Kenilworth Road – Luton Town

Kenilworth Road didn’t meet minimum expectations for the top flight upon the club’s 2023 promotion to the Premier League. This forced a £10m upgrade; the majority of that spending devoted to enhancing broadcasting facilities.

Included in that media overhaul is a press conference room that will need to seat up to 100 people, additional spots for cameras, a room for TV coverage including the ability for the broadcasters to tap into data analytical software and a revamp of the WiFi situation. As for factors that impact the field of play, the main outlay was for the addition and upgrade of flood lights. The Premier League has a higher benchmark for the number of lights and the quality of lighting with high power LEDs the requirement the club need to meet.

The club have been talking about moving to a new stadium for some time now and hence investment in Kenilworth Road in recent years has been neglected. One side of the ground and one end are small and covered. A Luton fan once told me that the council would not let the club build any higher than the surrounding houses.

Kenilworth Road – The Oak Stand

The small end, The Oak Stand, is given to away supporters (although depending on numbers it is sometimes shared with home fans) and this has a simple electric scoreboard on its roof. The other end is a large covered all seated stand, which was originally a terrace.

Kenilworth Road’s Bobbers Stand

The small side of the ground is predominantly filled with a row of executive boxes and is so small that you can clearly see the houses behind it. Netting has been suspended between the floodlight pylons on its roof to reduce the number of footballs being kicked out of the ground.

Why is it called the Bobbers stand?

It’s called the Bobbers Stand as entrance once cost a Bob!

Kenilworth Road Main Stand

The other side, the Main Stand, is an older two-tiered covered stand. This stand is mostly wooden and is really beginning to show its age, which is not surprising at the central part of the stand dates back to 1922.

The David Preece Stand

This Main Stand only runs around two-thirds of the length of the pitch with another more recent structure ‘bolted’ onto one end. This area is known as the ‘David Preece Stand’ (after a former player) was opened in 1991 and is used as a family area. An odd feature are the location of the dugouts which are opposite the players tunnel, resulting in quite a procession across the pitch. Also, you will notice that rather than having floodlight pylons at each corner of the ground, as most older grounds have, they are instead featured along each side of the ground. This is a legacy of simply when floodlights were first installed at Kenilworth Road in the 1950s, there was no room in the corners of the ground to incorporate floodlight pylons and hence they had to be installed along the sides.

There have long been talks taking place regarding Luton’s home ground as Kenilworth Road is amongst the most interesting and unique stadiums in the country. However, the club’s promotion to the Premier League is set to expedite plans for a move.

Rewind to 2019 and the initial plans for the “Power Court” Stadium was to open the doors with a 17,500 capacity. Latest plans though put the new Luton ground on course for an additional 2,000 seats taking the actual capacity to 19,500. The planning permission then facilitates further growth of 4,000, which club COO Michael Moran has recently committed to completing regardless of whether or not the Hatters hold onto their top flight status beyond the 2023/24 season.

The new Luton stadium isn’t a standalone project though. Whilst Kenilworth Road is literally constructed through housing, the new ground will see a whole host of development alongside it. The plans include the build of significant commercial and community space as well as over 1,000 homes.

What is away allocation at Kenilworth Road?

Away fans are housed on one side of the Oak Road Stand (on the Executive Stand side) at one end of the ground. Around 1,000 fans can be accommodated in this area. This covered all-seated stand is shared with home supporters with an area of tarpaulin, keeping the fans apart.

The acoustics of this stand are very good and with Luton fans in close proximity, this makes for a good atmosphere. On the downside, there always seems to be a large police presence, which seems unnecessary for the majority of games, although the club stewards themselves seemed pretty relaxed. Also, there are a number of supporting pillars in this stand, which may hinder your view. The leg room is tight (although I noted that away fans stood throughout on my last visit) and the toilets have seen better days. The refreshment kiosk is also small and may account for the limited choice of food on sale.

Kev Steptoe adds: “There is a great fish and chip shop located five minutes walk away from the ground. Coming out of the away end onto Oak Road, turn left and head up the hill. Turn left, keeping the ground on your left onto Clifton Road. Follow the road over the bridge and the Chip Shop is on the left.”

How do you get into Kenilworth Road?

The entrance to the Oak Stand must be one of the most unusual in the country. After going down a rather small alleyway at the side of the stadium (or down the cordoned off Oak Road), the impression is of queuing to go into someone’s house and then through their back garden and into the stand!

Just inside the away turnstiles, is located a small bar, which serves both draught and bottled beers. Although fairly simple looking inside and with no seating, it serves its purpose. You can also purchase hot pies inside the bar and there is one small television showing the early kick off.

Where to drink for away fans around Kenilworth Road?

Mick O’Sullivan adds: “A good place to drink is the Beech Hill Conservative Club on Leagrave Road, which welcomes both home and away supporters. To find the club, with the away entrance in front of you turn left and walk down to the bottom of Oak Road. Proceed through the small arcade of shops opposite and you will see the sign for the club between two shops. It has a large car park and offers reasonably priced beer. You will be charged to go in, but you make it up on the cheaper than pub beer.”

