Luton CEO insists Power Court will 'improve' on legendary Kenilworth Road atmosphere

Town chief executive Gary Sweet is confident that Luton’s new ground at Power Court will actually improve on the extremely special and intimidating atmosphere that Town are able to create within the confines of Kenilworth Road.

The noise that emanates from the Hatters’ current ground since 1905 has been a huge factor in the team’s on-field success over recent decades, with opposition players often talking about how they hate coming to such a tight stadium where they feel the fans are on top of them for the entire 90 minutes, with the hosts often able to use that to their advantage.

With the capacity at just over 12,000 though, the club have been looking to move for a number of years now, and having received the finally green light for Power Court in December 2024, will soon start constructing the 25-000 all-seater stadium, rather than beginning at 17,500 which was originally planned. thanks to the money gained from a season in the Premier League. Some Town followers have voiced their concerns that their new home could turn into a soulless venue like so many other new grounds that are built, but that won’t be the case according to Sweet.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: “It's really amazing, We actually mark down around about 24 different characteristics in Kenilworth Road that we’d like to carry forward and take into Power Court. And these are characteristics that you probably wouldn’t see in other brand new stadiums, actually, so they will be quite unique to our stadium. When you look at them, we think we can possibly even improve on the atmosphere.

"We’re taking a really bold move in various areas, like the roof designs, the corner designs where we’re still keeping the front row of the seats quite close to the pitch, as close as we can, under compliance. We’re doing all of those things that people think creates a special atmosphere at Kenilworth Road, but I think we’re doing even more than that. So, I really am actually confident that this is going to be a special place to be and I think when people go into the new stadium at Power Court, they’ll feel a certain familiarity about that environment versus the old girl at the Kenny.”

Yesterday saw Luton take another huge step forward in their efforts to build the ground when they announced Limak International will be the building contractors tasked with making the stadium possible. Giving an idea of just when 2020 think they will be in place at their new home, Sweet continued: “We've marked that down as the start of the 28/29 season, that's the first full season that we'll be playing there.

"There clearly will be a need for a number of test events prior to that, whatever they might be. Observers around football have seen what Everton have done recently for example in Bramley-Moore Dock, how they’ve had two or three test events, starting small and growing, so we will need to do that. That gives us effectively, when we start the proper exercise of piling this summer, that gives us three years to complete which we feel is a comfortable timeframe to include those test events that will be happening three years from now.”

With the plans for the derelict site including homes, bar, restaurants and a music venue, then along with the football stadium and its bespoke design, Sweet is confident the area will offer some much-needed regeneration to the town as a whole. He added: “It’s not just the stadium, of course, it’s everything else that happens on Power Court.

"Part of that would be, for example, the 1,000-odd apartments that we’d be building. But everything that goes on at ground floor level, which we seek to curate in an environment that will give a really beautiful piece of public realm in the middle of Luton, which is really badly needed. And that’s something which will include opening up the River Lea as well.

"So, it’s almost like bringing a bit of Coal Drops Yard (a shopping and dining hotspot in Kings Cross, London) up to our town. It’s that kind of thing that we want to try and attract. But once you’ve got a football stadium like that, which will be really iconic and eventually there’ll be a music arena and a hotel, those activities would mean that you’ve got the stadium alive 365 days a year, not just for 25 odd.

"When you’ve got the train station and the railway line that brings thousands of passengers past it every day and the halo lights above the stadium, it changes the perception, people’s perception of our town. And that’s one of the biggest things we’ve got to battle against. And if somebody actually was tempted just to get off at Luton Station and go and have a look around, then their perceptions will be changed permanently, we feel.”