Luton Town FC

This season is the first time the two clubs have ever met, so for 666 brave Luton souls, the long trip to the Lancashire resort was a must.

Of course there is a famous link between the two clubs. Legendary comedian Eric Morecambe was born Eric Bartholomew in Morecambe. Eric was President of Morecambe FC and when he moved the family home to Harpenden, he started to follow Luton with his son Gary. 

Eric became a passionate supporter and Luton Town would receive frequent references on the Morecambe and Wise show, normally in the play what Ern wrote. Eric was a regular at Kenilworth Road in the seventies and became a director of the club.

Eric brings some sunshine!

The two matches this season have been inextricably linked with Eric. At Kenilworth Road in December, it seemed that half the travelling Morecambe fans came dressed as Eric in cloth caps, raincoats and glasses.  In fact two "Erics" administered first aid to a Luton fan knocked down by a car.   The sight of twenty Eric Morcambes singing  "Bring Me Sunshine" to the accompaniment of the Salvation Army band was never to be forgotten. The Salvation Army were trying to play "O Come All Ye Faithful" at the time.

And so to Morecambe itself.

The promenade is now home to the Eric Morecambe stage. There are marble pavements with facts, figures and quotes from Britain's most famous double act. And there's a brilliant statue of Eric in characteristic dancing pose looking in from the bay with the mountains of the Lake district behind.

A group of Luton fans applied for and received permission to dress the statue in Luton Town kit. A specially lettered shirt bore the legend "Bring Me Sunshine" and the number 1. For a couple of hours Luton fans came and sang or had their photos taken by Eric. A pleasant surprise was that Eric's son Gary came and joined us. He was delighted by the gesture and told me he is planning a Morecambe and Wise museum. A double decker bus was also spotted with large pictures of Eric and Ernie decorating it.

It couldn't be - could it??

Many of us continued to to pay homage to Eric by having lunch in the Eric Bartholomew pub.

At the ground several Morecambe fans repeated the Eric impersonation. One man and his son were wearing Morecambe scarves alongside Eric's familiar orange rosette.
The programme contained several pictures of Eric, including one of the statue on the cover.

All in all it was a great day out. The Hatters put on one of the best performances of the season and won 1-2 despite going a goal behind. We are sure Eric would have approved a day when football fans proved that the game can bring people together. As I went to purchase the obligatory pie peas and gravy, a familiar figure in a cloth cap and glasses looked out on the pitch puffing on a pipe.

Just for a minute…………