Five short years ago, Coventry City and Luton Town both sat in League Two.

In terms of the English footballing pyramid, the duo were as close to the Isthmian League as they were the Premier League. Now they will duke it out in the final of the 2023 Championship play-off for a spot in England’s lucrative top flight.

Coventry manager Mark Robins dubbed the contest – which is often crassly known as ‚the richest game in football‘ – as „one for the romantics“.

Here are some of the notable meetings between the pair before their showdown at Wembley Stadium.

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The clock had ticked into the 84th minute by the time the ball bobbled around the top of Luton Town’s box. Running into the area, Brian ‚Killer‘ Kilcline managed to judge the uneven bounce, crisply thumping a half-volley into the bottom corner.

Had Kilcline not lived up to his ruthless nickname, Coventry would have bowed out of the top flight with one game of the 1984/85 campaign still to play. However, Coventry scrambled a victory against Luton and replicated the feat three days later against that year’s champions Everton, securing an unlikely survival in the process.

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Read more on the play-off hunt across the EFL

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Following the example of Queens Park Rangers, Luton installed an artificial pitch ahead of the 1985/86 season. The Hatters began the campaign with an eight-game unbeaten streak at home in the top flight – that is until Coventry arrived at Kenilworth Road in November.

On an afternoon when Coventry’s Steve Ogrizorvic excelled – making no less than 11 saves – Les Sealey allowed Dave Bowman’s low strike from outside the box to squirm through his gloved hands for the only goal of the game after 35 minutes.

The swollen crowd in attendance – 1,000 larger than the previous match – were at least treated to a half-time rendition of keepy-uppies performed by the club’s 15-year-old Australian scholarship winner Mineo Bonetig.

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The Coventry-born striker James Collins grew up cheering on the Sky Blues but delivered a dagger to his boyhood club with an 88th-minute equaliser for Luton in 2018.

Peter Vincenti and Marc McNulty fired the hosts into a 2-0 lead before the interval but Scott Cuthbert halved Coventry’s advantage shortly after the break. Luton had led the fourth tier by nine points the month before but needed Collins‘ late leveller to stay in touching distance of Accrington Stanley.

A point proved to be enough to send Coventry into the playoff positions, where they finished the regular season before defeating Notts County and Exeter City en route to promotion.

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During the darkest days of his bleak and brief tenure in charge of Southampton, Nathan Jones ranked his Luton Town side among the continental elite. „There weren’t many better than me in Europe for aggression, clean sheets, defending inside your box and xG,“ he claimed.

Arguably the peak of Jones‘ much-hyped tenure was a 5-0 shellacking dished out at home to Coventry in September 2021. „It was as good a performance as I’ve ever had as a manager,“ Jones beamed, with more justification than some of his other declarations.

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Jones summed up the helter-skelter contest at the start of the 2022/23 Championship season as „bonkers“. Coventry City came into the game plagued by pitch problems and on a run of five successive defeats.

Carlton Morris compounded Coventry’s woes with a fourth-minute opener but Viktor Gyokeres quickly levelled. Morris completed his brace inside the opening quarter-hour to keep Town’s collective foot firmly pressed on Coventry’s throat. Yet, Gustavo Hamer allowed the Sky Blues to breathe again with a thunderous drive from range in the second half.

Robins praised his side for keeping their head above water despite the repeated setbacks but Coventry were fortunate to avoid a penalty when Kyle McFadzean clearly stopped a goal-bound shot with his arms.

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Coventry vs Luton – Complete H2H record

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Coventry vs Luton – Championship H2H record

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Top scorers in Coventry vs Luton Championship fixtures