 Luton Town Football Club was formed on 11 April 1885 , the product of a merger of the two leading local teams , Luton Town Wanderers and Excelsior . Initially based at Excelsior 's Dallow Lane ground , the club began making payments to certain individual players in 1890 . The following year , Luton became the first club in southern England to be fully professional . The club was a founder member of the Southern Football League in the 1894 – 95 season and finished as runners @-@ up in its first two seasons . It then left to help form the United League and came second in that league 's inaugural season before joining the Football League ( then based mostly in northern and central England ) for 1897 – 98 , concurrently moving to a new ground at Dunstable Road . The club continued to enter a team to the United League for two more seasons , and won the title in 1897 – 98 . Poor attendance , high wages and the high travel and accommodation costs that resulted from Luton 's distance from the northern heartlands of the Football League crippled the club financially , and made it too expensive to compete in that league . A return to the Southern League was therefore arranged for the 1900 – 01 season . 
