Luton can welcome 2,000 fans back to Kenilworth Road for Preston game

Luton Town will be able to welcome back 2,000 fans to Kenilworth Road for their Championship contest against Preston North End this weekend.

Last Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Norwich City saw 1,000 supporters allowed through the gates for the first time since last February, with goals from George Moncur, Matty Pearson and James Collins sealing an excellent victory.

With Luton in tier two restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, it means they are allowed to play matches in front of 2,000 supporters, and have confirmed that will be the case on Saturday.

A statement on the club website said: "Last Wednesday’s match against Norwich City saw the very welcome return of supporters to Kenilworth Road for the first time since last February.

"Each of our one thousand ambassadors came back through the turnstiles, and followed our new safety measures diligently.

"In doing so, those who attended helped us demonstrate to the safety authorities that we can open up further, and allow the maximum of 2,000 supporters into the ground as allowed by central government for regions coming under tier 2 restrictions.

"We would like to thank supporters’ group leaders for filling out the feedback survey, which was very positive – and provided some additional insight to operations on the day."

On how Town will work out who can attend the matches until such restrictions are lifted, the statement added: "Moving forwards, supporters will be split into three ‘bands’ – band A, B and C.

"Each will be allocated matches to attend on a rotational basis.

"Wherever possible, matches will be allocated so that Saturday afternoon and midweek evening matches are spread fairly across the supporter-base.

"If you are a season ticket holder, you and your group will remain in the same ‘band’ until further notice.

"We are now looking ahead to forthcoming fixtures.

"Colleagues in the ticket office are very busy allocating seating and in the next 24 hours, we will be emailing ‘Band A’ supporters to invite them to our match on Saturday against Preston North End.

"The email will contain your invitation, along with the arrival time, stand and turnstile to report to on the day.

"All season ticket holder ‘group leaders’ should by now have informed us of their household / support bubbles.

"If you have notified us that you are to attend on your own or in small groups (of 2, or 3 supporters for example) and are able to link up with other members of a household support bubble (taking into account government guidance) to form a group of up to six other season ticket holders, please let us know. This can help us maximise capacities.

"Due to the logistical challenges this process involves, once your ‘band’ has been assigned and the matches allocated for that band, we will not be able to make changes.

"Please note that the ticket office telephone lines will be closed until Friday to enable to team to focus on the complicated task of allocating the seats to allow for social distancing.

"If you have a query, please contact the ticket office by email on [email protected]."