#PL matchday at The Kenny! #LUTWHU | #COYH pic.twitter.com/mhOEbfVL4V

— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) September 1, 2023

Not far from the Railway Station on High Town Road is the Bricklayers Arms.

David Crossfield a visiting Barnsley fan informs me: “The Bricklayers Arms, which only opens from midday on Saturday and Sunday, is a proper old fashioned type pub. Six real ales at reasonable prices. It is a friendly pub with a mixture of home and away fans. Two rooms, each with Sky Sports TV.” However, for some high profile matches the pub becomes home fans only. The pub is also listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. Also in the town centre there are a number of pubs including a Wetherspoons outlet on Bridge Street called the White House.

Leave the M1 at Junction 11 and take the A505 towards Luton. Go through one set of traffic lights and at the first roundabout, turn right into Chaul End Lane. At the next roundabout turn left into Hatters Way, whilst continuing down Hatters Way the ground will be seen on your left, although it is not accessible from this road. At the end of Hatters Way turn left and start looking for street parking from here on (the ground will now be on your left).

Where to park at Kenilworth Road away?

Please note that there is a residents only parking scheme in operation near to the ground, so you will have to travel a little further away to find street parking. You can also park at Beech Hill Conservative Club (LU4 8HZ) at a cost of £5 (payable inside the Club, or you can by phone at a cost of £6). Otherwise, there is a large multi-storey car park at Luton Railway Station which costs £2.80 for the day on Saturdays. The Kenilworth Road ground is signposted from the station.

Thanks to Roger Butler for providing the directions above.

Post Code for Sat-Nav: LU4 8AW

What is the best train station for Kenilworth Road?

Luton Railway Station is a good 15 minutes walk away from the Kenilworth Road ground. Turn right out of the railway station and proceed along Station Road. Go straight across at the traffic lights into Mill Street. On reaching a junction where the road bends to the right, turn left at this junction into New Bedford Road. Then turn right into Collingdon Street.

At the end of Collingdon Street you will reach a dual carriageway. Turn left alongside the road and follow the pedestrian walkway and then bear right to go along the footbridge over the busy road. As footbridge passes over the roundabout it splits into two. Bear right and this will lead you down into Dunstable Road. Continue straight along Dunstable Road and then take the 5th left hand turn into Oak Road for the visitors turnstiles.

Thanks to Colin Bowles for providing the directions above.

Luton played their home games at Dallow Road immediately after their formation but within a couple of years they’d moved to a ground on Dunstable Road.

Dunstable Road was the recognised Luton stadium for 18 years and, in 1905, came the move to Kenilworth. The first big renovation of the stadium came in the 1920s after a fire. By the late thirties, attendances were on the up and an expansion followed taking the capacity of Kenilworth Road up to 30,000.

Twenty years later, another rebuild followed but then money became an issue and the stadium deteriorated. The ’70s, ’80s and ’90s all saw considerable changes as the club moved with the times to being in seating. The latest changes came in 2023 upon the club’s promotion to the Premier League.

Tickets at Luton Town are up there with the most reasonable in the Premier League.  They have adopted what is now a fairly standard structure of price categories. This sees ‘high profile’ games fall into Category A/Tier 1 and lesser profile matches coming in cheaper as the categories move on.

What we do know is that tickets are likely to be up there with the most reasonable in the league. The most expensive season ticket at Kenilworth Road for the upcoming season is believed to be £500. Along with Burnley, that is the cheapest “most expensive” adult season ticket in the Premier League.

Full details can be found on the official Luton Town website.

Luton Town tickets can also be purchased via SeatPick.

Stadium tours are not currently offered at Kenilworth Road. With Premier League football now in Luton, stadium development and a new stadium in the works, that could well change over the next few seasons.

The song most commonly associated to Luton Town is ‘Bring Me Sunshine’.

• Official Programme: £3

• No known fanzines available

Luton Town FC | Matches

For details of disabled facilities and club contact at the ground please visit the relevant page on the Level Playing Field website.

Luton vs Watford rivalry: The Beds-Herts derby have been taking place for nearly 140 years now with the first meeting coming in 1885 after Luton were formed. For 50 or so years, Watford and Luton faced off on a regular basis in the lower leagues and with just a short stretch of M1 between them it’s not a surprise to learn that things could get heated. Jump forward another three or four decades and the animosity really flared up as the clubs met in the higher divisions. The rivalry remains spicy to this day.

Record Attendance

30,069 v Blackpool
FA Cup 6th Round Replay, 4th March 1959.

Modern All Seated Attendance Record*

10,260 v Leeds United
Championship League, 21st October 2006.

Average Attendance

2022-2023: 9,845 (Championship)

2021-2022: 10,073 (Championship)

2020-2021: N/A (Covid)

2019-2020: 10,048 (Championship)

2018-2019: 9,516 (League One)

2017-2018: 8,676 (League Two)

* This record was subsequently equalled against Sunderland on 6th May 2007.

Official Web Site:
www.lutontown.co.uk

Unofficial Web Sites:
Hatters News
Luton Outlaws Message Board
Hatters Talk (Facebook Group)

If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail me at: [email protected] and I’ll update the guide.

Special thanks to Owen Pavey for providing the external photo of the Kenilworth Road End.