peformance a one off? In front of Sky Sports live we should have
some answers by 10pm Friday night, and many may decide to that for
what is, along with Layer Road, one of THE worst away grounds to
visit for any supporter let alone the Blues faithful.
History is against us though as we have played the Hatters 63 times
in total winning 19 but losing 29 while drawing 15.
The first matches between us were in the cup way back in December
1908, away and a 1-1 draw. We lost the replay 2-4 4 days later.
The last match was also the cup, also in front of Sky, when Luton
were op of League One, and beat us at home 0-3 in November 04. More
joy was had three years ago on Tue 9-Dec at Home in the LDV with a 3-
0 win, Constantine Kightly and Broughton scoring.
What's The Ground Like?
The club have been talking about moving to a new stadium for sometime
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. The small end, The Oak
Road Stand, is given to away supporters 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. The small side of the
ground (called the Bobbers Stand as entrance once cost a Bob!) 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. The other side,
the Main Stand, is an older two tiered covered stand. This stand is
mostly wooden (therefore no smoking allowed) and is really beginning
to show its age. The Main Stand only runs around two thirds of the
length of the pitch, with another newer structure 'bolted' onto one
end. This area is known as the 'New Stand' and is used a family area.
An odd feature is the dugouts being located 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 1950's,
there was no room in the corners of the ground to incorporate
floodlight pylons and hence they had to go down the sides.
Future Developments
The Club are looking to relocate to a new stadium, possibly to be
built somewhere near to the M1. However, this is still on the drawing
board and may take some years yet to materialise.
What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters?
The entrance to the Oak Road Stand must be one of the most unusual in
the country. After going down a rather small alleyway, the impression
is of queuing to go into someone's house! Just over 2,000 supporters
can be accommodated in this stand and even a small number of fans can
really make some noise. The Luton fans who like to sing tend
congregating in the Main Stand immediately to the right of the away
end, which can make for a good atmosphere. On the downside, there
always seems to be a large Police presence, which seems unnecessary
for the majority of games. Also there are a number of supporting
pillars in this stand, which may hinder your view, plus the leg room
is tight. The refreshments are not bad though, with a good selection
of pies and burgers available.
Where To Drink?
The Bedfordshire Yeoman on Dallow Road near to the ground is
recommended. All away supporters were welcomed, except those from
Watford!. To get to this pub, continue down Oak Road towards the
official car park and then bear left following the road that goes
behind the Main Stand. Continue to follow the road away from this
stand and over a little bridge. On the left hand side you will see a
Chip Shop (which always seems to do good business on matchdays) and
over on the right you will see an alleyway. Go down this alleyway to
the end and as you come out of it the pub is on your right. It is
medium sized, popular with home and away supporters. Please note that
alcohol is not served to away supporters within the ground.
How To Get There By Car & Where To Park
Leave the M1 at Junction 11 and take the A505 towards Luton. Go
through one set of traffic lights and at the 1st 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).
Please note that there is a residents only parking scheme in
operation near to the ground, so you will have to park somewhat
further away. One fan payed £2 to park at the local Conservative Club
Car Park! There is also parking to be found in the Sainsbury's
complex on the right after you have turned left from Hatters Way. Go
under the bridge and turn first right after the casino and follow the
road around. The ground is across the main road, about 5-10 minutes
walk from there. It costs £5 and according to reports was easy to get
out of and there was plenty of space.
By Train
Luton train station is a good 15 minutes walk away from the ground.
From the station, turn left along the railway bridge, down the steps,
and turn right along Bute Street which runs through the Arndale
Shopping Centre. At the top of the centre, bear right along Dunstable
Road. Kenilworth Road and the ground is on the left.
Prices; Oak Road Stand: Adults £23.50, Concessions £16.
Luton Town Football Club are an English football team based in the
town of Luton in Bedfordshire. They are nicknamed 'The Hatters' due
to the historical association of the town with the hat making trade.
They currently play in the Football League Championship after winning
the Football League One title on April 23, 2005.
Their only piece of major silverware to date is the League Cup, which
they won in 1988 under the management of Ray Harford.
Luton are one of a relatively small number of teams to have played in
all four divisions of the Football League. Their most recent spell as
a top division club ended in 1992, and they were in the league's
lowest tier as recently as the 2001-02 season.
For some 20 years, Luton have been considering a move away from their
cramped Kenilworth Road ground. In 2001 the club acquired a site near
the M1 motorway but consent has yet to be given for any development.
