You've likely seen plenty on social media about Kenilworth Road at this stage.
The iconic and infamous home ground of Luton Town has come into the consciousness of many football fans, with the club set to contest the Championship play-offs for a place in next season's Premier League.
It is an extraordinary ground to exist at such an elite level in 2023, and encapsulates a bygone era of English football. Just take a look at this vlog from YouTuber Fusion Josh, which shows just how narrow the walkways around the stadium are, and gives a great perspective into the bizarre entrance staircases into the ground's away end.
With Luton potentially only a few games away from Premier League football, we've taken a look at what makes the ground so unique and special.
Kenilworth Road: The unusual ground which could welcome Premier League football next season
Kenilworth holds little over 10,000 fans - which would make it the smallest ground in the recent history of the Premier League, smaller even than Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium, which holds just over 11,000.
A brief consultation of the aerial view of the ground on Google Maps reveals why it cannot expand beyond that 10k cap.
Kenilworth Road's limitations are clear from the aerial view (Photo: Google Maps)
Kenilworth Road is surrounded on three sides by residential areas, and is penned in by a busway on its south side.
Though it may look unique from above, it's when you look at the entrances into the ground that the true charm of Luton's home ground becomes apparent.
The entrances into the stadium's north stand cut through the back gardens of the adjacent homes, with stairways up to the seats peering over the houses in question, in one of the most unusual structures in English football.
The entrance to Kenilworth Road's main stand seen from the adjacent Beech Road (Photo: Google Maps)
Kenilworth Road is an utterly unique experience for English football fans, and plentiful vlogs of the matchday experience show fans from all around the country venturing to Luton purely to soak in the one-of-a-kind stadium.
With Luton sitting third in the Championship table, the play-offs beckon. It would not be the first time the club have made the shootout for the third promotion place, as they reached the same stage last season, when they were beaten in the semi-finals by Huddersfield Town.
It looks likely to be a match up with Middlesbrough for the 20th spot in the 2023-24 Premier League, and fans and pundits covering England's First Division are slowly starting to realise that the possibility of Manchester City, United, Liverpool and co. rocking up to Kenilworth Road next season is a real possibility.
Cant believe Luton might get promoted to the Premier League with this stadium. pic.twitter.com/NWU79JXYTR
— ًEl. (@UtdEIIis) April 24, 2023
Kenilworth Road the most unique away end in the country #UTB pic.twitter.com/bIA103k1yp
— peter fry (@boro74) April 24, 2023
Luton's Kenilworth Road arguably has the greatest entrance to any football stadium in the world. https://t.co/U5jArLye1x
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) April 26, 2023
In a feature piece for the UK Independent, a Luton season ticket holder is quoted describing the stadium - "They will think it's a tip, but it's our tip!"
It's certainly a world apart from the ultra-modern, high-tech stadiums boasted by Spurs, Arsenal, West Ham, and more in the Premier League, but one would think it will be a hugely popular away day with fans of England's biggest clubs, should Luton reach the big-time.
Kenilworth Road is steeped in history, with Luton having played there since 1905, and it almost feels like a love letter to an era of sport long since overtaken by the mega-bucks of "Football Incorporated." Its perimeter being so closely fenced in is something that few of the country's clubs can claim to replicate, and its old school facade is matched only by Fulham in this season's Premier League.
The corner of the ground has a suite named after one of the club's most famous fans - the legendary comedian Eric Morecambe - in another flavour of the stadium's connection to the club and the people it houses week-in-week-out.
The Eric Morecambe suite in the corner of Kenilworth Road, named after the comedian of 'Morecambe and Wise' fame (Photo: Google Maps)
There are plans afoot to move Luton Town FC to a new purpose-built stadium at Power Court in the town centre in the coming years, in a move which most fans agree is long overdue.
Kenilworth Road may be one of the oldest grounds still in use in England's top two divisions, and even its quirks don't overcome its obvious defficiencies for a club with notions of competing in the Premier League.
But, all that being said, it's one of the most charming grounds in English football, and the image of the likes of Erling Haaland and Mo Salah rocking up to Kenilworth Road next season is one we can only hope may come true.
SEE ALSO: Noel Gallagher Makes Bizarre Ferguson v Guardiola Comparison
