Good afternoon and welcome back to Kenilworth Road for what is the final time this season at 3pm on a Saturday as we entertain Blackburn Rovers.
Though we’re flattered that broadcasters consider our fixtures to be attractive to a wide audience, it’s worth noting that four of our last five Saturday fixtures this season have disappointingly kicked off at 12.30. We understand the disruption this brings to matchday routines and travel for many of you, especially for visiting supporters. Unfortunately, whilst we have a minor voice in the decision of matters of this nature, this new deal was struck by the EFL while we were a member of the Premier League.
Times have certainly changed, in many ways! And that’s topical, as yesterday it was 140 years to the day since Luton Town Football Club was formed, back in 1885. (Our genuine foundation date, not a fabricated one unlike some...!)
Today we’re celebrating our birthday with a number of activities, including the opening of the new 140 Bar. It will be a small flavour of what you can look forward to next season, which will be our 140th anniversary – our last ‘round number’ birthday before we move to Power Court in, what will seem like, a blink of an eye once visible work gets going. Look out for more announcements regarding next season’s celebrations over the coming weeks and months.
Naturally, whenever a milestone such as this rolls around, it’s difficult not to look back and reflect on your own personal connection to this special club of ours and the role it has played in your life.
For me, being taken to my first match and witnessing Kenilworth Road in all its glory for the first time remains fresh in memory – as do the incandescent words of my mother when I made my first big error in life, as a six-year-old boy, by admitting a mild attraction to a north London team in red. It was a foolish idea, as a very young and impressionable young lad, that was never going to happen in the Sweet family. I was promptly dealt a severe 24-hour punishment followed by a wonderful reward when I was taken to Kenilworth Road for the first time. What an amazing example of parenting! Thank goodness I came to my senses and a lifetime of love for the club has grown and grown. It means so much to me, as it does to all of us. Those early memories live on as vividly as our famous wins at Wembley in 1988, 2009 and 2023, the exciting promotion campaigns, the ups and downs, the great escapes and everything else in between.
Speaking of which, our steady improvement on the pitch continues not just in terms of results but also of confidence and morale. As Matt has mentioned several times already, this is a belief shared right the way through the club right now and is evident not just in the decibel levels from the dressing room sound system but also in the enthusiasm emanating from the stands on a matchday. The visceral roar that greeted Milli’s brilliant late goal at Stoke and the fantastic atmosphere generated last time out at home against Leeds indicate how united as one – supporters, players and staff – we are in our determination to give it our all for Championship survival.
Our recent results and a five-match unbeaten run have given us that much-needed boost – with five games to go we are alive and kicking in our bid to stay in this division. The competitiveness of the Championship has begun to flex its muscles in recent weeks and, with every club capable of beating the other, we’re holding onto our hats for a wild rollercoaster ride in these final few weeks of the season.
These solid showings have also led to recognition from those outside the club, with both Matt and Jordan Clark nominated for monthly awards – further highlighting the improvement made over the past few months. Congratulations to you both – fully deserved!
While our last two results, against Leeds and Stoke, yielded identical results they were recorded in two very different ways, with spirit very much at the heart of it. So, here’s hoping for more of the same this afternoon – but with the full three points tally – against a Blackburn side who certainly won’t be intent on scoring two own goals to help us like the last time we needed a result against them to stave off relegation!
Since my last notes, we announced our end-of-year accounts which revealed we made a very healthy record profit. However, before we raise a false expectation of breaking record transfer fees, it doesn’t change the very principle of us believing that football clubs – particularly ours – should be run sustainably and, more importantly, that every penny of our profit has been accounted for in subsidising contracts awarded for the Premier League (exactly what parachute payments were intended for) and to support our new stadium and other long-term infrastructure projects. This doesn’t mean funds to improve the squad won’t necessarily be sensibly available, as was witnessed in January where significant amounts were carefully invested in talent that is already reaping rewards.
Each year, once we have submitted our audited accounts, representatives of Luton Town Supporters’ Trust are invited in to scrutinise the numbers in greater detail where no delving question will go unanswered. This will be no different this year, and, at a recent and excellent Supporters’ Trust strategy evening, better supporter communication was a hot topic. So, we will encourage the Trust to gather questions from its membership and provide a review after the meeting.
As mentioned, our stint in the Premier League will provide the additional income necessary to fund the increases in costs for Power Court stadium, brought about by the extraordinary inflation on construction materials and labour over recent years. It will also allow us to accelerate the phasing of the construction, straight to a 25,000-capacity facility. Ultimately, not only does this accelerate our growth for the future, but it will also save us over £40m in abortive costs – not to mention the disruption – by not building through the three phases from around 17,500-18,000, which was the original strategy.
We are now entering a very exciting phase of the project. Before the season concludes, we will be announcing which construction partners we will be selecting to manage the build starting with a two-month PCSA (a pre-construction services agreement – akin to a trial period before the main contract) during which we’ll start to see some heavy machinery on site as we prepare to pile.
So far, everything is basically on track. Naturally, the one question everyone wants to know is when we’ll be kicking off in our first league game in our new home. Also naturally, it would be imprudent for me to publicly announce this before we complete the PCSA other than to say that we are progressing very well, and we are desperate to move in more than anyone!
However, we can’t bury our heads in the sand with current global affairs highlighting a potential risk in many industry sectors which is completely outside of our control, so, confident though we remain of hitting our target programme, I’m sure you’ll understand if we didn’t entirely commit to a date at this stage.
Whilst on the subject of Power Court, one of our longer-term missions is to become a greener football club, with the ultimate target of carbon neutrality high on our list of ambitions. We are very firmly focused on our BREEAM credentials (the criterion by which the carbon footprint of new buildings is measured), where we have set a very high bar for ourselves to achieve.
But even at Kenilworth Road our operations are being monitored and constantly improved. With that in mind, we were delighted last week to be just the seventh club to be awarded a bronze or higher status from the EFL, despite the challenge of an outdated stadium.
Hard work behind the scenes has meant we have established a monthly working group for the implementation of new sustainability measures which include serving locally sourced food – as mentioned in the Trust’s interview with Cris Silva, our general catering manager, elsewhere in this programme, and the introduction of new water refill points across our sites for players, staff and visitors. They will save almost 23,000 plastic bottles from being used over the course of a season. Here on a matchday, you may also have noticed we are providing wooden forks and stirrers, as well as compostable pint and half-pint cups. Despite the limitations of our dear old home, we have made a concerted effort to become more sustainable with our long-term vision of having one of the most green and efficient stadiums in the country when we move to Power Court.
Finally, this afternoon we welcome our friends from Utilita Giving for their annual dedicated Kenilworth Road ‘takeover’ fixture which helps raise awareness and supports those in fuel and food poverty across England, Scotland and Wales.
The takeover includes a range of fundraising initiatives around the ground and, once again, the charity has teamed up with Luton Foodbank to host a matchday food collection point, with all essentials donated directly supporting the local community. Please support these causes if you’re able to.
Remember, today could be another ‘I was there’ moment to add to the thousands that this club has witnessed so gloriously over the past 140 years. There’s never a dull moment following our beloved LTFC!
COYH.
Gary.
