Kenilworth Road – stadium description

Luton Town has been playing here since 1905. Now this may seem a noble history, but back in the days it was a must, because in 1905 Luton had to move from their previous gorund, which was sold on short notice by the owner. And though Luton Town aim in leaving the ground since 1955, they haven't succeeded so far. They never became any of England's top clubs, but surely they've got their achievements at Kenilsworth Rd, to name just avarage attendance of over 25,000 fans per game at peak.

But before crowds began flocking the ground, money had to be invested. In 1921 main stand was consumed by a fire and had to be rebuilt. The structure raised in 1923 stands until now, of course with a few revamps along the way. In 1953 a friendly against Turkish Fenerbahce inaugurated floodlights at the ground and a year after that crowds of over 25,000 were attending nearly every game. Unfortunately in further decades attendance was constantly dropping due to installing seats on all stands. In 1985 it was already an all-seater with just over 10,000 seats.

An interesting fact is the membership scheme introduced by the club in 1985. For 5 years authorities were allowing only local people into the ground, causing criticism among away travelling and the FA as well. It even resulted in the club being banned from the League Cup for 4 years until Luton finally dropped the idea.

How Kenilworth Road compares to other Championship venues?