Former Luton Town manager David Pleat has laid bare the consequences of failure to leave Kenilworth Road for a brand-new stadium Power Court.
The Hatters have been trying to leave their 114-year-old ground for six decades, including a doomed move to Milton Keynes when he was at the helm in the 1980s, which he now admits was inconsiderate to support.
In January, the Hatters got planning permission for a 17,500-seat headquarters in the town centre, but a new legal challenge over Newlands Park, another regeneration scheme which will help pay for the stadium, has the potential to scupper the project.
The club is now waiting to see if a High Court judge will approve an application for a judicial review over the mixed-use development by junction 10 of the M1, from Capital & Regional, owners of The Mall shopping centre.
They are disputing Luton Council’s decision to grant planning consent for Newlands Park in March, claiming in was ‘unlawful’. If the London-based retail group is successful, it would threaten both regeneration schemes which are set to deliver a £250million a year boost to the local economy and create 10,000 new jobs.
For the football club alone, building a new stadium is crucial to a sustainable future. With a 10,000 capacity, Kenilworth Road is not fit for purpose, already putting them at a financial disadvantage compared to the vast majority of their rivals in the Championship.
Explaining the ‘nightmare’ scenario that awaits if hopes of Power Court are dashed, Pleat, who managed Town in the top flight, said: “Times move on, times change, and you have to have a modern ground. There’s no question about it because of the hospitality you need, because of attracting floating supporters.
“This is a good area. The only senior club in Bedfordshire, the only club in the county that’s in the (Football) League. And now, of course, you’ve got to start thinking, you’re in the Championship. You’re one step away from the league where all the big boys play for the big money, so there’s something there to grasp, but you really need the facility.
“Or else, what happens is, if you do put one or two youngsters in the team, before too long the team starts doing well, they come knocking on the door and you have to sell a player to survive and then you can’t go to where you want to go. It’s a nightmare. It’s like a rollercoaster and you feel sometimes you can never get there, but you have to keep striving.”
The legal action, brought by Capital & Regional, is set to delay progress further in an ongoing saga that has stretched into a third year since a UK planning record number of 11,000 people wrote to Luton Council in support of Power Court and Newlands Park.
It’s a threat that has ignited furious reaction from Hatters fans, Lutonians, campaign groups and politicians.
The overwhelming support for the project is a stark contrast to an ill-fated plan in the early eighties to move the football club out of Luton entirely, to Milton Keynes.
That was met with huge resistance from fans as then chairman Denis Mortimer assessed, controversially, that a move would attract new fans from the new town while keeping Luton’s existing fanbase.
Instead, protest marches were held throughout the 1983/84 season against the proposed move 20 miles up the M1, while thousands of people signed a petition to keep the club in Luton before the plans were eventually scrapped by the club’s owners.
Pleat was supportive of the move at the time but has now said he did so “retrospectively wrongly,” adding: “I’ve seen the crowds at MK Dons and they haven’t caught on at all.
“But, at the time, and I remember Mr Mortimer, the chairman, and I remember all the different people and their views. He was getting a lot grief; people were spitting at him. The hardcore Luton supporters wanted to stay in Luton and I don’t think we read that right at the time.
“I don’t think we were as considerate as we should have been because there were quite a lot of people who thought that this is the time to go and get out of here.”
David Pleat was speaking at a special Hatters Heritage event hosted by club historian Roger Wash and commentator Simon Pitts. Created to encourage the preservation and appreciation of the heritage and history of Luton Town Football Club, the group are hosting a series of Family Roadshows early next year. Hatters Heritage want to document Luton memorabilia and record fans’ memories to create an archive on their new website. Each event will include a mini-exhibition, featuring items from Hatters’ Heritage collection of 35,000 items. There will be activities for all ages and a chance to meet a player on one of the following dates:
Sunday 19 January 2020, 11am – 4pm in the Eric Morecambe Suite at Kenilworth Road Stadium.
Sunday 2 February 2020, 11am-4pm at The Swan Hotel, The Embankment, Bedford
Thursday 5 March 2020, 5-7:30pm at Barnfield College, New Bedford Rd, Luton
Sunday 29 March 2020, 11am-4pm in the Eric Morecambe Suite at Kenilworth Road Stadium.
You can follow Hatters’ Heritage on Twitter at www.twitter.com/hattersheritage
