Luton Town Football Club would like to advise supporters and visitors to our sites on measures that are being put in place to support everyone’s efforts to minimise the spread of coronavirus.
Please be assured that club officials are monitoring the situation very carefully and very regularly, with the health and safety of our players, staff and visitors as our priority.
Following advice and guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation, Public Health England and the NHS, as well as adopting a number of our own sensible policies, we can confirm that Kenilworth Road is currently open for business as usual meaning our match versus Preston North End on Saturday will proceed with little to no change to our regular schedules.
Non-Match Days
We have undergone a deep cleaning process at the main areas of Kenilworth and in full at The Brache. We have imposed strict controls on visitors entering The Brache at all times and Kenilworth Road on non-match days.
Until further notice, only players, coaches and authorised club staff will be permitted on site at The Brache as the club seeks to mitigate any risk of the COVID-19 virus affecting the group and spreading locally. Players and coaching staff are also being requested to practice a state of semi-isolation for the time being.
This will impact media, commercial and community activities for the current period, with critical external visitors only permitted upon satisfactory completion of a medical questionnaire. Regrettably, public player appearances will also be forbidden until further notice.
Match Day
We have always treated our community commitments with the highest priority, but importantly for now, we feel it necessary to temporarily withdraw players from public appearances. We therefore ask all supporters not to approach any of our players or staff for autographs and selfies.
Visits to the dressing rooms and manager’s office for hospitality guests and mascots, as well as the player appearances in hospitality areas and the Hatters Hideout, will also not take place until further notice.
While we appreciate this may cause some inconvenience but the continued health of supporters, staff and players at Luton Town, and of visiting teams, is of paramount importance, and we ask for your understanding around this issue.
Should they be necessary, further updates will follow ahead of Saturday’s home match with Preston North End, at which the EFL instruction to avoid the usual pre-match Fair Play handshakes will continue to be in place.
How You Can Help
Finally, we ask all supporters planning to attend the match to do so only if they feel in good health.
If you are experiencing symptoms (which include a cough, a high temperature or shortness of breath) or have been to any high-risk areas, the Government advice is to call NHS 111, stay indoors and avoid contact with other people immediately.
Anyone with flu-like symptoms should avoid the risk of spreading their infection by staying at home and recovering.
We request that all supporters who do attend, upon arrival at the ground, please ensure they wash their hands in any of the public toilets, which have all had extra soap and hand sanitisers installed.
Please also respect that these products are for collective use and should not be taken for personal use, as experienced at the last home match against Stoke – your exposure to the virus could potentially increase if the supporter sitting next to you isn’t able to use soap or a sanitiser.
We would also like to reiterate the following advice on offer to help limit the spread of coronavirus:
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze;
- Put used tissues in the bin straight away;
- Wash your hands with soap and water often – use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available;
- Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell;
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces;
- Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean;
- To contact NHS 111 if anyone is worried about their symptoms. The advice is to not go directly to your GP or other healthcare environment;
- Further information is available on the PHE blog and nhs.uk.
Luton Town FC thank all supporters for their co-operation during this unprecedented crisis. We feel the need to take every possible step to act responsibly and safely. We will continue to seek advice from the relevant authorities and will update supporters with further developments as and when they become available.