How Ali Al-Hamadi reacted to Tom Lockyer leaving Luton Town | OneFootball

The former Luton skipper's departure from Kenilworth Road was confirmed on Tuesday evening

Luton Town striker Ali Al-Hamadi has been among those sending well wishes to ex-Hatters captain Tom Lockyer, whose departure from the Bedfordshire outfit was confirmed on Tuesday evening.

Luton have endured an extremely remarkable 30-year period which saw the club fall from the top flight to non-league through a 30-point deduction back in 2008, before rising back up the English footballing pyramid and reaching the Premier League for the first time since its inception in 1992 with a dramatic Championship play-off final success at Wembley against Coventry City in May 2023.

Since then, Town's plight back into League One through unwanted back-to-back relegations has been well-documented, and so has Lockyer's individual journey in the past 29 months.

The Welshman has suffereed the major misfortunes of two separate cardiac arrests, with the first coming in the aforementioned showpiece event in North London, whilst a second came just months later in a Premier League encounter away to AFC Bournemouth — with the second of those fixtures being abandoned and replayed later in the campaign.

Lockyer's story has touched the hearts and minds of many across the global footballing landscape, and none more so than the players, managers, head coaches and staff he was alongside at Kenilworth Road before his recent five-year association with Luton reached an emotional conclusion in what has been a mixed week for the third tier outfit.

Ali Al-Hamadi reacts as Tom Lockyer's Luton Town departure confirmed

Lockyer has very much remained a key presence at Luton despite not featuring in competitive action since the second of those cardiac arrests in December 2023 at the Vitality Stadium, subsequently becoming an ambassador for the British Heart Foundation.

In a bid to return to competitive action as smoothly as possible after almost two years out of action, the centre-back has recently played three times for Luton's Under-21 side against Chelmsford City, Reading Under-21s and Barnet Under-21's, in which he completed full 90 minutes in the latter two of those fixtures.

Unsurprisingly, his on and off-pitch contributions and recoveries at Kenilworth Road, which included seven goals in 117 appearances after joining on a free transfer - the last of which came in Luton's first-ever Premier League victory at Everton in September 2023 - have been celebrated en-masse by supporters, as well as current and former teammates.

One of those currently assigned to Luton is Iraqi centre-forward, Al-Hamadi, who completed a temporary switch that will eventually be made permanent from Ipswich Town in the summer, in order to aid an expected promotion bid back to the Championship.

Despite being at the club for just over a month, the 23-year-old acknowledged Lockyer's presence during the short timeframe as well as some of the iconic moments he gave Luton supporters during his time with the club.

"All the best in your next chapter Locks. Was brief, but a great guy and massively respected by all," Al-Hamadi said via X.

Great servant to the football club and gave this club moments to remember forever," he added.

Luton released a video across all their social media platforms in tribute to the 30-year-old, with the likes of Cauley Woodrow, Chuks Aneke, Amari'i Bell, Alfie Doughty and Elijah Adebayo all issuing their own thoughts towards Lockyer on Instagram.

Luton Town will hope to emulate Tom Lockyer's desire for the remainder of the season

As previously mentioned, it has been a mixed week in this part of the world, with Lockyer's departure coming swiftly after Matt Bloomfield's exit from the club after nine months in the dugout was confirmed.

At present, Luton find themselves 11th in League One with 16 points taken from their opening 11 games, although their recent run of one win in five encounters hasn't been deemed acceptable by supporters or CEO Gary Sweet, with many tipping the former top-flight side for promotion or, in some cases, the title.

With the club having a strong mix of youthful flair and experience among their squad, although Lockyer very much could come up against the Hatters as he embarks on his next individual chapter, the desire he showcased to lead the club by example in so many ways must be channeled by the current players if they are to change their immediate fortunes around.