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Luton’s Stadium Must Expand From Town to City
Promotion to the Premier League could cost Luton Town about $12m in ground improvements, despite work on a new stadium due to start. Our sportsbook offers the best markets and live betting odds in the English top-flight league.
Back in Premier League
Luton was playing non-league football just nine years ago, but four promotions in the years since have taken them all the way to the Premier League. They will play in the EPL for the first time after beating Coventry City on penalties in the Championship playoff final at WembleyStadium, earning a return to England’s top flight after a 31-year absence.
Luton will join Burnley and Sheffield United, who won automatic promotion as Championship winners and runners-up. Their club’s stadium, Kenilworth Road, will host top-flight football for the first time since 1992, when they were relegated from the Football League First Division.
Financial experts have estimated promotion to soccer’s most watched league to be worth about $210m for a club that has been through turmoil since they last played in the top flight.
Smallest Premier League Stadium
Kenilworth Road was built in 1905 and has a capacity of 10.000, meaning it will become the smallest ground in the Premier League next season, behind Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, which holds 11,379. The unusual entrance for away fans at the Oak Road End of the ground is on a row of terraced houses.
The stadium has not undergone any major developments since the conversion of the Kenilworth Stand in 2005 and will need significant improvements to its infrastructure. Some of the profits will go to upgrading the club’s stadium. The infamous Oak Road End holds around 1000 fans. But whilst the view inside the stadium is unique, it’s the entrance that has left both visiting fans and those who have seen it on social media in disbelief.
Even before their successful Championship campaign, Luton Town was aware that Kenilworth Road wouldn’t be able to pass the scrutiny of the EPL rulebook regarding teams’ grounds and that changes were needed.
The Hatters plan on moving to a new home, the Power Court Stadium, a former power station just one mile east of Kenilworth Road in the town’s center. The new ground would hold almost 20,000 fans and would be built by 2026.
What fans see upon entering the Oak Stand at Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road. 🏠🎩🏠pic.twitter.com/xFPGbkFbEm
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) May 27, 2023
Tall Task Ahead
Luton Town is already the -250 favorite with the latest Premier League odds to be relegated from the Premier League, but there’s no betting value, so don’t include them in your Premier League picks and parlays. The Hatters’ comeback from the relative depths of the National League has been one of soccer’s best stories, and boss Rob Edwards and his side are now ready to give the EPL their best efforts.
As a club, they are smartly run and won’t be wasting cash in the summer, which may make many dismiss their chances of surviving. Four of the last six play-off winners have survived, which is a good omen for Luton. All three promoted sides have stayed up in the Premier League this season
