We take a look at the current favourites to become new Wycombe Wanderers manager as Matt Bloomfield leaves for Luton Town.
The 40-year-old has joined on a three-and-a-half-year contract and will take charge of the Hatters next game at home to Preston North End.
This transition comes during Wycombe’s promotion push in League One, where they are second, highlighting the potential impact on their season’s ambitions.
Luton, hoping the move away from being in a relegation battle in the Championship, sees Bloomfield’s appointment as a potential career progression despite their current struggles.
Wycombe Wanderers can today confirm that Matt Bloomfield leaves for Luton Town.
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) January 14, 2025
WYCOMBE STATEMENT:
Wycombe Wanderers can today confirm that Matt Bloomfield leaves for Luton Town.
The Club is naturally disappointed with Matt’s decision to leave in the middle of the season. However, we respect his decision to pursue this new chapter in his career. He leaves with the gratitude and best wishes of everyone at Wycombe Wanderers, and we thank him for his service to the club.
Richard Thomas, Lee Harrison and Ben Cirne will also be departing to join Matt’s backroom staff at Luton.
The Board will now begin the process of identifying and appointing a new manager to lead the team forward. In the meantime, Sam Grace, Harry Hudson, Matty Dye and Jerome John will oversee training and manage upcoming fixtures.
The club is fully committed to building on this season’s foundations of success and implementing our long-term vision for Wycombe Wanderers. With the steadfast support of our fans and the resilience of our team, we are confident in meeting the challenges ahead.
Thank you to all our supporters for your continued support as we move forward together.
FAVOURITES TO BECOME NEW WYCOMBE BOSS:
BetVictor – 15th January – 8am
Claus Norgaard – 4/6
Des Buckingham – 4/1
Russell Martin – 8/1
Steven Schumacher – 12/1
Rob Edwards – 14/1
Neil Harris – 16/1
Tony Mowbray – 16/1
Mat Sadler – 20/1
Leam Richardson – 25/1
Time for a new era.
Matt Bloomfield. Our new manager 🧡
— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) January 14, 2025
LUTON STATEMENT:
Luton Town Football Club is delighted to announce that Matt Bloomfield has been appointed as the Hatters’ new manager.
The Town board have complied with all compensation requests from Wycombe Wanderers to bring the 40-year-old to Kenilworth Road, along with his assistant Richard Thomas, first team coach Lee Harrison and senior analyst Ben Cirne.
Bloomfield has put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half-year contract and will be in the dugout for Saturday’s home Championship clash with Preston North End.
Our new manager, who made over 500 appearances as a midfielder for Wycombe over a 19-year period, arrives in Bedfordshire having worked wonders at Adams Park since returning from a five-month spell at Colchester to take over as manager in February 2023.
In the calendar year 2024 alone, Bloomfield’s side gained 87 points in League One, scored 107 goals in all competitions and reached the EFL Trophy final, in which they were runners-up to Peterborough United at Wembley.
He departs the Buckinghamshire club having guided them to second place in the third tier, while also leading them into the FA Cup fourth round.
Town CEO Gary Sweet said: “It is with great pleasure and excitement that we are able to announce Matt’s appointment on a long-term contract.
“Before anything else, I would like to thank Wycombe for their co-operation in ensuring a swift and smooth transition. It may be flattering to be on the receiving end, it’s never pleasant, but we have made sure that we’ve gone above and beyond to compensate Wycombe to secure his services, along with his trusted coaching team.
“Over the years in which we as a club have risen up the EFL, we encountered Matt at every step as a respected captain of his team, and together they have always shared our hunger and desire to improve and get to the next level.
“Since returning to Wycombe as manager we have been hugely impressed with his work in leading them back towards the top of League One, and especially in how they have done it in such an entertaining way, forging a reputation for front-footed attacking football.
