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Ground Name: Kenilworth
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Ground Name: Kenilworth
Road |
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| Contents | |
| What's The Ground Like? Future Developments Looking Towards The Oak Road Stand (photo) What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? Kenilworth Road End (photo) Where To Drink? Executive Stand (photo) How To Get There By Car & Where To Park By Train Admission Prices Fixtures 2009-2010 Local Rivals Programme Ground Layout Disabled Facilities Record & Average Attendance Fans Ground Reviews Hotel Accommodation Feedback Return To The Main Menu |
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| What's The Ground Like? | |
| The club have been
talking about moving to a new stadium for sometime now and hence
investment in Kenilworth Road in recent years has been neglected. One side
of the ground and one end are small and covered. A Luton fan once told me
that the council would not let the club build any higher than the
surrounding houses. The small end, The Oak Road Stand, is given to away
supporters and this has a simple electric scoreboard on its roof. The
other end is a large covered all seated stand, which was originally a
terrace. The small side of the ground (called the Bobbers Stand as
entrance once cost a Bob!) is predominantly filled
with a row of executive boxes and is so small that you can clearly see the
houses behind it. Netting has been suspended between the floodlight pylons
on its roof to reduce the number of footballs being kicked out of the
ground. The other side, the Main Stand, is an older two tiered covered
stand. This stand is mostly wooden (therefore no smoking allowed) and is
really beginning to show its age. The Main Stand only runs around two thirds of the length of the
pitch, with another newer structure 'bolted' onto one end. This area is
known as the 'David Preece Stand' and is used a family area. An odd
feature is the dugouts being located opposite the players tunnel,
resulting in quite a procession across the pitch. Also
you will notice that rather than having floodlight pylons at each corner
of the ground, as most older grounds have, they are instead featured along
each side of the ground. This is a legacy of simply when floodlights were
first installed at Kenilworth Road in the 1950's, there was no room in the
corners of the ground to incorporate floodlight pylons and hence they had
to go down the sides. | |
| Future Developments | |
| The Club are looking to relocate to a new 20,000 seat stadium, possibly to be built somewhere near to Junction 12 of the M1. However, the scheme is facing opposition from local residents as well as some supporters who feel that the Club should stay within Luton itself. | |
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| What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? | |
| The entrance to the Oak Road Stand must be one of the most unusual in the country. After going down a rather small alleyway at the side of the stadium (or down the cordoned off Oak Road), the impression is of queuing to go into someone's house and then through their back garden and into the stand! Just over 1,800 supporters can be accommodated in this stand and even a small number of fans can really make some noise. The Luton fans who like to sing tend congregating in the Main Stand immediately to the right of the away end, which can make for a good atmosphere. On the downside, there always seems to be a large Police presence, which seems unnecessary for the majority of games, although the Club stewards themselves seemed pretty relaxed. Also there are a number of supporting pillars in this stand, which may hinder your view. The leg room is tight (although I noted that away fans stood throughout on my last visit) and the toilets are small and have seen better days. The refreshments are not bad though, with a good selection of pies and burgers available. Although I noted that the Pukka Pies were a whopping £3 a go! | |
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| Where To Drink? | |
| John Pyper informs
me; 'The Luton Bobbers Club at the ground will admit a small contingent of
away fans at the digression of the committee stewards at a cost of 50p
(signing in fee). The entrance to the club is located between the
turnstiles for away supporters in Oak Road'. Josephine Kingston recommends the Bedfordshire Yeoman on Dallow Road near to the ground. Josephine adds 'all away supporters are welcomed, except those from Watford!'. To get to this pub, continue down Oak Road towards the official car park and then bear left following the road that goes behind the Main Stand. Continue to follow the road away from this stand and over a little bridge. On the left hand side you will see a Chip Shop (which always seems to do good business on matchdays) and over on the right you will see an alleyway. Go down this alleyway to the end and as you come out of it the pub is on your right. It is medium sized, popular with home and away supporters. You can also park in their pub car park for £3. Mick O'Sullivan adds; 'A good place to drink is the Beech Hill Conservative Club on Leagrave Road, which welcomes both home and away supporters. To find the club, then with the away entrance in front of you turn left and walk down to the bottom of Oak Road. Proceed through the small arcade of shops opposite and you will see the sign for the club between two shops. It has a large car park (cost £3) and offers reasonably priced beer. You will be charged 50p to go in, but you make it up on the cheaper than pub beer'. Please note that alcohol is not served to away supporters within the ground. Whilst in the town centre on the Bedford Road, only a few minutes walk away from the train station is the English Rose. This CAMRA Good Beer Guide listed pub has received good reports from visiting fans who have drank there. | |
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| How To Get There By Car & Where To Park | |
| Leave the M1 at Junction
11 and take the A505 towards Luton. Go through one set of traffic lights
and at the 1st roundabout, turn right into Chaul End Lane. At the next
roundabout turn left into Hatters Way, whilst continuing down Hatters Way
the ground will be seen on your left, although it is not accessible from
this road. At the end of Hatters Way turn left and start looking for
street parking from here on (the ground will now be on your left). Please note that there is a residents only parking scheme in operation near to the ground, so you will have to travel a little further away to find street parking. For a map showing the location of Kenilworth Road click here (to take you to the Street Map website). To go to a simplified page, containing the directions and pub info, which you can print out click here. Thanks to Roger Butler for providing the directions. | |
| By Train | |
| Luton train station is 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. Thanks to Tom Hunt for providing the directions. | |
| Admission Prices | |
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All areas of the
stadium*Home Fans: * In the Main Stand (Blocks, A, B, G, H, J ) Adult tickets are £15. | |
| Fixtures 2009-2010 | |
| For the Luton fixture list click here (to take you to the BBC Sports Website). | |
| Local Rivals | |
| Watford & Stevenage Borough. | |
| Programme | |
| Official Programme: £3 (away fans purchase them from inside the ground, from sellers on the pitch perimeter). | |
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| Disabled Facilities | |
| For details of disabled facilities at the ground please visit the relevant page on the National Association Of Disabled Supporters (NADS) website. | |
| Record & Average Attendance | |
| 30,069 v
Blackpool, FA Cup 6th Round Replay, March 4th, 1959. Modern All Seated Attendance Record*: 10,260 v Leeds United Championship League, October 21st, 2006. * This record was subsequently equalled against Sunderland on May 6th 2007. Average Attendance: 2009-2010: 6,931 (Blue Square Premier) 2008-2009: 6,019 (League Two) 2007-2008: 6,492 (League One) | |
| Fans Reviews Of Kenilworth Road | |
| Dan Phillips (Port Vale)
9/8/08 Jack Laws (Crystal Palace) 26/11/05 Martyn Corrin (Tranmere Rovers) 29/1/04 | |
| Hotel Accommodation | |
| If you require hotel accommodation in the area then first try a hotel booking service provided by Football Hotels who are powered by Activehotels, who specialise in locating accommodation near or within a short travelling distance of the football ground. They also have the added advantage over some other hotel booking services that you pay on departure. Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book through them, but it will go to help with the running costs of keeping the Guide going. To access their Luton page click here. | |
| Feedback | |
| If anything is incorrect
or you have something to add, please e-mail
me and I'll update the guide. | |
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Return To The Main Menu | |
All rights reserved
Last Updated: 11 June 2010
