Inside Luton Town's stadium Kenilworth Road: Capacity, famous away end & everything you need to know

Luton Town returned to the top table of English football in the 2023-24 season, ending a 31-year absence, and the Hatters have captured the imagination of Premier League fans ever since they triumphed in the Championship play-offs.

Their home stadium, Kenilworth Road, is not your typical Premier League ground and the venue's away end has gained particular notoriety due to its unusual entrance.

Here, GOAL brings you everything you need to know about Luton Town's stadium Kenilworth Road and answers the question: Do away fans really have to walk through people's homes to get in?

Kenilworth Road fact & information

Kenilworth Road Stadium is a football ground in Luton and the home of Luton Town. First built in 1905, it is now a 10,356-capacity all-seater stadium after its renovation in 2023.

With a capacity of just over 10,000, 'The Kenny', as it is affectionately known to the Luton faithful, is one of the smallest stadiums in Premier League history and certainly one of the most peculiar.

Luton won't be there for long, either. Plans are in motion for the construction of a new stadium for the club at Power Court, with the ground forecast to be opened in 2026 - so you'll have to get planning your visit to Kenilworth Road soon.

You can see a map of Kenilworth Road below.

Away fans' entrance - Oak Road stand

Getty

In the 2023-24 season, Kenilworth Road welcomes 19 sets of supporters from other Premier League clubs and many of them are in for a shock when they arrive at the away stand on Oak Road.

Situated within a tightly packed residential area, the entrance to the away stand is almost hidden on a terraced row of beautiful old red brick houses.

When you make your way into the covered stand, you'll traverse a number of steps and, if you pause for a moment, you'll notice that you're sandwiched between a load of back gardens.

Google Maps

It should be noted that these are most certainly not twee props - they are people's actual back gardens and homes, so fans are asked to treat residents with respect when visiting the stadium.

As with any Premier League or Football League game in a heavily populated area, however, there is usually a strong police presence in order to maintain public order during matches.

Did Luton Town have a plastic pitch?

Luton Town famously played on an artificial pitch at Kenilworth Road for a number of years.

It was first laid in 1985, but received an almost entirely negative reaction, with the players complaining about its effectiveness as a surface and supporters derisively calling it the 'plastic pitch'.

Despite the annoyance of opposition footballers and fans alike, Luton persisted with an artificial surface for six years before it was replaced in 1991 by grass when the Football League banned the use of synthetic pitches by First and Second Division clubs.

At the time, it was a sore topic for Luton Town, with then-chairman Brian Cole suggesting that other clubs had conspired to force the ban on artificial pitches. "We think that First and Second Division Chairmen have got together to remove this pitch," Cole told the BBC in 1989. "Because they see, in their minds, that it is an unfair advantage."