Created by the merger of Luton Wanderers and Luton Excelsior in 1885,
they were one of the founder members of the Southern League in 1894,
and were the first professional football club in the South of
England. They applied for membership of the Football League in 1896,
joining in 1897 but resigned from the League in 1900 to re-join the
Southern League. They moved to their Kenilworth Road grounds in 1905.
The Southern League became Division Three after World War I and Luton
remained in that division for seventeen seasons. The team won
promotion from the Second Division in 1954-55. Luton made their only
appearance in the FA Cup final in 1959 losing to Nottingham Forest.
They were relegated in the 1959-60 season, falling rapidly to the
Fourth Division in the next few years. Recovery began in the 1967-68
season with the Fourth Division championship and was followed by a
long spell mostly in the Second Division before winning that
championship in 1981-82 under David Pleat.
Luton Town club crest during 1980'sIn the mid 1980s the club became
famous for instituting an "away fan ban" following a pitch invasion
and hooliganism by Millwall fans. The ban and associated membership
scheme was the idea of then chairman David Evans. This led to the
club being expelled from the League Cup in the 1986/7 season as they
refused to relax the ban in order to allow Cardiff City fans to
attend the two-legged tie.
The most successful years in the history of Luton Town F.C were the
1980s, beginning with the already-mentioned promotion to the First
Division in 1982. Pleat maintained Luton's First Division status over
the next four seasons before moving to Tottenham. He handed over the
reins to coach John Moore, who guided Luton to a seventh-place finish
before handing in his resignation and being replaced by Ray Harford.
Harford inherited an impressive Luton squad including Les Sealey,
Brian Stein, Danny Wilson, Ricky Hill, David Preece, and Mick
Harford. They achieved a famous 3-2 victory over Arsenal in the
League Cup final at Wembley. The League Cup triumph, still Luton's
only major trophy, would have been enough for UEFA Cup qualification;
but at this time all English teams were banned from European
competitions due to the Heysel Disaster.
Harford was sacked less than two years later, in January 1990, with
Luton battling relegation.
Jim Ryan took over from Ray Harford as Luton's manager and was sacked
after 16 months in charge despite securing First Division survival
again at the end of the 1990-91 season. David Pleat was then
appointed manager for the second time, but Luton were relegated on
the last day of the 1991-92 season and have been outside the top
flight of English football ever since.
Pleat remained in charge at Luton until the summer of 1995, when he
moved to Sheffield Wednesday. His successor Terry Westley was sacked
in December 1995, after just six months in charge, and Westley's
successor Lennie Lawrence was unable to prevent Luton from finishing
bottom of Division One and suffering relegation to Division Two.
Lawrence was sacked at the end of the 1999-2000 after four
unsuccessful seasons which had seen Luton miss out on the chance to
gain promotion. He was briefly replaced by Ricky Hill, who was in
charge until November 2000 when Luton's terrible performances in
Division Two cost him his job. He was in turn replaced by another
Luton legend Lil Fuccillo, who was also sacked within months. Former
Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear took over but was unable to prevent
Luton from sliding into the bottom division of the league for the
first time in over 30 years.
Kinnear got Luton promoted at the first attempt (as Division Three
runners-up in 2001-02) and they finished ninth in the 2002-03
Division Two campaign. Following a takeover that summer, Kinnear was
sacked by the club's new owners who appointed former player Mike
Newell as their new manager, claiming that he had been elected by a
phone vote (which subsequent BBC documentary Trouble at the Top
proved to be incorrect - Kinnear and Steve Cotterill got more votes
than Newell, but neither was willing to work under the new board)!
The new owners were removed from power when supporters' group Trust
in Luton acquired shares in the club's major creditors, Hatters
Holdings, and put an administrative receiver in charge. When a local
consortium took control in mid-2004, Trust in Luton were gifted a 10%
shareholding and a seat on the board.
Luton Town were among the pre-season favourites for relegation from
Division Two in the 2003-04 season, but Newell surprised all the
observers by taking the club close to a playoff place. This
achievement was then surpassed in the 2004-2005 season when Luton
were champions of Football League One and thus promoted to the
Championship. At the end of the 2005-06 season they finished in 10th
place. Newell expressed some disappointment that they didn't make the
playoffs given their strong start, but promised to push for promotion
to the Premiership following the 2006-07 season, which he felt could
be achieved if some new signings were made.
The Stadium from Kenilworth RoadTheir stadium is the 10,155 seater
Kenilworth Road Stadium, Maple Road, Luton. Since the 1980s the club
have been constantly reporting losses there. After going into
receivership, the Club had to sell the site to the local council and
now leases the site from them.