Luton’s focus on survival scrap before stadium move
“We’ve been a fantastic football story for the Premier League. No-one can ever take it away from us, but we are never going to survive in the Premier League at Kenilworth Road. It’s as simple as that.”
Amid the diggers and cranes and mounds of dirt, Luton Town’s CEO Gary Sweet points to a crudely painted red stick. It marks the spot where, in three years’ time, the centre circle will be in Luton’s new stadium Power Court, slap bang in the centre of a town experiencing the long-awaited shoots of gentrification.
What started as a drunken conversation with architects turned into an innovative concept for floodlights called The Halo; a circle of light atop the stands, doubling up as a symbolic boater for the new home of the Hatters. There will be 25,000 fans inside to watch the first ball be kicked in 2028-29. But before any of this, there’s the small matter of survival.
Automatic promotion back to the Premier League was all the talk last August. But Luton are now languishing in 21st, one point above Hull, with the third-worst goal difference of any Championship club.
