A very warm welcome back to you all to Kenilworth Road, after a short break, for this afternoon’s League One fixture with Plymouth Argyle.
The Pilgrims arrive in Bedfordshire as the first visitors since the Old Girl we like to call home celebrated her 120th birthday. Those who are avid club historians via Hatters Heritage will know that Kenilworth Road’s first-ever competitive match came when the Pilgrims ventured up from Devon in 1905.
So, we wish an extra special, warmest of welcomes to all of those travelling the long 560-mile round trip and hope you join in our anniversary celebrations, as you did 120 years ago, knowing that your considerable venture this week would have been only half as gruelling as it would have taken back on that day.
Reading the match report and going down a lovely long rabbit hole on the Hatters Heritage website is fascinating – especially sifting through the thousands of photographs of what our house looked like all those years ago. The score that day was less exciting, however – a goalless draw! Let’s hope for some goals this afternoon.
If our last two matches are anything to go by, there should be. Since going down to Cardiff without scoring in our last league game here, the team have bounced back in style with a fine win at Burton two weeks ago and then a comfortable win against Barnet in the Vertu Trophy last week, scoring four in the process.
Three superb goals at Burton, after we unveiled our new third strip in the lead-up to the game, mean that three trees will be planted by our kit wear suppliers Reflo at Power Court. The target here is to plant and grow semi-mature trees on-site when we score ‘in green’, for them then to be replanted and help form the green landscaping when the stadium opens in 2028.
That brings me nicely on to Power Court itself and we’re excited to be able to bring you further updates. Michael Moran sat down this week with the Supporters’ Trust to give you all the full lowdown, but in a nutshell, we have some major milestones to tick off in the calendar in the coming weeks.
Firstly, the water in the River Lea begins to flow following its rerouting process this coming week, chased up in the following week by the old sub-station finally being decommissioned ready for dismantling. The switch-over of the sub-station has been a long time coming and we’re relieved that UK Power Networks has completed the work, paid for entirely by us.
As all followers of our stadium development will know, we can only start the construction of the stadium once these two milestones have been resolved as obstacles. The pace of progress will now start to gather at the end of this year.
All this work is incredibly exciting, and it’s fair to say the last couple of months have been unprecedentedly busy on and off the field – in fact, these two go hand-in-hand as we look to entice our next generation of players with, for the first time, a long-term incentive of playing in our first game at Power Court.
This latest transfer window has seen an unprecedented level of activity. Certainly, the most active transfer window in the 35 windows we have conducted since we took custodianship in 2008 and possibly the most active on record.
Including contract releases and incoming and outgoing senior loans, we saw a total of 21 players depart Kenilworth Road this summer, and 14 newcomers arrive. Plus, some positively significant further transfer activity at development and professional phase groups within the academy which you will (hopefully) begin discovering at about the time we relocate. Sowing the seeds for the long-term is critical!
With over £23m exchanging hands in 20 transfer agreements administered in both directions, plus an additional £5m in obligated commitments, our recruitment team, football administration department and manager have certainly been highly engaged during the summer. And this follows one of our most active January windows where we saw eight join and seven depart.
A squad overhaul was very much needed after two challenging seasons. We wanted to retain those who felt they wanted to be a part of a fresh and positive approach under Matt’s stewardship, owning the responsibility of putting this club back into the Championship, whilst allowing those to leave who wanted to ply their trade elsewhere.
Most importantly, we needed to recruit new talent that can bring a fresh energy to the squad and a renewed mentality. This intentionally included a blend of experience and vocal leadership coupled with a crop of younger, bolder, ambitious mental qualities alongside strong physical and technical attributes, with higher ceilings than our current position.
So far, mission accomplished! From January, we felt a three-to-four window transition may be needed, but we have significantly broken the back of the greater process this summer while bringing the average age down and growing the potential for our future squad value.
Whilst investing significant sums in fees, we made a reasonable profit within the window itself, and I can inform you that every penny of that will be reinvested into our future progress, with a sufficient provision to safeguard against potential future organic losses while at Kenilworth Road.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank many individuals for their incredible work ethic and determination during this summer. It is often unrecognised how much time, effort and stress go into players trading, but I’m very proud of the amazing and aligned process they went through over the last few months where many personal sacrifices have been made.
Special kudos needs to go to (in no particular order) Matt, Yousuf Sajjad, Jay Socik, James Mooney and Kelly Francis (with gratitude, too, to all supporting families!), to our team of scouts and analysts, our medical team and to our very creative media team for their engaging announcements.
I would also like to personally thank every departing player for their service to Luton Town during the course of their stays with us. I’d ask you all to join me in formally welcoming each one of our new arrivals, hoping that you all have an enjoyable and successful lengthy career with us – big congratulations for joining Luton Town go to Ali, Cohen, Ethon, George, Gideon, Hakeem, Jake, Jerry, Joe, Josh, Kal, Nahki, Nigel and Shayden!
So, back to today, we come into this afternoon’s game full of confidence after two good results with a strong squad and a management team who are hell-bent on getting us back to the Championship.
Finally, I would like to pay tribute to a much-loved and much-missed man who was crazy about this club, who was sadly laid to rest on Tuesday.
Adam Dilley first attended Kenilworth Road in 1996, and I was touched when I read what he said following his diagnosis about his passion and loyalty for our club.
“When you’re told you’ve got terminal cancer, football and my family got me through it. Luton got me through it. The memories, the highs. Wembley. The friends you make. I love this club. We’ll be back.”
Adam’s words remind us that football is more than just a game. It is belonging, resilience and love, carried forward by those who remain. His spirit lives on in the rickety floorboards of the main stand, in the friendships forged here among the pillars, and in the belief that together, we’ll always come back stronger – as we have always done so as a club.
As we gather at Kenilworth Road and look ahead to the future at Power Court, we carry with us not only the history of this club, but also the voices and memories of those who have spent time with us – so, as we celebrate 120 years here at this wonderful, eccentric and truly unique place we call home, let’s take a moment to remember those we have shared the Kenilworth Road experience with. Whether that’s 120 years, 120 months or 120 days ago, just as we have always done as a club.
Like Adam, everyone on the board loves this club and we know you all do too, so sing up and here’s to three points.
Come on Luton.
Gary.
