Saturday marked a year since supporters were shut out of stadia due to Coronavirus and Luton ace Jordan Clark admits it’s been tough playing without fans.
Barring two test events in December, which brought resounding victories over Norwich and Preston, it’s been even longer since the majority of Hatters have set for inside Kenilworth Road.
Luton’s last home game pre-Covid was the 1-1 draw with Stoke on February 29, 2020 and back then Clark was still an Accrington Stanley player.
The season was put on ice two weeks later and didn’t return for three months, but only in the top two divisions, so the winger would never play for the Lancashire side again, with their campaign prematurely curtailed.
Clark signed for Luton in the summer, has made his Championship debut and has since been credited as one of Luton’s best signings in a long time by boss Nathan Jones.
But while the 27-year-old got a taste of playing in front of a select total of 3,000 fans across those two test events in December, he’s yet to step out to a packed house as a Hatter.
“It’s tough,” said Clark of the empty stadia season, adding: “Football without the fans is not the same. I just hope we can get them back as soon as possible really, because this place (Kenilworth Road) when I’ve played here as an opposition player is always a tough and one of the hardest places to come.
“I can’t wait to just experience that as a Luton Town player. I can’t believe it’s been a year. It’s crazy but it is what it is. We’ve just got to get fans back as soon as possible. I’m sure it will make a massive difference.”
While there’s talk of fan test events returning for the FA Cup final and the delayed Euros this summer, it will be too late for Luton supporters to watch their team this term as, unless they mount a push for the play-offs, the season will be over.
And, for Clark, the Kenilworth Road crowd was keenly missed on Saturday as Town battered promotion-chasing Swansea but couldn’t score, losing out 1-0 to a third minute Conor Hourihane strike.
“If you get 10,000 people in here it gives you that extra yard and that extra push. Who knows what would’ve happened?” said the versatile ace, who was one of the standout players, operating as a wingback.
“We might’ve nicked a goal or maybe even won the game with the crowd behind you.”
But despite defeat, Town are 12 points clear of the drop zone and on course for securing a third consecutive campaign in the Championship.
Clark said: “We don’t want to be nowhere near the relegation zone, so we’ll get as many points as we can from now until the end of the season and give this club Championship football again next season, that’s the most important thing.
“I want to be a Championship player and I want us to progress as much as we can this season and going into next season as well, so we’re looking forward to it.”
Town can enhance their second tier status with a victory at home to Coventry tonight (7pm), with the Sky Blues six points behind the Hatters.
Clark said: “We always say we don’t want to look down. We want to be looking forward and trying to catch the teams above us as much as we can. Obviously you need to do that by winning games.
“There’s two big games now (Coventry and Preston). I’m looking forward to a massive game (tonight) and we’ll see how many points we can take. We’ll hopefully get two wins, which would be massive.
“Every game is tough in this league but we’ll go into it with confidence because we played well (on Saturday) and didn’t get what we deserved, but we’ll be full of confidence (tonight) and ready to go.”
