Luton face demolishing and rebuilding stand after sealing Premier League promotion
The price of promotion! Luton set out to tear down and rebuild their Bobbers Stand in just ONE SUMMER after clinching their place in the Premier League by beating Coventry on penalties in the play-off final
- Luton secured promotion to the Premier League after beating Coventry
- The club will rebuild one of their stands at Kenilworth Road this summer
- It will now cost them nearly £10 million to tear down the old Bobbers Stand
Luton Town are expected to tear down and rebuild a full stand in one summer to bring Kenilworth Road up to Premier League level after beating Coventry on penalties in the Championship play-off final.
It will cost nearly £10 million to tear down the old Bobbers stand, converted into boardrooms in 1986, at one side of the pitch and replace it with new facilities including a media centre, TV and data analysis studios, toilets and a canteen.
Details were revealed earlier this week by CEO Gary Sweet.
He is confident it can be ready in 12 weeks before the new Premier League season starts in mid-August.
“If anyone can do it, we can,” Sweet swore. “We practically have to rebuild a stand, but we’ve moved from non-League to Premier League so we can sort out that little matter.”
Luton plans to tear down and rebuild an entire stand in one summer after being promoted
The club secured a spot in the Premier League after beating Coventry on penalties at Wembley
Luton also plans to install some new fan seating and may be able to slightly increase capacity at the ground, where the club has been based since it opened in 1905.
There will also be an upgrade to the floodlights and new camera positions to meet the Premier League’s requirements for their high definition broadcasting rights.
“We have no complaints about that,” said Sweet, who hopes to reuse some of the materials in the proposed new stadium at Power Court in the city center.
Promotion to the top flight is worth £180m, a windfall that is not vital but certainly useful to complete the stadium project, and will enable the Hatters to aim for a larger capacity than currently planned, for about 19,200.
Until then, Kenilworth Road will add a unique ramshackle charm to the glitzy Premier League as they complete their incredible rise from non-League to the top flight in just nine years.
“This is real life, real football, history, tradition here,” Sweet added. “This is not a sterile bowl. This is lively. This is emotion. This is white knuckles, tears and joy in this stadium. This is a kettle. If you can’t embrace it, you don’t like football.’
However, there is no room to maneuver at the entrance, forcing visiting fans to enter the far end through the Oak Road entrance, squeezed into a row of terraced houses.
“There are no other entry points,” Sweet said. ‘It is what it is. We may need the occasional lick of paint and new signage, but let’s embrace this. It annoys me and makes me giggle when you get the social media content about an outing that goes through gardens.
Luton CEO Gary Sweet was convinced that the stand could be built in just 12 weeks
‘It’s been that way since World War II or even before. Why is it being increased now just because we might go to the Premier League?
“Erling Haaland isn’t going to walk through that entrance, he’s going through the other stupid entrance we have. Embrace it.
“We’re thick-skinned and it shows that you don’t necessarily need lavish surroundings to succeed.
“You can do it with hard work and guile, with intelligence and prudent financial management and absolute determination and dedication.
‘All this is possible without a nice stadium. It’s beautiful. The old girl is beautiful.’