Graeme Jones has hailed this week’s historic news that paved the way for a new Luton Town stadium at Power Court, saying that it means the Hatters can look forward to a ‘self-sustainable future’.
Monday brought the confirmation that Capital & Regional had not appealed the High Court’s decision to dismiss their judicial review application over the Newlands Park planning consent.
The mixed-use site at junction 10 of the M1 junction – which will help fund a 17,500-seat stadium in the centre of Luton – had long been contested by the owners of The Mall shopping centre, but four years of delays and legal wrangles came to an end when the deadline for a final appeal passed.
The Hatters then issued a strongly worded response on Wednesday to Capital and Regional’s request that all parties should now work together, dismissing that possibility as one that had long since passed.
It will be a few years yet before the Hatters can play at a new stadium, once built, it will mean the football club’s future will be secured, 12 years after it came perilously close to going out of business.
While it won’t mean added funds for manager Jones to use in this month’s transfer window, but Jones said: “Firstly, it’s wonderful news for the future of the football club.
“Obviously we all know where we were ten-plus years ago and that is an absolute priority for this football club, that we are self-sustainable.
“For me, Newlands Park goes alongside Power Court and it goes alongside the Category 2 status for the academy, which means we can scout and educate our own players and hopefully prepare them for a brand new stadium with a real long-term future for Luton Town Football Club.
“It’s great news which guarantees the long-term security of the football club.”
The work to build a new stadium means the beginning of the end for Luton’s 115-year-old home at Kenilworth Road, with fans set to begin the long goodbye when they pack out the old ground tomorrow with the Championship’s basement boys hosting Birmingham City.
Jones said: “I’d like to think the fans come to the game with an optimistic, positive mindset. We need to assess and measure where we were not so long ago.
“We are bottom of the Championship. I don’t want to be there. The players don’t want to be there. The club doesn’t want to be there. It’s the reality.
“But there’s such a huge future now at Luton Town Football Club – a self-sustainable future – one that they’re in control of, and not relying on transfer windows and gambles with players, with the greatest respect.
“I think to be a Luton Town supporter, back in the second tier, with the future that we’ve got, is something to be incredibly proud of – but not something we want to settle for, because we all want Championship football next season. Nobody more than me, nobody more than the club, and we’ll keep working towards that.”
