The Award Winning Stadium that might never get built
Luton Town are a club punching above their weight at the minute. Just 12 years ago, they were docked 30 points because of financial irregularities and would be relegated out of the football league to the 5th tier. It would take them five years to make it back to League Two under the management of John Still and inspired by the goals of Andre Gray.
In the seven and a bit seasons since, the Hatters have marched up the English footballing pyramid including back-to-back promotions in 2018 and 2019, and they currently sit in 8th place in the Championship.
However, it would be fair to say that the resources at Luton's disposal are modest at best and they don't have a long illustrious history. The club's greatest achievement was there League Cup win in 1988 when they beat Arsenal 3-2, which was highly impressive. However, since the administration in the late 2000's and some very bad ownership the club has been run by the fans, and very successfully we should add.
Gary Sweet, a boyhood fan, is one of the club's directors and has set about trying to fix one of the club's long standing problems, the stadium. The Hatters have played at Kenilworth Road since 1905 and whilst it has witnessed some memorable games, including a 5-3 loss to Liverpool in an FA Cup epic, it is an incredibly outdated stadium. The Oak Road End can only be accessed through an entrance in a converted house and many have made jokes about its 'plastic' artificial pitch.
Luton have made noises about moving away from Kenilworth Road since 1955 but due to a number of complications, a move has never materialised. A piece of land the club purchased near the M1 in 2007 has been a roadblock for a long time to their new ground when planning permission was denied by the council but after selling it a few years ago, the club finally got the nod for a new ground in the town centre, Power Court.
The stadium was designed and approved in 2019, with a planned capacity of 17,500 and the ability to expand it to near 23,000. Then it would go one step further with the design winning a prize at an architectural awards ceremony in France, beating out the new Perth Stadium in Western Australia.
However, after nearly two years of original approval the building still hasn't started. After a meeting last week though that may be all set to change. Another change in designs to Power Court's surrounding areas may have finally got the plans over the line, with the development aiming to revitalise the town centre as well as provide a bright future for the club.
Sweet said he was aiming to break ground on the new stadium in 2022 with the hope that it would be built in anticipation of the club getting promoted to the Premier League. It's an ambitious plan but the club wants a seat at the table with the big boys and their current set up at Kenilworth Road is incredibly restrictive.
Who knows, but hopefully we'll be seeing Luton in their glamorous new stadium sooner rather than later.
