Just promoted to the Premier League after a victory on penalties (1-1, 6-5 pens) against Coventry, Luton Town will have to carry out a lot of work to homologate Kenilworth Road, its stadium, which for the moment does not does not fulfill the obligations of the English championship.
After the feat and the rise to the Premier League won in a play-off against Coventry (1-1, 6/5 pens), Luton Town is starting a race against time. The Championship club, which had never known the Premier League in its current format, will have to update its enclosure, Kenilworth Road, to hope to be able to host the matches of the English elite next season.
Works worth 10 million pounds
Kenilworth Road will become the smallest stadium in the Premier League next season and, above all, will also require very rapid upgrading this summer. Between £8m and £10m will have to be spent sprucing up the ground, with refurbished press facilities, new broadcast units and floodlights, all required by the Premier League.
Among the mandatory changes, the press box, which will have to have at least 50 seats next season, against only 29 available today. Luton will also have to build a press conference room that can seat at least 70 people, with Luton’s post-match press conferences currently being held in the Nick Owen Lounge, a popular bar used by supporters before matches and at the end of the match. half time.
No more commentary posts, cameras, spotlights…
The Premier League also requires an upgrade to its television gantry, at least 15 television commentary points, another 15 radio commentary points, seven pitchside presentation spots, provisions for VAR cameras… Luton will have to also review the power of its projectors, for the moment considered too weak to allow the broadcasting of the Premier League.
The stadium has hardly changed since the spring of 1992 and the relegation to D2 of Luton Town, which had therefore never known the Premier League in its modern version. The entrance to the Oak Road stand is through a door resembling a house door, so much so that the enclosure goes unnoticed in the city when there is no match.
Access to the stadium in the middle of neighbors’ gardens
To access the stadium, the turnstiles are embedded in a row of terraced houses, then a walkway leads supporters up metal steps and through neighbors’ gardens. In Luton, the stands are so close to the pitch that people in the front row can reach out and touch the players. Sunderland winger Amad Diallo can testify to this, victim of a jostling from a supporter in the stands during the semi-finals of the play-offs for the climb.
This stadium where metal beams limit the view of supporters in the stands will undergo major renovations this summer, thanks to a plan already put in place last season, before the defeat against Huddersfield Town in the semi-finals of the play-offs. After the climb, the local council is responsible for enforcing it as soon as possible.
“Haaland will go through the other shitty entrance we have”
“I think it will be an asset for the Premier League, Luton general manager Gary Sweet told The Athletic about his special enclosure. It’s real life, real football. It’s history and tradition taking place here. It’s not a sterile stadium. It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s joy and tears. If you can’t accept it, it’s because you don’t like it. not soccer.”
“Haaland won’t go through this entrance, he responds to the photos scrolling on Twitter, showing the gates of the stadium resembling those of a family home. He will go through the other shitty entrance we have. He will not There’s no big entrance here. You have to accept it. And we will. People may laugh at us, but we don’t mind. We’re tough-skinned and, in fact, it shows a bit of fear .” But Kenilworth Road’s days are numbered, a new stadium is finally about to be built for Luton.
