Luton Town were in dreamland after being promoted to the Premier League following a dramatic penalty shootout win over Coventry City in last year’s play-off final at Wembley.
However, while the Hatters were rightfully celebrating their fairy-tale ending to the season, others were quick to try and dampen their spirits.
Their unique stadium, Kenilworth Road, became a laughing stock and did the rounds as a meme on social media all summer.
The team themselves were also heavily criticised, with the consensus amongst football pundits and fans alike that Luton would do well to better Derby County’s record-low points tally of 11 in 2007-08.
Indeed, with 31 matches played, Rob Edwards’ men are in the bottom three and look likely to drop through the trapdoor back to the Championship in the Premier League relegation odds 23/24.
But they have certainly not disgraced themselves or been the laughing stock of the top flight that almost everybody outside of the club thought they would be.
Given that expectations were so low for Luton ahead of this season, you could argue that they have exceeded the bar set even though they are looking directly down the barrel of relegation.
It is notable that when compared with the other newly promoted sides, Sheffield United and Burnley, Luton have outperformed their rivals.
That is worth mentioning as Burnley set the Championship alight last season as they won the second tier under Vincent Kompany and were expected to avoid relegation rather comfortably on that basis.
However, the Clarets are three points behind Luton in 19th at the time of writing and also look destined to return to the Premier League.
While Sheffield United were also tipped for relegation alongside Luton in the Premier League outright betting, many expected the Blades to still outperform the Hatters.
Yet, Sheffield United are rock bottom of the Premier League table with just 15 points and have won merely three games all season.
What has proven the costliest to Luton this season is that they have not been able to see out games and have dropped crucial points that would have seen them currently sitting outside the relegation zone.
The Hatters have led games but gone on to either lose or draw on seven occasions this season, which has seen them lose valuable ground in the relegation battle.
The most notable time they let a crucial three points slip from their grasp this season was against Bournemouth.
Luton were 3-0 up at the Vitality Stadium at half-time, but the Cherries ended up coming back to win 4-3 on the south coast.
It is a similar story against Liverpool and Arsenal. The Hatters conceded a 95th-minute equaliser to let two points slip when a famous victory over Jurgen Klopp’s side looked sealed at Kenilworth Road.
Luton led the Gunners 3-2 at the Emirates back in December. But their advantage was only brief as Kai Havertz levelled three minutes after Ross Barkley fired the Hatters in front.
However, Luton couldn’t even hold on for a huge point against Arsenal as they conceded in the 97th minute through Declan Rice.
Even if Luton are to be relegated, there is certainly an argument to be had that they have exceeded expectations, and we hope that this is not the last time we see them in the Premier League.