Hatters CEO reveals costs to rebuild Luton's Bobbers Stand reached £1m a week

Hatters chief executive Gary Sweet has thanked all those who put their heart and soul into the ‘Herculean task’ of upgrading Kenilworth Road in time for the Premier League season, revealing the cost came in at around £1m per week.

After winning promotion on May 27 when beating Coventry City on penalties in the Championship play-off final at Wembley, Luton then had 11 weeks over the summer before the campaign started to turn their 118-year-old home into a venue that could host top flight football.

A vast and costly amount of work was required to do, with Town having to completely rebuild the Bobbers Stand that had housed the executive boxes since the mid-1980s, building a new structure for the extra media facilities needed to broadcast games in the highest tier of English football to the world.

They also had to change the floodlights and install a number of new camera positions for VAR, plus put in interview rooms and studios, along with new dug-outs for manager Rob Edwards and opposite numbers including Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta to use as well.

It meant the first game against Burnley on September 19 was postponed to allow Luton more time to finish their project, as they finally got it ready to face West Ham United on September 1, just under 14 weeks after that wonderful day at the home of English football.

With a large chunk of Luton’s £100m promotion prize being spent on the building works, after seeing it rise from the ground, Sweet said in his programme notes at the weekend: “Our last home league match versus West Ham represented a significant milestone for us.

"Not only was this our first home fixture in the top-flight since April 1992, but it was the first time since 1986 that we had a significant number of fans watching a league match from the Bobbers Stand side of Kenilworth Road.

“The project to ensure Kenilworth Road met the myriad of Premier League criteria was a Herculean task pressured by the stringent regulatory criteria we had to meet whilst, of course, complying with building control regulations and all be completed in a ridiculously tight schedule and in such a confined space.

“Everyone involved had to shed blood, sweat and tears, going above and beyond all expectations to dexterously construct a mini masterpiece and in optimal contrast and harmony with our somewhat more vintage structure.

“It is my duty and pleasure to thank all of the numerous contractors involved including Capital Sky, AND, Faithful & Gould, ESG Global, Momentum Engineering, Civic Engineers, FPM Facilities Services, TTL, Focus Rigging, Musco, Factotum, White Horse Contractors, Arena Stadium Solutions, Switchshop, Ryebridge, OMM, Cristec and not ignoring the numerous smaller suppliers who all did us proud. Thank you one and all.

“You’ll notice from that list that whilst we needed to refer to some national/international specialist contractors for certain items, such as floodlighting and steel structure, every other contributor was local with many of the – sometimes up to 250 per day – workers being Luton supporters.

“I’d also like to thank all of our staff, of course, who have been magnificent in their resolve to just get the job done over the summer.

“During the build period our total spend didn’t deviate too far from racking up £1m per week, which perhaps demonstrates what a logistical military operation this has had to be and how different contractors (some of whom are competitors) showed that our team spirit exists off the pitch too."

There is still more to be done to the ground, but Sweet did point out the benefits that can be taken when Luton turn their attention to the next project, starting to build a new stadium at Power Court.

He continued: “Of course, it wasn’t just the media facilities in a new Bobbers stand which we have improved.

"Indeed, there’s still work ongoing as we have used this opportunity to facelift a few tired areas of our old ground.

"We hope you see the improvements, particularly to seating, hospitality areas and disabled facilities.

“One major benefit of us being so ‘hands-on’ during this project was that it served as an excellent opportunity to be a valuable ‘dry run’ ahead of the next big push on Power Court, which, in the meantime, didn’t get ignored – more on that next time.”

With all the changes that have been made to Kenilworth Road, Sweet went on to apologise to fans for their patience during such a period of change, and thank the level of support being shown to boss Edwards and his players before, during and after every top flight encounter so far.

He added: “I would like to extend an apology to anyone who has been, in any way, disadvantaged by any of the changes we’ve made.

"Some have been impossible to avoid as we have had no choice but to implement 50 new cameras and other spectator obstructions.

“However, in other operational areas, we are confident that many of these slight challenges we’ve observed over the last couple of games will eventually settle, as we iron out some new idiosyncrasies in crowd movement and use of different entrances.

"Meanwhile, we thank you for your patience.

“So far, your support has been nothing short of magnificent.

"It is greatly appreciated by each and every member on the board and you can see on the pitch after each game how much it means to the players and coaching staff.

"The ovation the players have received after each game, particularly at Chelsea, gave me goosebumps.

“We’re all in this together. We knew it wouldn’t be easy. But we don’t do things the easy way, do we?

"That’s what makes this club, and you, the supporters, so special.

"That’s something you can’t buy.

"We know you will stick with us like you always have, whether it’s West Ham, Wolves, Wrexham or Woking.

"Keep it up. It DOES make a difference.”