Luton Town players will stop training from today as the club scales back its operations due to the Coronavirus outbreak, with chief executive Gary Sweet saying ‘it has become a fight for survival for football clubs’ and communities.
The Brache training ground will be closed from today and open only occasionally for optional individual ‘tick over’ fitness session. In the meantime, the first team squad have been given training programmes and equipment to maintain their fitness at home.
Hatters Academy players and Luton Town Ladies have already stopped training until further notice, while the club will operate with a skeleton staff at both their Kenilworth Road stadium and their training base, with staff allowed to work from home where possible.
The club shop at the ground is shut, thought the Park Street outlet will remain open for the time being, operating on reduced opening hours.
Season tickets for the 2020/21 campaign are due to go on sale tomorrow (Saturday, March 21), and will only be available online for the time being.
Also ceased are the club’s Community Trust activities and all events at the stadium. The Luton Town Supporters’ Trust annual awards presentation evening next month has also been cancelled.
The move comes after the EFL yesterday announced that football will be suspended for a further month due to the COVID-19 crisis, with action not set to return until at least April 30. The season is to be extended indefinitely, while the Football League has also announced a £50million support package for its 71 member clubs.
Sweet told the club’s website: “These are extremely difficult times for everyone, not just those connected with the club but for the world as a whole. This has become a fight for survival for football clubs, for the communities we represent and every individual person within them.
“Our heartfelt sympathies go to those who have already contracted the virus, those who might be suffering currently and, tragically, those who may have already lost loved ones.
“Our thoughts are also with those members of our community who we know will be devastated by not only the absence of football matches to watch, and indeed play in themselves on our many projects, but the changes we have had to make on player appearances and community activities.
“We know how essential they are for many in the local area, but the health and well-being of our staff and supporters – along with the wider public – has to take priority as we look out for each other.
“I speak for everyone connected with Luton Town when I send our best wishes to all supporters, wherever you are in the world.
“It is essential that you take on board the best advice available to ensure that you, your families and friends all stay well during this unprecedented crisis.
“From a club perspective, we will keep you updated as best we can as the landscape continues to change on a daily basis. Thank you for your support and understanding at what we know is an extremely worrying time for everyone.”
“Meanwhile, may we stand by our friends who are bravely working so hard on the front line defending our livelihoods against this dreadful virus. You are all heroes!”
