Wrexham’s return to the Football League after being fuelled by Hollywood was one of the stories of the football season, but in Bedfordshire, an even more remarkable script has been written with Luton Town’s promotion to the Premier League. As recently as 2014, the Hatters were in the National League – the fifth tier of English football. They had fallen out of the EFL in 2009 amid a financial meltdown. Less than 10 years on, they are back in the English top flight after a 6-5 penalty shoot-out win over Coventry City in the Championship play-off final.
Their cosy and compact Kenilworth Road home in the densely populated Bury Park area of the town is a throwback to a bygone era of English stadiums. Next season it will play host to some of the biggest names and teams in world football. However, the club has long planned to move to a new stadium on the site of a former electricity power station.
The Power Court plan includes trendy bars, restaurants and a hotel, with a capacity that could eventually rise to 23,000. It has been estimated that the new stadium will generate many millions of pounds for the local economy. The club and developers 2020 Developments first lodged plans for the new stadium in August 2016 and permission was finally granted in January 2019. It had been hoped that Power Court would be complete by 2023, but economic pressures and the coronavirus pandemic have contributed to delays to the project.
Now that the Hatters have won promotion, the club are getting ready to host some of the biggest names and teams in world football. Luton’s owners say there is no doubt they will be able to do it and have estimated they will need to spend about £12m getting the ground ready. Ahead of the promotion, Luton’s chief executive Gary Sweet had already revealed plans to rebuild most of the Bobbers Stand.
Hatters fan Richard Armstrong has been visiting Kenilworth Road since he was three years old and has a unique perspective on the “old girl”. He said: “Kenilworth Road has to be the most talked about stadium in the country…A lot of people my age and above would say it’s a proper ground – but it fascinates the younger generation.” He acknowledged it was time to move on, saying: “The good thing is that Power Court is going to be smack bang in the middle of town.”
The BBC’s Geoff Doyle said: “The Kenny, as it’s known, is a wonderful old school stadium and will be missed by nearly all Hatters fans…Its charm, character and atmosphere is pretty unique.” He added that promotion may now speed up the move and essentially pay for the new stadium.
Wrexham’s return to the Football League after being fuelled by Hollywood was one of the stories of the football season, but in Bedfordshire, an even more remarkable script has been written with Luton Town’s promotion to the Premier League. As recently as 2014, the Hatters were in the National League – the fifth tier of English football. They had fallen out of the EFL in 2009 amid a financial meltdown. Less than 10 years on, they are back in the English top flight after a 6-5 penalty shoot-out win over Coventry City in the Championship play-off final.
Their cosy and compact Kenilworth Road home in the densely populated Bury Park area of the town is a throwback to a bygone era of English stadiums. Next season it will play host to some of the biggest names and teams in world football. However, the club has long planned to move to a new stadium on the site of a former electricity power station. The Power Court plan includes trendy bars, restaurants and a hotel, with a capacity that could eventually rise to 23,000. It has been estimated that the new stadium will generate many millions of pounds for the local economy. The club and developers 2020 Developments first lodged plans for the new stadium in August 2016 and permission was finally granted in January 2019. It had been hoped that Power Court would be complete by 2023, but economic pressures and the coronavirus pandemic have contributed to delays to the project.
Now that the Hatters have won promotion, the club are getting ready to host some of the biggest names and teams in world football. Luton’s owners say there is no doubt they will be able to do it and have estimated they will need to spend about £12m getting Kenilworth Road ready for Premier League matches. Ahead of the promotion, Luton’s chief executive Gary Sweet had already revealed plans to rebuild most of the Bobbers Stand.
Hatters fan Richard Armstrong has been visiting Kenilworth Road since he was three years old and has a unique perspective on the “old girl”. He said: “Kenilworth Road has to be the most talked about stadium in the country…A lot of people my age and above would say it’s a proper ground – but it fascinates the younger generation.” He acknowledged it was time to move on, saying: “The good thing is that Power Court is going to be smack bang in the middle of town.”
The BBC’s Geoff Doyle said: “The Kenny, as it’s known, is a wonderful old school stadium and will be missed by nearly all Hatters fans…Its charm, character and atmosphere is pretty unique.” He added that promotion may now speed up the move and essentially pay for the new stadium. Supporters would hope that Power Court could replicate Kenilworth Road for its intimidating ‘in your face’ intensity. Richard Armstrong said: “I feel I speak for Luton fans when I say we have owners who have the interests of the club at heart. They’re supporters too…She [Kenilworth Road] deserves a shot at seeing the world’s best and the world’s best deserve a run out at the old girl. I hope our story gives hope to other clubs.”