“We identified Matt’s personal and team-building qualities as the outstanding candidate to fit in with the culture we have long established here at Luton Town, and I’m sure every supporter will join me in welcoming him, along with Richard, Lee and Ben to Kenilworth Road.
“Finally, I’d just like to thank the immense amount of work and attention to detail our recruitment team have put into identifying the best candidate and impressing him in interviewing, along with the fantastic, as ever, and unanimous support of the board in arriving at a quick decision after meeting Matt.”
Bloomfield said: “It’s a genuine honour and a privilege to be here, to be appointed as manager of this incredible club. I’m really, really proud. It’s been a busy few days, a very busy weekend but I’ve met the recruitment team, met Gary and spent some time with the board.
“The fact that they’re all Luton supporters and that they care so much about their football club shone through, and the fact that they had a real big desire for me to join our football club also shone through, so I’m incredibly proud and very, very happy to be here.
“That made me feel very comfortable and very wanted, which is huge for me. I want to work with people who care and fans who also care – and they certainly do here. I want to work with people who want the best for their football club, and that’s more than evident with Gary, the chairman and the board of directors.
“That feeling that they gave me and the feeling of being wanted, how much research they’ve done into me and the football team that we’ve produced at Colchester and Wycombe, and the knowledge base of what I stand for, who I am and what we’ve tried to produce in our football team left me in no uncertain times that this was the right move at the right time.”
Welcome to Kenilworth Road, Matt, Richard, Lee and Ben!
Fans react amid the favourites to become new Wycombe manager as Matt Bloomfield leaves for Luton…
@sjrwwfc: Awful statement for a man that gave so many years to the club as a player and did so well as a manager. Good luck blooms you’ll be missed but go and show how good you can be
@pafc_brad: That is gutting for you lot tbf 😂 Luton are cunts I know
@Caplanben: So much for mr Wycombe! Absolute Judas leaving at the first possible opportunity only reason he was here as a player for so long was because he couldn’t believe his luck getting new contracts every year!
@apcwwfc: Odd and to be honest quite disappointing statement for someone who’s given 20+ years of his life to the club. Best of luck Blooms, wish you, Richard and Lee all the luck in the world. Me Wycombe forever! 🩵💙
@PaulLenton6: Very disappointing when pushing for promotion, would be good to know what’s going on behind the scenes for Matt to jump ship now. Would have liked him to have stayed and seen where the journey took us but wish him nothing but the best. Promotion push to relegation battle!
@Iain2509: Can’t lie, this hurts more than Ainsworth leaving. 20 years at one club and jumps when it’s the best it’s ever been? Yeah ok
@JimmyGovan: A fantastic manager, a club legend, and a great person. What he achieved in 2024 especially was remarkable, best of luck Blooms 🫡 💙
@RussWWFC: Very disappointing but from Blooms point of view, understandable as no fight was shown to keep him. Time will tell if this weird ‘data’ route brings success, very strange having no one person responsible for the team.
@jack_denn1s006: Thank you for everything you’ve done Matt, sad that it’s happened during a promotion race
@Finchinho14: This announcement stinks. Have no doubt he has been made uncomfortable enough to leave.
@Sarah_WWFC: ‘dont cry because its over, smile because it happened’ 🥹
@rkyson99:
Wow. Statement tells you everything you need to know.
Obvious that there were some issues behind the scenes.
Wish Matty well and thanks for the memories.
@apcwwfc: A good man who’s dedicated over half of his life to our club, deserves so much more than this. We appear to have owners who neither understand nor care about what makes our club special. This one has got me more than any other departure, I’m embarrassed by this statement.
@eamon_dodds: For me as someone in the younger generation of our fanbase this feels difficult to process only ever known blooms at the club in my time minus the spell at col u . Thank you for everything on and of the pitch good luck at Luton and on to our next adventure too .
@clifty04: That is a fucking shit statement for a bloke who’s given 21 years of his life to our Football Club! We’ll probably never know the full story, but certainly feel like he’s been forced out – despite what the statement says.

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