Luton Town: Could Kenilworth Road host Premier League football?

Wrexham's Hollywood-fuelled instrumentality to the Football League has been 1 of the stories of the shot season, but successful Bedfordshire an adjacent much singular publication is being written astatine Championship broadside Luton Town.

As precocious arsenic 2014, the Hatters were successful the National League - the 5th tier of English football. They had fallen retired of the EFL successful 2009 amid a fiscal meltdown. Less than 10 years on, they are 3 matches distant from the Premier League.

Their cosy and compact Kenilworth Road location successful the densely populated Bury Park country of the municipality is simply a throwback to a bygone epoch of English stadiums. Yet it could soon big apical formation enactment for the archetypal clip successful a generation.

The nine has agelong planned to determination to a caller stadium connected the tract of a erstwhile energy powerfulness station. What is the latest connected those plans and could Kenilworth Road big Premier League football?

Surrounded by choky residential streets connected the borderline of the municipality centre, Kenilworth Road's floodlights operation supra back-to-back terraced houses. It has been the club's location since 1905.

But with the 10,356-capacity crushed deemed nary longer acceptable for purpose, the Hatters are preparing to determination to a new, purpose-built 23,000-seat stadium, Power Court.

Although their existent location holds large sentimental value, it is undoubtedly dated.

Supporters record into 1 broadside of the Oak Road Stand done what indispensable beryllium the astir unconventional entranceway successful the land, with turnstiles sandwiched betwixt a agelong enactment of terraced housing.

After clicking and clunking done the barriers, they are guided to a choky alleyway earlier ascending metallic stairways that person the consciousness of being successful the gardens of the adjoining homes.

Inside the ground, facilities are basal with constricted legroom successful the seats.

It should each beryllium antithetic astatine the Power Court development, with trendy bars, restaurants and a edifice lined up instead.

It has been estimated the caller stadium volition make galore millions of pounds for the section economy, erstwhile compared with staying astatine the existing stadium.

Luton's main enforcement Gary Sweet said the nine "hoped to beryllium putting a spade successful the ground" to physique the 23,000-seater stadium "at the extremity of this twelvemonth oregon aboriginal next".

He said the fund for the enactment was "approaching astir £100m".

The Hatters person opted not to articulation the galore clubs to person moved to out-of-town stadiums. Instead, their caller location volition beryllium conscionable a mile (1.6km) distant connected a tract adjacent person to the municipality centre.

The planned determination has been a agelong clip coming - the nine has been looking for a tract to regenerate Kenilworth Road since 1955.

The nine and developers 2020 Developments archetypal lodged plans for the caller stadium, connected the tract of the town's erstwhile powerfulness station, successful August 2016 and support was yet granted successful January 2019.

It had been hoped that Power Court would beryllium implicit by 2023, but economical pressures and the coronavirus pandemic person contributed to delays to the project.

In the meantime, if Luton triumph promotion volition the contiguous crushed beryllium capable to big the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal?

Luton's owners accidental determination is nary uncertainty astir it - but it would travel astatine an contiguous outgo of astir £10m.

Writing successful his programme notes up of Luton's last location crippled of the play connected Monday, Mr Sweet said the nine would request to rebuild astir of the Bobbers Stand if they succeed.

The stand, moving down 1 broadside of the pitch, is presently Kenilworth Road's smallest by capableness and contains a enactment of firm boxes.

"Like it oregon not, Kenilworth Road is existent life, due aged schoolhouse football, and it should beryllium embraced oregon scorned upon astatine your peril," wrote Mr Sweet.

And they person to get determination first. A 3rd spot decorativeness successful this year's Championship means they volition instrumentality connected Sunderland, who finished sixth, successful the play-off semi-finals.

The clubs volition conscionable for the archetypal limb astatine Sunderland's Stadium of Light connected Saturday, earlier Kenilworth Road hosts the 2nd limb connected 16 May. Whoever wins volition conscionable Coventry City oregon Middlesbrough astatine Wembley Stadium on 27 May for a spot successful the 2023-24 apical flight.

Hatters instrumentality Richard Armstrong, 40, was conscionable 3 years aged erstwhile helium archetypal visited Kenilworth Road and has a unsocial position connected the "old girl", arsenic it's affectionally known by galore Luton fans.

He comes from a household of Luton fans and his grandparents lived connected a thoroughfare successful the shadiness of the ground.

"Kenilworth Road has to beryllium the astir talked astir stadium successful the country," helium said.

"A batch of radical my property and supra would accidental it's a due crushed - but it fascinates the younger generation. They don't realise Luton was for galore years a apical formation club.

"I don't deliberation there's been a crippled this twelvemonth wherever we haven't seen distant fans connected societal media afterwards posting pictures of the Oak Road entrance.

"I deliberation if we bash spell up to the Premier League it's going to bring backmost an aged schoolhouse shot consciousness to the division."

But Mr Armstrong, whose 2 children are members of the club's Junior Hatters scheme, acknowledged it was a substance of "when" and not "if" the nine would move.

"It [Kenilworth Road] genuinely means a batch to people. It's a spot stuck successful a play of clip erstwhile the crippled was different.

"The bully happening is that Power Court is going to beryllium smack bang successful the mediate of town. I consciousness I talk for Luton fans erstwhile I accidental we person owners who person the interests of the nine astatine heart. They're supporters too.

"Whatever happens, she deserves a changeable astatine seeing the world's champion and the world's champion merit a tally retired astatine the aged girl. I anticipation our communicative gives anticipation to different clubs."

Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Radio

The Kenny, arsenic it's known, is simply a fantastic aged schoolhouse stadium and volition beryllium missed by astir each Hatters fans.

Its charm, quality and ambiance is beauteous unsocial and Luton fans volition proceed to bask it earlier transferring to a caller stadium which everyone understands volition determination the nine forward.

Supporters would anticipation the caller 1 astatine Power Court could replicate Kenilworth Road for its intimidating 'in your face' intensity.

If the Hatters are promoted to the Premier League, improvements volition request to beryllium made. Much has been made of the £10m outgo chiefly connected improving Kenilworth Road for media needs; broadcasting rights successful the apical formation bring successful gross of implicit £100m truthful that won't beryllium an issue.

Indeed, promotion would velocity up the determination and fundamentally wage for the caller stadium.