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Jack Wilshere has won his first trophy as a first team manager as Luton claimed victory in the Football League Trophy final at Wembley – despite previously being knocked out of the competition.
It’s been a mixed first season in charge for the former Arsenal midfielder, who took the reins of the Hatters in October, replacing Matt Bloomfield, who was sacked after a slow start to the season on the back of a second relegation for the club in as many years.
So far, he has led his side to 10th in the League One table – they had expected to be challenging for automatic promotion, but face a battle to finish in the play-off places.
In February meanwhile, Wilshere clashed with his own fans after a league draw with Burton Albion, which saw him dragged away by a Town player as he left the field.
But he appears to have turned things around, and led Luton to his first senior silverware as a boss as they beat Stockport County 3-1 in the final on Sunday afternoon.
Stockport had led through Adama Sibideh, but Emilio Lawrence levelled things up before a Nahki Wells brace.
Jack Wilshere has won his first trophy as a manager after guiding Luton to EFL Trophy success
The Hatters were actually knocked out of the competiton earlier in the season, but reinstated
Luton were, though, lucky they were still in the competition at all. They were in fact knocked out in the round of 16, losing 2-1 against League Two Swindon Town, but, due to their opponents fielding two ineligible players, they were kicked out.
The Hatters were instead given the victory, and they would go on to beat Plymouth Argyle and Northampton Town – both 2-1 – in the quarter and semi-finals respectively to earn a final spot.
Since stepping into the Luton dugout, former Arsenal man Wilshere has taken charge of 38 games in total – winning 18, drawing nine and losing 11.
His league record stands at 12 wins from 30 games, with nine draws and nine defeats.
Earlier in the season, Wilshere had fans putting up banners welcoming him to the club and singing his name.
He has been determined to forge a coaching career since injuries forced him to retire as a player in 2022 after a short spell in Denmark.
Arsenal helped him cut his teeth in their academy ranks and he led their Under-18s to the FA Youth Cup final before accepting a role on Johannes Hoff Thorup’s staff at Norwich. He took over as interim when Thorup was fired in April, taking charge of two matches.
Stevenage-born Wilshere started out in the academy ranks of Luton as a player but he joined Arsenal at the age of nine and became one of their home grown stars when he burst into the first team at the age of 16 and made his England debut at 18.
He became an established international in 2010-11 and went on to win 34 senior caps but his career was marred by a succession of injuries and he retired from playing at the age of 30.
