Luton Town Under-11s Became European Champions in 2009 – Where Are They Now?

The 2008-09 season for Luton Town was a tumultuous journey, a mix of gut-wrenching lows and fleeting highs that left the club and its fans scarred. Starting with a crippling 30-point deduction, the Hatters faced an uphill battle to avoid relegation to non-league football. The odds were stacked against them from the very beginning, with every match feeling like a desperate climb to stay afloat.

Despite the best efforts of the players, coaching staff, and the club’s devoted supporters, Luton’s struggle ended in heartbreak. They finished rock bottom of League Two with just 26 points, a cruel fate made worse by the points penalty. Had they started with a clean slate, they would have secured a mid-table finish, but instead, they were condemned to relegation. However, even in the midst of this tough season, Luton delivered moments of magic. One such moment came at Wembley, where they stunned Scunthorpe United to lift the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, a rare spark of joy in an otherwise dismal campaign.

There was also an incredible achievement by Luton’s Under-11s, who shocked the football world by defeating Bayern Munich to claim the Aarau Masters title in Switzerland, a televised five-a-side tournament watched by 3,000 spectators. With heavyweights like Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund in the mix, their win was a monumental surprise. But as for those young players who brought such pride to the club – whatever happened to them?

James Justin

Leeds United

If there’s one player above any other on this list who fulfilled their potential, it’s James Justin. Once well within the debate about who England’s best right-back was during a time when Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, Kyle Walker, and Kieran Trippier were all vying for Euro 2020 selection, the now-Leeds United man is as dependable as they come in the Premier League.

A two-time winner of Luton Town’s Young Player of the Season award, as well as an inductee to the League One Team of the Season during the title-winning 2018/19 campaign, Justin played 114 times before moving to Leicester City in 2019. As well as ifting both the FA Cup and Championship with the Foxes, James has also represented the England National Team on one occasion.

Frankie Musonda

Ayr United

Born in Bedford, Frankie Musonda had high hopes of continuing to do his club proud. The reality, however, has been stark, as the defender spent all but 14 senior appearances for the Hatters jumping from loan to loan with no inclination that he would ever truly break into the first-team fold.

Braintree Town, Oxford City, Hemel Hempstead Town, and St Albans City all gave him short-term residence, before he made a permanent move to Raith Rovers in 2020. Two years later, he moved to Championship side Ayr United. Interestingly, his career highlight comes in the form of 17 appearances for the Zambia national team, where he has played in the Africa Cup of Nations thanks to his father’s roots.

Jamal Lewis

Unattached

Just five years after claiming European success with Luton Town’s youth team, Jamal Lewis joined Norwich City – a club he would go on to feature 100 times for, playing a key role in the club’s promotion to the Premier League in 2019. After establishing himself as a talented young left-back, he was snapped up by Newcastle United in 2020.

First-team minutes were few and far between in the north-east, however, and he left the Magpies in the summer of 2025. Lewis, 27, has also spent time on loan at Watford and Brazilian side Sao Paulo in recent years, while he has been a regular for Northern Ireland since his debut in 2018.

Jay Dasilva

Coventry City

Three years after winning the Aarau Masters, Jay Dasilva ended up signing for Chelsea, along with his brothers Cole and Rio. In his time at the esteemed Cobham youth setup, he won the FA Youth Cup three times, the FA Youth League twice, and also was a member of the England Under-19 team that won the 2017 Under-19 European Championship.

Despite these achievements, he was never able to make a first-team appearance for Chelsea. Instead, he had loan spells at Charlton Athletic – where he won the club’s Player of the Season award – and Bristol City, before moving to the latter permanently in 2019. He can now be found plying his trade under Frank Lampard at Coventry City, where he hopes to help the club achieve promotion into the Premier League.

Cole Dasilva

Bishop’s Stortford

Like his older brother, Jay, Cole Dasilva went on to score in an FA Youth Cup final for Chelsea. But his career post-youth never really took off. Despite plying his trade in a trio of English Football League youth academies – Luton, Chelsea, Brentford – he never made a first-team appearance for any of them.

Instead, he went on to make just six appearances for each of Croatian side HNK Sibenik, Oxford City, and Hemel Hempstead Town, before enjoying longer stints at Royston Town, Biggleswade Town, and Bedford Town. Nowadays, he’s at Bishop’s Stortford in the seventh tier. At international level, Dasilva played three times for the Wales Under-21 team.

Michael Cain

Blyth Spartans

Michael Cain – no, not that one – joined Leicester City in 2013 for a potential “six-figure sum” at the time. However, the midfielder failed to make the grade at the King Power Stadium and has since slipped down the leagues. In 2014, he was loaned out to several clubs to gain more first-team experience, including Barnet and then to Bristol Rovers. Despite showing promise, Cain was released by Leicester in 2016.

After leaving the Foxes, he continued his career in lower divisions with clubs such as Worcester City and then joined other clubs in the non-league system. His career after Leicester has mainly seen him play at a more regional level, and he has not reached the heights that were initially expected during his early days at the club, with him now at Blyth Spartans – a club he has been at since 2023.

Tarum Dawkins

Unattached

Signed by Arsenal for a “significant transfer fee” at just 16 in 2012, Tarum Dawkins is yet another talent whose career seemingly stalled after joining a top English club. Once highly sought after, he was regarded with great promise, but his journey ultimately led him to the depths of non-league football.

He went on to play for clubs such as Arlesey Town, Wingate, and most recently, seventh-tier side Potters Bar Town in 2019. Now 29, Dawkins has been without a club for six years, making his career decline one of the most dramatic in recent memory.

Dave Moli

Alsager Town

Dave Moli sealed a move to Liverpool after catching the eye at youth level with Luton, but has since struggled to make it in professional football. “The hardest part about all of that was leaving home at the age of 14 and moving into a new school,” he was quoted as saying by English Players Abroad in 2018. “That side of it I didn’t really enjoy and struggled a lot, and ultimately, it started to affect me and my game.”

Moli has played for a number of random clubs since leaving Anfield, including New Radiant in the Maldives and Parnu Vaprus in Estonia. Now trying to see out his remaining playing days at Alsager Town, who are members of North West Counties League Division One South, the 30-year-old has become quite the journeyman.

Janoi Donacien

Chesterfield

Snapped up by Tottenham in 2010, Janoi Donacien then joined Aston Villa shortly afterwards before making his professional debut in 2014 while playing on loan at Tranmere Rovers. The Saint Lucian international defender also spent loan spells at Wycombe Wanderers and Newport County before making a permanent switch to Accrington Stanley in 2016.

Now 31, he plies his trade for Chesterfield in League Two. His best years, however, came between 2019 and 2024 when he was playing for Ipswich Town – a club he played a massive role at in helping them gain promotion to the Championship before they would go on and also earn promotion to the Premier League.

Cauley Woodrow

Wycombe Wanderers (on loan from Luton Town)

Cauley Woodrow’s career has gone full circle. Born just down the road from Kenilworth Road in Hemel Hempstead, the striker failed to make a senior appearance during his first three-year stint, but would soon go find success at Fulham and Barnsley – the latter of whom he scored 53 goals in 157 appearances for.

This form earned him a move back to his boyhood club Luton in 2022. Having featured 77 times during their unexpected rise to the top of the English football pyramid, he joined Blackburn Rovers in January 2024. The former England Under-21 international is now on loan at Wycombe Wanderers.