Photos and Words: Tom Reed
Luton Town fans celebrated the 120th birthday of Kenilworth Road recently.
The iconic ground hosted its first match on September 4th, 1905, against Plymouth Argyle, and while there aren’t any Hatters around who remember that match, most Luton supporters will tell you that time flies at “The Kenny”.
Luton plans to move to a plush new 25,000-capacity stadium at Power Court by the 28/29 season, meaning Kenilworth Road will not be long for this earth.
The Kenny has gained cult status for various features, including the Oak Road end, set in the middle of terraced houses, with views of people’s gardens from the back of the stand.
In a world of super stadia and “soulless bowls,” Kenilworth Road is one of the few remaining old-school grounds. It takes you back to the pre-Premier League era (for good and bad) and a time when football stadia were in the heart of communities.
When it first opened, Kenilworth Road had a wooden fence around the pitch's perimeter, and floodlights didn’t come until 1953.
Few who saw it can forget the infamous artificial pitch at Kenilworth Road, laid in the mid-80s, or the glare from the glazed row of executive boxes that made up one side of the ground.
Kenilworth Road is anything but plastic; a few tears will be shed when it closes its gates for good in the next few years.
