|
|
| ||
|
|
|||
|
Ground Name: Kenilworth Road |
 |
|
| Contents | |
| What's The Ground
Like? Future Developments Looking Towards The Oak Road Stand (photo) What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? Where To Drink? Kenilworth Road End (photo) How To Get There By Car & Where To Park By Train Executive Stand (photo) Admission Prices Fixtures 2008-2009 Local Rivals Programme & Fanzine Ground Layout Disabled Facilities Record & Average Attendance Fans Ground Reviews Hotel Accommodation Feedback Return To The Main Menu |
|
| 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 'New 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. | |
|
|
| 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 2,000 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! | |
| Where To Drink? | |
| 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. |
|
|
|
| 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 | |
|
Home Fans: |
|
| Fixtures 2008-2009 | |
| For the Luton fixture list click here (to take you to the BBC Sports Website). | |
| Local Rivals | |
| Watford. | |
| Programme & Fanzine | |
| Official Programme: £3
(away fans purchase them from inside the ground, from sellers on the pitch
perimeter).
Mad As A Hatter Fanzine: £1 Fanzine subscription costs £6.50 for next five issues. This can be obtained from Mad as a Hatter! 195 Cutenhoe Road, Luton, LU1 3NQ. Please make cheques payable to Mad As A Hatter. |
|
|
|
|
| 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*: 10,248 v Wolverhampton Wanderers Championship League, September 10th, 2005. * This record has subsequently been equalled. Average Attendance: 2007-2008: 6,492 (League One) 2006-2007: 8,580 (Championship League) 2005-2006: 9,139 (Championship League) |
|
| 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. |
|
|
Return To The Main Menu |
|
