

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Luton Town's Tom Lockyer will attend his side's game at Bournemouth to thank medics who saved his life after he suffered a cardiac arrest at the venue.

Lockyer, 29, collapsed on the pitch when the clubs met on 16th December.

The Premier League game was abandoned, with the re-arranged match taking place at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday.

"It will be emotional going back and reliving that experience but we know we have to do it," said Luton manager Rob Edwards on Tuesday.

Luton captain Lockyer has not played since his cardiac arrest, with the defender previously telling how he was "technically dead" for nearly three minutes.

He was hospitalised for five days and was subsequently fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.

On Wednesday, Lockyer will thank the medical team who saved his life before being presented to the crowd at half-time.

There are also plans for a minute's applause in tribute to the medics who resuscitated Lockyer.

"They are the true heroes," added Edwards, whose side sit 18th in the table, three points from safety.

"It is only football and there are more important things, but what those guys did in the most pressurised moment was incredible and they deserve all the attention and affection that they are going to get.

"It was a really difficult experience that we all went through. The main thing now is that Locks is okay and the silver lining is that some good will have come from it with more awareness on CPR and the importance of knowing what to do in those emergency situations."

Bournemouth fans have raised more than £2,000 to put on four coaches for Luton fans to make the 240-mile round-trip from Bedfordshire to the south coast for the re-arranged game.

Cherries boss Andoni Iraola said he was looking forward to seeing Lockyer.

"Since the first seconds [after] it happened, everyone was very clear that the most important thing that mattered was for him to recover," said the Spaniard.

"The most important thing is he is much better. He has recovered well and I am happy to know that he is doing well.

"It will be amazing if he comes and we can see him. I am happy to know he is doing well."

Bournemouth are 11 points clear of the relegation zone and will go level on points with 12th-placed Fulham with a win.

The Dorset club have come together with the Cherries Trust and Talking Cherries, with the aim of raising awareness around cardiac health.

There will be representatives from the Bournemouth Heart Club situated around the stadium, offering information and advice around cardiac health and the services they offer locally.

"We want to make the game easier for everyone," Gayle Hope from the Cherries Trust told BBC South Today.

"There's going to be a high level of anxiety and it'll invoke memories from the day when it happened. It'll basically be the same crowd that were there on the day."

There will also be mental health first aiders in attendance, as support for people who may struggle with anxiety on the day.

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We asked for your thoughts on Saturday's game between Luton Town and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

Here are some of your responses:

Luton fans

Nicola: Supporting Luton Town is one of the hardest things in the world. We must get ourselves together and start playing the way I know we can or we will be relegated. We can do better. We must do better. We are Luton Town and we deserve our place in the Premier League. Well done on the point salvaged, boys.

Sue: That was the best that a patched-up team could do. They are still in the mix but they have kept us within touching distance. When we get a couple of our injured players back, it will be game on. I still believe.

Alec: Luton played well at times, with lapses of concentration. The refereeing performance was an absolute shambles. Nowadays referees sadly don't know the laws of the game. Both assistants were also very poor. PGMOL and Mr Webb need to open their eyes.

Louise: Luton never do it the easy way but we are a side that never gives up. So I think that we are still in with a chance of Premier League survival.

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Saturday 30th March 2024 - Analysis: Tottenham 2-1 Luton..

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Report by Matthew Howarth, BBC Sport journalist.
Luton needed less than three minutes to extend their club-record scoring run to 18 successive top-flight fixtures, but once again they were unable to retain their advantage after Tahith Chong had given them an early lead.
They had chances to add to Chong's crisp drive, James Maddison producing a crucial block to deny Carlton Morris at the near post before Ross Barkley and Jordan Clark tested Guglielmo Vicario from the edge of the box.
Son Heung-min struck both posts midway through the first half, and Luton's luck appeared to be holding after Alfie Doughty somehow prevented Brennan Johnson's shot from creeping in at the far post in the second - but Son had the last laugh when his late effort deflected in off Daiki Hashioka.
With trips to title-chasing Arsenal and Manchester City still to come before the end of the season, it appears Luton's home form will be key to their hopes of preserving their Premier League status.

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Rob Edwards spoke to BBC Match of The Day after Luton's defeat to Tottenham: "It's difficult at the best of times coming here. The players gave everything, the plan was good. The players were fully committed. It was a brilliant goal we scored to put ourselves in a good position. I know they had some chances and we had some great blocks and defended well - you have to do that here.
"The bit that gives me belief and confidence is how we've been with all the problems we've got at the moment. The players are completely with it, supporters are completely with it, that's what gives me belief."
On Tottenham coming from behind to win: "The big chances they had came from our mistake. Other than that I thought we were fairly comfortable in the first half. At 1-1 again I thought the game settled a little bit and I'm' really disappointed to concede so late."
On whether the manner of the performance made him proud: "The players are giving everything, we're working really hard to make sure we give ourselves an opportunity to win games of football. We've got to turn around quickly, it doesn't get any easier! We'll try and go again.
"It does give me belief, it does give me heart. It's a tough one to take because we hate losing. We know how difficult the challenge is coming here but to be competing and pushing them all the way gives me a lot of pride."

Luton face a trip to title-chasers Arsenal tonight - can they claim the win they need to join Nottingham Forest on 25 points?

It seems unlikely, with the Hatters having failed to win in their last 9 league games - a run that includes 3 draws and 6 defeats.

Here are Luton's final 8 games run-in:

3rd April - Arsenal (a)

6th April - Bournemouth (h)

13th April - Manchester City (a)

20th April - Brentford (h)

28th April - Wolves (a)

4th May - Everton (h)

11th May - West Ham (a)

19th May - Fulham (h)