Ex-Daggers boss returns to Luton as head of academy coaching
Ex-Dagenham & Redbridge boss Ben Strevens has returned to Kenilworth Road after being named head of academy coaching by Luton.
The 45-year-old previously coached in the academy during the 2022-23 season before he was named as Daggers manager in March 2023, leading the National League side to the FA Cup third round after knocking out EFL clubs AFC Wimbledon and Crewe Alexandra, before being sacked in December 2024. Strevens, who also played as a forward for Brentford, Wycombe Wanderers, Gillingham and Eastleigh, replaces the departing Craig Alcock, who has left his role after three-and-a-half years to take up a new post with an EFL club closer to his home.
Speaking about his position in overseeing all academy coaches from foundation phase up to the U21s, Strevens, who also spent four years in charge of National League South side Eastleigh, told the club’s official website: “I’m delighted to be back at Luton Town.
The new season, 2025/2026, still seems an age away and with no major international tournament to indulge in, it’ll seem a long summer.
But, once the fixtures are released and that first game approaches, the anticipation levels will rise and rise, as will, on match days, the adrenalin.
However, while, at least in the opening weeks, we should all be confident that, with the right recruitment having been done, we can call a dramatic halt to our debilitating downward spiral, there’s no doubting that it will be a tough season.
In fact, I get the feeling that very game will resemble a Cup Final.
The reason being that, like it or not, we will be the name team in the division.
We may not be the biggest club in League One and we may not have the history that some clubs in the division might have, but the mere fact that just two years ago we were looking forward to our first competitive game, in the Premier League, puts a huge target on our backs.
Football can be a cruel sport, nobody will have any sympathy for our plight, they’ll just see it as a chance to cause an upset, almost a David v Goliath match-up every game.
We’ll find that teams who have been hammered one week will, suddenly, find the performance to compete with good old Luton Town on something akin to a level playing field.
It, quite possibly, won’t be about skill, more about teamwork, more about raising their game to pull off a shock, a chance to hit the headlines and a chance to pile on the agony for the Hatters.
To combat this threat, the Hatters will have to be resilient, up their work rate and, at times, grind out a result, promotion campaigns, of many a club, are littered with 1-0 wins achieved in the face of adversity.
Recently, Matt Bloomfield has spoken about not entering the 2025/2026 with a relegation hangover, we’re where we are because of our own failings as a club last season, we have to knuckle down, act as a team, unite as a club and when the chips are down, look to the experienced players in our ranks to pull us up by the boot laces.
The 2025/2026 season will be a defining one for our club, Power Court will be rising out of the soil, League One won’t be a picnic, like I mentioned earlier, every game will be like a Cup Final but bring it on!
