Sweet: Premier League football will happen for the Hatters

Luton Town chief executive Gary Sweet has declared Premier League football 'will happen' for the Hatters under the stewardship of 2020, and that it could do so as early as next season.

The club are currently fifth in the Championship after an excellent start under boss Nathan Jones, with hopes beginning to rise that they could return to the top flight for the first time since the 1991-92 campaign.

Sweet knows full well that Town would struggle to survive as a top flight club while still calling Kenilworth Road their home, with a new 17,500 stadium at Power Court, the only way they could have any chance of competing.

Speaking at last night's Luton Borough Council's development management committee meeting in which the Hatters' revised proposals for the existing outline consent, not including the new stadium, were unanimously approved, the CEO, who expects final plans for the new ground to be submitted early next year, said: “Back in 2007, my fellow board members known as 2020, generally, we embarked on our journey as custodians of Luton Town Football Club.

"Our intention was to clean it up, give it a new, progressive direction and, most importantly, to use its authority to influence for the greater good, with our environment.

“As we approach our 14th anniversary, the promises we’ve made, have all been delivered, including a financially stable Championship club by the season 2020, but also to enable the club to have a positive impact on our community and the town in all that we do.

"Right now we sit fifth in the Championship table. Potentially, we’re staring entry to the top table of world football, that could happen as early as next year.

“If that happens, and by the way it will happen, I can’t promise it will be this season, but when that happens it will bring huge prosperity and positivity to our town, to everybody.

“But we all know that to stay there, we desperately need a new home.

"Despite delivering on our promises and setting a sound community tone, we fully understand that the true test is to get this stadium built – a question I only get asked about 100 times a week.

“This is something that we’re absolutely committed to.

"Not only are we committed to an architectural masterpiece of the stadium, but we’re absolutely committed to build our home at the heart of Luton’s future resurgence.

“Doing the right thing, and fulfilling our promises, has always been the cornerstone of our mission.

"We don’t get everything right and we may have made a few mistakes in the past, but this project is so important that we’re very happy to take that responsibility of perfection on this case.

"Leaving Kenilworth Road after mostly entertaining the townspeople since 1905 will be emotional.

"But the club's progressed and for the local Bury Park community to further develop its area the beach huts and the terraced house turnstiles need to be laid to rest unfortunately."