Kenilworth Road Stadium Guide Luton Town

UK Stadiums: Kenilworth Road, Luton

The stadium is the home of Luton Town established 1885. — The stadium is the home of Luton Town established in 1885

Kenilworth Road (The Kenny) in Luton, England, is the home ground of Luton Town. The club has played on the site since 1905.

Capacity & Stadium Facts

The stadium has a present all-seater capacity of 12,000.

The playing surface is natural grass with floodlights which were installed in 1953. The record attendance was 30,069 for an FA Cup sixth round replay against Blackpool in 1959.

Luton Town adopted a plastic pitch between 1985-1991. It was disliked by both home fans and visiting teams.

Since their Premier League days, Luton have been considering a move away from Kenilworth Road to a new 25,000-capacity stadium to be called Power Court located on the site of a former power station, hence the name. If all goes to plan The Hatters hope to be in their new home by 2028 or 2029. The new complex will include a hotel, housing and a music venue on the site of Luton power station which closed in 1969.

Stands

There are five stands: the Kenilworth Stand; the Oak Road End; the Main Stand; the David Preece Stand (named after a former player since 2008) and the Bobbers Stand. Uniquely fans enter the Oak Road End through an entrance built into the row of houses and up a set of stairs to the stand.

Old school floodlight. — Old school floodlight

Club History

The team are nicknamed "The Hatters" (the same as Stockport County as both towns were associated with the hat-making industry). Luton Town FC were founded in 1885. Club colors are orange shirts and black shorts.

The Hatters reached their first major final in the 1958-59 FA Cup (ultimately runners-up) and captured their most famous trophy by winning the 1987-88 League Cup under manager Ray Harford (in what is widely regarded as a classic final). The club's honors also include the Football League Trophy in 2008-09 and multiple league titles across all four tiers of the English football pyramid - including Second Division champions in 1981-82, Third Division titles in 1936-37, 2004-05 and 2018-19, and Fourth Division champions in 1967-68. The club were also Conference Premier champions in 2013-14, marking their return to the Football League after non-League exile. Luton were relegated to the Championship from the Premier League in 2024 with only 6 wins, 8 draws and 24 losses. Worse was to follow with The Hatters relegated to League One in the followng season - thus joining Sunderland, Wolves and Swindon in enduring the nightmare of double relegation from the Premier League.

Players

Some names associated with the club include goal machine Gordon Turner and Brian Stein, both surpassing 100 goals for the Hatters. Indeed Turner is the club's all-time leading scorer with 276 in all competitions. Bob Morton's 495 league appearances remain a club record. Mal Donaghy stands out for earning 58 Northern Ireland caps while at Luton, and Joe Payne famously scored a record ten goals in a single Football League match in 1936. In modern times, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu earned historic status as the first player ever to rise with the same club from non-League to the Premier League, having been with Luton through their climb from 2014 to 2023. Altogether he played 358 times for the club contributing 23 goals.

Other former players remembered with affection by Hatters' fans include Bruce Rioch (1964-1969), Steve Foster (1984-1989) and Paul Walsh (1979-1982). Mick Harford as both player and manager probably tops the lot.

Managers

Key managers that have shaped Luton's identity include David Pleat (manager for two spells from 1978-1986 and 1991-1995). Pleat built a young, dynamic side and secured promotion to the old First Division in 1982, nurturing talents such as Donaghy, Stein and Ricky Hill.

Ray Harford's leadership delivered Luton's first major trophy in the 1988 League Cup v Arsenal and a runners-up finish the next year against Nottingham Forest.

Dally Duncan guided Luton into the top flight for the first time in 1954-55 and oversaw the era of Syd Owen, Morton and Gordon Turner.

In the club's modern revival, Nathan Jones (2016-2019 and 2020-2022) secured back-to-back promotions from League Two (2017-18 runners-up) and League One (2018-19 champions), part of a remarkable 28 game unbeaten run managed in partnership with former player Mick Harford (who later confirmed the title as caretaker).

This meteoric rise culminated under Rob Edwards, who guided Luton to Premier League promotion in 2022-23 via a dramatic playoff win over Coventry City - their first top‑flight return since 1992.

Entrance to the Oak Stand at Kenilworth Road. — Entrance to the Oak Stand

Access - Getting There

The ground is about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Luton town center.

Luton railway station (formerly Luton Midland Road) has both Thameslink (to Bedford as well as Brighton via Gatwick Airport) and East Midlands Rail services (to London St Pancras International) and is a 15-20 minute walk to the ground. Routes A, B, C or F70 from the station stop at Clifton Road, just a 2-4 minute walk to the stadium.

By car from the M1, exit at Junction 11 and follow the A505 into town. Street parking is extremely limited near the ground. Oak Road is closed to traffic on matchdays, except for licensed away coaches.