The Soccer Team Next Door
Luton Town FC could earn promotion to the Premier League tomorrow. It would be one of the greatest stories in sports history.
As you walk down the narrow Oak Road in the working-class town of Luton about 35 miles northwest of London, you’ll see a series of narrow two-story brick houses, one after another. Then, there’s another that looks like all the others—only with a sign out front. OAK STAND, it says.
There’s a turnstile there, rusted out, and if you push through it and climb up the metal staircase that is so weathered it seems like it might not hold your weight, you can look out over neighbors’ gardens. Turn around once more and you’ll see it, gleaming green: a football pitch right in the middle of the neighborhood.
Welcome to Kenilworth Road, one of the most unique sporting venues in the world. And, if Luton Town FC can beat Coventry City at mighty Wembley Stadium tomorrow to earn promotion into the Premier League, it will host the likes of Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Mohamed Salah in just three month’s time.
Luton’s promotion would be one of the great underdog stories in sports history, and the stadium is part of the charm. Built in 1903, it’s a throwback to another era of not only soccer but of sports in general, one in which teams were fiercely associated with the town they called home. These weren’t suburban stadiums with gargantuan parking lots; Kenilworth Road is surrounded on three sides by homes. It holds just over 10,000 fans, which would be by far the fewest in Premier League history, and front row seats are so close to the action that supporters can reach out and touch players as they run past. Seats are a mishmash of weathered wood painted different technicolor shades without any rhyme or reason. Postgame press conferences are held in the Nick Owen Lounge, which during all other times is as an area for fans to grab a pint. Kenilworth Road is not just ramshackle compared to the sterile stadiums of today; as long ago as the 1950s, people claimed that it was inadequate. In 1987, the British author Simon Inglis wrote, “Until you’ve been to Kenilworth Road, you cannot appreciate how cramped is cramped.”
But this story isn’t just about the stadium. The club itself tugs at the heartstrings with a storied history that dates to 1885. Known as “The Hatters,” because Luton has long been known for its hatmaking trade, it has been home to legends like Ernie Simms, who was wounded in Italy while fighting for the British Army in World War I. When he returned home, he continued to play, and even though he walked with a severe limp, he scored 40 goals in the 1916 season. The legendary Joe Payne once scored 10 goals in a single 1936 match, a record that still stands. There’s also Bob Morton, who embodied Luton’s dedication to the team better than anybody and played at winger for 18 consecutive seasons and nearly 500 games.
Luton Town FC played in the top-tier of British soccer as recently as 1991 before they were relegated, and thus, they have never played in the Premier League, which was founded in 1992. The club toiled for a decade in lower leagues and, in 2002, the town was dealt a blow when the local car factory closed. To make things worse, in 2009, the Hatters were punished when it was discovered that they had been illegally paying agents under the table to lure talent. They were docked 30 points, and a free fall began, all the way down to the semi-pro Conference League, the same level where Wrexham now plays.
There was talk that the club would simply fold, unable to make enough money. But a poll found that over 50 percent of Luton residents would support measures as drastic as increasing their local taxes if it meant keeping the club solvent. Luckily, they didn’t have to resort to those extreme measures, though for five years, the Hatters toiled in the obscurity of the Conference League. In 2014, they finally made it to League 2. Then the climb began in earnest. By 2018, they were up to League One. By 2019, they made the Championship. A win Saturday would complete the long road back to the Premier League—and reap the £170 million payday ($215 million USD) that comes along with promotion.
If they win, Luton will have just three months to get Kenilworth Road ready for the Premier League. City council has already approved rushed plans for £10 million in renovations.
But the heart of the club—and thus the stadium and the city itself—won’t change. You’ll still walk down Oak Road and enter through what looks like another house. You’ll climb over gardens and into a stadium out of time. Only this time, you might see players from Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal lining up next to fans who’ve seen their club climb all the way back here—to the top.
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