Kenilworth Road - History

History

Luton Town moved to Kenilworth Road in 1905, leaving their previous home at Dunstable Road after their landlord sold the site for housing at short notice. The club's directors quickly procured a new site, and the club's first match at the new ground came on 4 September 1905 – a 0–0 draw against Plymouth Argyle. Watford player C. Barnes scored the first ever goal at the stadium, in a reserve match. Originally known as Ivy Road, the new ground brought success with it – in their last season at Dunstable Road, Luton had finished second from bottom, but in the first at Kenilworth Road, Luton finished fourth in the Southern League.

The ground has undergone several major changes since its original construction in 1905. The original Main Stand, boasting a press loft and a balcony above the roof, burnt down in 1921, and was replaced by the current stand before the 1922–23 campaign. The new Main Stand was split into two: the upper tier contained wooden seats, so there was a ban on smoking in the stand; the lower tier, which became known as the Enclosure, was terracing.

When attendances were first counted, in 1932–33, Luton Town's average home attendance was taken at 5,868. Kenilworth Road's capacity of the time was 25,000, so it was not deemed necessary to improve the ground. However, only three years later, on 25 April 1936, a match against Coventry City attracted 23,142 spectators – at that time a club record. The decision was taken to renovate the stadium, already in disrepair, and work began at the end of the following season. The Kenilworth End terrace was extended, the Oak Road End received a roof and major work was done on the Main Stand. Following these steps, the ground was more in line with those of rival clubs, the capacity standing at 30,000.

The first ten years following Kenilworth Road's renovation saw average attendances of between 15,000 and 18,000; a huge improvement on what the club had previously been able to attract. Floodlights were installed at the ground before the 1953–54 season, and used for the first time in a friendly against Turkish side Fenerbahçe on 7 October 1953. The Oak Road terrace was extended in 1955, and promotion to the First Division for 1955–56 saw the average attendance climb as high as 21,454.

Renovation of Kenilworth Road was neglected for the next two decades – financial difficulties and the club's ambitions to build a new ground meant that regeneration was unaffordable, and would also prove unnecessary should relocation occur. However, following the rejection of several potential sites for a new ground, the club finally turned their attentions back to the maintenance of Kenilworth Road. The first real modernisation of the ground came in 1973, with the first addition of seats at the stadium since the construction of the new Main Stand in 1922. The Bobbers Stand became all-seated, while the rest of the ground remained terracing. The new-look stand could only hold 1,539 seats, and as a result the capacity of the ground dropped to 22,601.

A £1 million refubishment got under way in 1985 with the introduction of artificial turf, as well as the conversion of the ground to all-seater, which began a year later in 1986. The Oak Road End was filled with seats, while the Bobbers Stand had its seats ripped out to be replaced with executive boxes. The Main Stand's enclosure received seats, and work also began on converting the Kenilworth Stand, which had a roof added at this time. The stand would also receive seats in stages over the coming years.

The David Preece Stand was erected in 1991, simply called the New Stand on construction. The final improvements to the ground came in 2005, when the conversion of the Kenilworth Stand was finally completed to bring the capacity to its present 10,226.