Luton fans say 'we've all been through the ups and downs'

Luton Town are one win away from promotion to the Premier League, just nine years after playing non-league football. The Hatters need to beat Coventry in the Championship Play Off final at Wembley on Saturday to return to the top-flight for the first time since 1992. So what does this mean to diehard fans?

As season ticket holders, Jayne, Dean and Daniel Humphreys, from Leighton Buzzard, have already got their Wembley seats.

It will be a bitter sweet day, as 11 years ago they were there as a family of four, when the club lost to York and missed out on promotion back to the Football League, but this year their son, Matthew will not be with them, as he took his own life in 2017, aged 14.

"It's going to be emotional. We always think of Matthew, but hopefully he'll be watching from the great living room in the sky," says Jayne.

Jayne says she was "instantly hooked" on the club when Dean first took her to Kenilworth Road in 1989.

"In what other form of life can you express your emotions from jubilation, to joy, to anger, anxiety and stress, back to jubilation and joy, all in the space of a few minutes?" she asks.

She is "really excited" about what the future holds for the Hatters.

"We've had our really bad patch when we had 30 points deducted and we were relegated and spent five years watching non-league football," she says.

"It's because of the highs and the lows that makes it so special."

She said the over the years the club and its supporters have been there for them.

"Our grand Kenilworth, we love her, she can make 10,000 fans sound like 50,000," she says.

"We were barely surviving [after the death of her son] and we needed something positive to focus on, and Luton Town gave us that.

Alex Roberts, 33, a Hatter since the age of five, is a third-generation fan, and says his two children, Violet, two and Parker, four months have no choice but to follow his lead - "they've been indoctrinated since birth".

The teacher, Luton "born and bred", has been going to Kenilworth Road since 1994, with his grandad George, father Paul and brother Greg.

"We've sat in Block C for a long as I can remember. The stand has seen me growing up. It's now an extended family."

He says his son "might only ever know Luton in the Premier League; he hasn't had to suffer".

"We've all been through the ups and downs, but it's like a family member - you're tied to them from the get-go," he says.

"You can only enjoy the good if you've endured the bad."

Alex adds: "I think if we got promoted it would help to break all the negative stereotyping and negativity about the club and the town and show its diversity."

A "perfect example" is when a bhangra drum group played outside the stadium after the semi-final win, he says.

"It's been a rollercoaster," is how Tariq Khan describes being a Luton fan since he was aged seven.

Luton born, he started going to "The Kenny" in the late 1980s with his dad, and has been a season ticket holder since the early 2000s.

"It's been rocky; we've been all the way down to all the way up. Hopefully on Saturday we can put all that in the past and make it to the Premier League," he says.

Luton are due to move to the new 23,000-capacity Power Court stadium, although work on it is not due to begin until later this year, or even early 2024.

It will provide a marked change from the current 10,000-capacity ground.

Tariq says being in the top flight would provide a different experience for other clubs' fans who are used to the open concourses around modern stadia, as they will pass through Kenilworth Road's away entrance between a row of terraced houses.

He says it will "rattle a few people but I think a lot of Premier League fans will be looking forward to coming here; they'll enjoy the experience".

"It's a bit of a dying breed, The Kenny."

He adds: "On Saturday I'll be a nervous wreck, but I'm confident we've got enough to overcome Coventry. There's no reason we can't win; we have a fit squad.

"If we do go up, it's massive.

"What it will do for the town and the wider community will bolster the town's reputation and with Power Court coming, it will change that.

"This will be our best chance of promotion, as next year in the Championship it will be tough.

"It's our chance and we've got to take it."

When it looked like Luton would get into the play-offs, Andy Overall, who moved to the Philippines in 2021, decided it was time to come home.

The 56-year-old, from neighbouring Dunstable, was back in time to see the club beat Sunderland 3-2 on aggregate in the semis.

"The Kenny was rocking; it was one of the best sights I've ever experienced," he says.

"Regardless of what happens at Wembley, it will be a brilliant day out."

Being a supporter since 1981 has been a "roller coaster of highs and definite lows, through financial hardships".

"Hopefully the success at the end will be vindication from when the new owners took over," Andy says.

"They've sunk a lot of money to get us here. It's also vindication for the supporters who've stuck with the club.

"I'll be gutted if we don't win, but I'm proud of where we've got. Whatever happens, it's worth the trip over."

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