Yes folks, we're back at Luton Town this Saturday, with a 3pm kick-off. I remember the good old days of the 1980s, when we used to visit grounds like this every other week.
I'll hate it if Luton Town ever get round to moving to a sanitised, modern new stadium. Kenilworth Road is about half a mile west of the town centre, in the middle of a large residential area, so the ground can be difficult to find. If you're driving down from Leeds you need to leave the M1 at junction 11, and turn left at the roundabout into Dunstable Road (A505). After 0.6 miles the road divides. Bear right, remaining on the A505 Dunstable Road, which leads to the ground. At the Birchlink Gyratory after 1.7 miles, follow 'Town Centre A505' signs round a small one-way system and the ground is down the streets on the left hand side.
On match days police close the surrounding roads and there is a residents only parking scheme, which will mean you have to park quite a way from the ground. Car crime has been quite a problem in the streets of west Luton, so the police advise you to park in the town centre, where the car parks are covered by CCTV.
The railway station is on the Midland main line from St. Pancras, and it's 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. If you can't be bothered to walk all the way, keep an eye out for bus numbers 5, 15, 27 and 238, all of which run along Dunstable Road close to the ground.
The former railway line from Luton to Dunstable runs right past one corner of the ground, and it would be ideal if it could be used to give a local train service from the main Luton station. But it hasn't seen a passenger service for at least 30 years, and while some campaigners want to see the rail line re-opened and the council hopes to use the route for a guided busway, nothing constructive seems to be happening.
A good pub which welcomes away supporters is the 'Bedfordshire Yeoman' on Dallow Road near to the ground. You'll find it if you walk from Dunstable Road towards the away end and keep following this road past the ground until you get to Dallow Road, where you will see the pub to your right. A quieter option is the 'Nelson Flagship' on Dunstable Road (towards the town centre from the ground).
Two pubs near the railway station are the 'Bricklayers Arms' and Irish bar 'The Well', while if you're walking from the station to the ground you can call in at the 'Bridge Tavern' in Guildford Street. Alcohol is not served to away supporters within the ground. The best of the takeaways is 'Bluebird One', which is close to the 'Bedfordshire Yeoman' pub, but there are plenty of other food options on Dunstable Road. Last season I saw a West Indian stall in the town centre selling goat curry, and with the asian part of town being close to the ground you won’t be short of opportunities to try some other exotic dishes.
It has to be said that Kenilworth Road is rather basic by modern standards, compared to all the new and re-developed grounds elsewhere in the country. It once held a crowd of 30,069, but in the mid-eighties the club reduced the capacity by installing extra seating and converting a whole side of the ground into a row of executive chalets. At least they intended to keep the Kenilworth stand as terracing, but then came the Taylor report and a further reduction in capacity to the current 9,970, as the ground had to go all-seater.
Away fans get 2,200 seats in the Oak Road stand, and we need to use turnstiles 6-8. This stand was originally wooden terracing, but concrete steps were built in 1938 as well as a roof. The steps and roof were extended back in the summer of 1956 and the stand has remained unchanged since, apart from the addition of seats in 1986. The entrance to this 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!
The Luton fans who like to sing congregate in the Main Stand immediately to our right, and as at most grounds you get a few who prefer to gesticulate at the away fans all the way through rather than watch the game. There are a number of supporting pillars in this stand, which may block your view, plus the leg room is tight, which is bad news for anyone over 6 feet tall. But the refreshments aren't bad by football ground standards, with a good selection of pies and burgers available.
To enjoy these excellent facilites, away fans have to pay £23.50 for adults, with concessions at the game, it doesn’t mention any restrictions on who can buy them. So if you live in the area it might be worth giving it a try if you can’t get a ticket from Leeds.
With the ground being hemmed in by houses£16.00. Luton’s official site says that home tickets are now on sale, and while there will be none for sale on the day of and the former railway line, there is no chance of expanding Kenilworth Road to increase the current limited capacity, as. the council will not let the club build the stands any higher than the surrounding houses. So for some time there has been talk of the club relocating elsewhere, and at one time the Milton Keynes corporation were trying to tempt them to go there, before they managed to get their hands on Wimbledon. More recently a former Luton chairman had a fairly mad idea of building a stadium near the M1, with a Grand Prix track on stilts above it!
More recent plans are a bit more realistic, with the club considering a move to a site near Junction 12 of the M1, with a capacity of 20,000, but this ran into opposition from residents, as well as fans who want the club to remain in the town. But the club’s financial troubles have put these plans on hold, so it’s up to the new consortium to try to fund a new stadium.