I just wanted to frame us as a promotion candidate.
Let’s be honest, with Luton eight points behind us in 14th, they’re not really a promotion rival, are they? Not right now.
Anyway, they announced a former City coach as part of Jack Wilshere’s staff yesterday. David Bridges departed the Imps in November last season, although to be honest, it felt more recent than that. With a decorated coaching career behind him, he has now joined former Arsenal man Wilshere’s backroom staff.
Bridges began his coaching career while still playing for Kettering Town, taking charge of training sessions in January 2012 during a period without a first-team manager. His passion for development led him to earn a UEFA B Licence while at King’s Lynn Town, where he was promoted to first-team coach in February 2015.
In May 2017, Bridges took on his first full-time coaching position as first-team coach at St Neots Town in the Southern League Premier Division. The following year, in August 2018, he joined us in League Two as head of coaching, a role he held for over two years. In February 2021, he transitioned into coach education, joining the Professional Footballers’ Association to support the development of coaches across the game.
He came back as assistant head coach in August 2024, but not long after, Chris Cohen also returned to the club, and Bridges left after a couple of months.
“I have known David for years and he supported me with my coaching qualifications through the PFA, so when I got my first opportunity at Arsenal I asked him to be with me for the first few weeks,” Wilshere told lutontown.co.uk.
“In that time he met some good players, some good people, and we learned a lot of good things together.
“He knows this league, he knows players in this league, and he knows what it feels like. He’ll help me when I’m thinking about planning a game, and if we’re going away somewhere I’ve never been, he will be able to give me a little bit of something I don’t have.
“But most importantly, which I made it clear to everyone, we are coming to join this Luton family and he’s a good person. That’s the main thing that we want to keep in this club to help us progress, and he definitely ticks that box.”
Wilshere’s League One campaign got underway today with a 2-0 defeat at Kenilworth Road against Mansfield Town.
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