Luton Town are targeting completion of Power Court in June 2028, with the new stadium still expected to open for the start of the 2028/29 season despite construction falling around a month behind schedule and costs rising by £15 million.
The update was shared in Saturday’s match day programme as Town beat Leicester City 2-1, following a Luton Town Supporters’ Trust strategy workshop attended by 56 members on October 8, where club chief executive Gary Sweet, Power Court managing director Barry Webber and operations director James Mooney took part in a question-and-answer session.
Sweet attributed the delay to a “legacy issue” involving an uncharted Victorian sewer, while the club is also managing the impact of rising construction costs and disruption to supply chains.
According to the Trust’s account, recent geopolitical events, including America’s war on Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, have contributed to a £15million increase in costs. Oil prices were reported to have risen by 70 per cent over the past year, with steel costs up 40 per cent year-on-year.
The Trust said the club was managing the financial pressures, although further delays could add to the expense and potentially affect the timetable.
Despite those challenges, construction is progressing, with all piling and substructure work reported to be 100 per cent complete. Work on the superstructure is well under way, with the West Stand having reached its second floor.
Precast concrete raker beams and seating banks, known as the ‘Y’ pieces, have been manufactured in Ireland and have begun arriving on site for installation.
The club has opted to use principal contractor Capital Sky, supported by specialist advisers including a team from Limak, who are behind Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium revamp, with the intention of keeping jobs and work local. The Trust reported that a conventional design-and-build contract with a major contractor would have cost an additional £100 million to £120 million, potentially making the project unaffordable.
The stadium is central to the club’s long-term plans, with Sweet arguing in his programme column for Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Leicester City that Power Court is essential if Luton are to compete financially and generate more of their own income.
He said the club could not reach the same financial, structural and operational level while remaining at Kenilworth Road, which he believes limits its ability to grow revenue.
Sweet wrote: “This is why Power Court is so crucial to our future. It will allow us to compete financially, structurally and operationally at a level we simply cannot reach at Kenilworth Road.”
He added that clubs able to grow their own income would be better placed to protect themselves from relying on broadcast revenue and money from shareholders.
The move is also expected to address the demand for tickets that the current ground cannot accommodate. The Trust reported that Kenilworth Road has around 7,500 season-ticket holders, with just three per cent turnover, while waiting lists for season tickets and memberships stand at approximately 5,000.
The club has 56,000 ticket purchasers on its database, including 30,000 who attended Wembley this year. Based on those figures, projections suggest Power Court could attract average crowds of between 16,000 and 18,000 even if Luton remain in League One, with higher attendances anticipated if the club returns to the Championship.
The new ground is expected to allow the club to offer an additional 4,000 to 5,000 season tickets, while the number of away supporters it can accommodate could also double.
The Trust reported that the club’s ambition is to make Power Court accessible to more supporters while remaining true to Luton’s identity. Discussions at the workshop included safe standing, supporters being able to sit together, fanzones and the provision of video updates as construction progresses.
Fans also wanted the new stadium to carry the heritage and atmosphere of Kenilworth Road into the new ground, while being more accommodating for families, younger supporters and the wider communities of Luton and the surrounding area. Apprenticeships across different club departments were another suggestion.
Sweet echoed that ambition in his programme notes, saying the club wanted to reward loyal supporters and keep match attendance affordable for families.
The Trust also reported that the residential development associated with Power Court could take several more years to complete, with the club seeking to make the most of projected increases in property values. In the meantime, the club expects to carry a manageable level of borrowing to help finance the stadium.
The financial case for the move comes against a difficult backdrop for football. Sweet used his programme column to highlight the Independent Football Regulator’s findings on the unsustainable losses being made across the game, arguing that a new stadium and greater income-generating capacity could help Luton build a more secure future.
He said: “With those reforms in place and a new stadium to call home, we have a real chance of a bright future.”
For supporters, the immediate focus will be on whether the club can maintain its revised timetable and manage the rising costs without compromising the project. The Trust’s update suggests work is continuing to progress, but acknowledges that global events and further construction delays remain potential risks to the schedule.
1 Trackback / Pingback