No. 28: Kenilworth Road [Luton Town]

Saturday, 27th September 2014.
Luton Town v. Oxford United [SkyBet League 2] 2-0

So a return to watch Oxford's faltering start to the 2014-15 campaign this afternoon, with a trip to Luton's Kenilworth Road.

Another one that I have actually been to before, but as newly promoted  back into the Football League this season, being a completist means I had to come along again to feel satisfied with adding it to the completed list.

I've had two previous less than enjoyable trips to Kenilworth Road. The last one, a top of the table Conference clash back in Feb 2010, nearly resulted in myself getting a right good kicking on the walk back to the train station. I may be something of a soft lad, but it wasn't a pleasant experience at the time and I think for many a trip to Kenilworth Road isn't exactly something to savour.

But do you know what? This is a proper old football ground. It is run down, ramshackle, in the centre of town and surrounded by working-class terraced streets. And I guess you need to take that element of roughness as part of what creates an atmosphere in an old ground like this. And as one Luton fan said to me, perhaps if every team had such a passionate support from it's townspeople, then more places might be intimidating to a visiting fan too?

Kenilworth Stand, Luton Town FC

Even the walk to the away terrace itself is an experience. Dropped of by a taxi at the main Kenilworth Stand side of the ground, the away terraces are reached by walking down a dingy alleyway the length of the ground, in-between the stand and rows of residential streets at right angles to you.

I'm sure a fair amount of slaps have been dished out over the years along this walkway as home and away fans sidle past each other on the way to their respective stands. Thankfully, there wasn't really anything of a edge about the game this afternoon so I didn't encounter any moodiness around the ground.

The Oak Road stand that today houses the away fans used to be the home end. It is one of the most iconic entrances into a football ground in the country.

The turnstiles themselves occupy a space where a terraced house used to be, long since consigned to history.

Oak Road turnstiles, Kenilworth Road.

Not too many years ago, this sort of entrance would have been common to many Football League grounds, especially those still in the centre of towns like Kenilworth Road in. These days, they are a rareity and it's something of an experience encountering a ground shielded on all sides by people living their lives in houses pressed up against the football stands.

Stairway to Heaven? Not exactly...

Inside the turnstiles, a set of moss-covered steps rises up from what would probably have been a kitchen into the back of the stand. At the top of the steps of course is that famous view down into the gardens of the houses backing onto the stands. Although this is the third time I've been here I still find it quite a bonkers view. Why on earth would anyone want to live here? And if you did, would you put your washing out on a line underneath where lots of drunk football fans would be walking?

Piss-stained washing hanging out underneath the Oak Road Stand.

Well I wouldn't, I can tell you.

After urinating on the washing, you enter the back of the Oak Stand to be greeting by quite a sight. Well, actually, not much of a sight at all - it's as dark as a dimly-lit cellar from the back of the stand and until your eyes adjust, it looks as though the assembled ranks of fans in front of you are looking directly into the heart of the sun.

What a view! Of the centre of the sun.

The first thing that strikes you in a "proper" old ground like this is how the low, closed in roofs amplify the sound and carry the chants of the fans right around the ground. It sounds loud. And as the main group of home fans who like a sing-a-long are in the corner immediately to the right of the away fans, there was plenty of opportunity for what apologists for this kind of think refer to as "great banter".

Luton Fans: Boisterous.

And in fairness, it does always seem to create a decent atmosphere at Kenilworth Road. The game itself, from an Oxford point of view at least, was hardly inspiring. Certainly, Luton's first goal inside two minutes was a bit of a game-killer. Oxford still had a decent amount of possession but if I'm being honest, never looked likely to pull back into the game, as Luton seemed to be almost cruising at times - first to every 2nd ball, harrying the Oxford players on the ball and dominating a rather sparsely-populated midfield.

Kenilworth Road: Atmospheric.

By the time Luton scored their 2nd from the Penalty spot in the 2nd half, the game was all but over. The result sees Oxford languishing in the relegation zone, and with a quarter of the season now almost gone, warning bells may need to start being clanged soon enough. For Luton, it's still early days but dreams of back-to-back promotions could still be on the cards for them.

Being one of those rough & ready grounds, there also comes with it the perennial delay in getting home after the game due to police crowd control measures. 

Overkill?

Leaving the ground a few minutes early I was greeted by the sight of about 15 police cars and riot vans positioned down Oak Road, and a swollen police presence at the end of the road preventing the away fans from making a quick getaway.

I've always thought this was a misguided policy - basically allowing any home fans that want to have a pop time to get out of the ground and into position to attack once the ranks of police disappear into the mist. But even more so here, when the small handful of 5 or 6 fans around me, clearly not interested in trouble, merely wanted to get the first train out of Luton to AVOID any potential confrontations on the walk back to the train station, such as I experienced 4 years ago.

Bedfordshire's Finest preventing a quick escape.

Thankfullly, there was a member of Thames Valley police who was able to inform his Bedfordshire colleagues that none of the people trying to leave early were anything other than pissheads just wanting to get back into London to the pub. And so, we were let through.

At the bottom of Oak Road, the walk back to the station is down the commercial shopping hub of Dunstable Road - notable for being a hub of Luton's British Asian community - which makes up about 30% of Luton's population and why this town has been a flashpoint in recent years for ethnic tension.

Dunstable Road: Fruit & Veg Madness.

 Luton is in fact one of only 3 towns in Britain where "white Britons" are in the minority, making up around 45% of Luton's population according to the 2011 census. Ignorance is rife about this issue of course, because despite this being true, Luton still has a white majority, when non-British europeans such as Irish or Eastern Europeans are included.

Nonetheless Luton and it's relatively high muslim population (about 25% of Luton's population is muslim) has become a cause célèbre for groups wishing the death of integration and multiculturalism - thanks in no small part to a series of events down this very street in 2009, which saw clashes between two such intolerant groups from very different backgrounds - the Anti-Islamic EDL, formed here in Luton in response to an anti-armed forces protest by militant Islamic group Al-Muhajiroun as a parade of soldiers marched through the town.

Two wrongs don't make a right in my eyes, and both groups for me preach hate and intolerance that was not in evidence for me as I walked back to the station, so I find it a shame that Luton's vibrant multiculturalism is tarred by association with these two groups. 

Personally, I quite enjoy the walk down Dunstable Road, and the bright colours of sari shops and exotic vegetables on display amidst the crowds of British Asians doing their afternoon shop as groups of football fans filter through the streets on the way back to the train station.

It's certainly a nicer walk than that alleyway was before the game!

Luton's reputation as an unwelcoming place for an away fan is of course, still justified. We didn't pass a single pub that would have welcomed our custom as away fans on the way back to the station so a trip here is very much one of those "in and out" moments - which is a shame.

I had planned to meet up with a Luton fan in a pub before the game (sneaking in to an home fans only pub), but in the end I left London too late. Maybe next time I will make extra time though, and even have a post-match curry down dunstable Road. 

I'm sure I'll be back again, as a trip to places like Luton, with all it's rough edges, is what watching English League Football is all about.

With thanks to Tom Skinner & Pete Galvin (@JustPete)

Next Up: Vicarage Road! [Watford v. Millwall 1st Nov 2014]