BOARDROOM NOTES GARY SWEET
"Navigating Change: A New Season, Strategic Upgrades, and Transfer Insights"
Good evening. Welcome back to those who are back to sample more of the Luton Town story and a big hello to those of you who are new to Kenilworth Road as we kick-off the 2024/25 campaign here under the lights on home soil.
Conditions like tonight have seen us revel on so many occasions on these magical floodlit nights. However, I for one, have a growing frustration that the increased number of evening (and lunchtime) fixture dates are at the impairment of the, once sacrosanct, Saturday 3pm kick-offs.
Today's game is just one of a dozen or so fixtures that have been switched as a result of a media deal which was agreed last season, while we were contributing to decisions at Premier League level.
Of course, the increased income is not to be sniffed at, at all. Such is the financial status of our game that any new revenue source should be welcomed, but not to the detriment of loyal supporters across the country.
Middlesbrough away with a 12:30 kick-off, for example, will test the resolve of our most ardent followers as will many a late night kick-off disallowing away fans from returning by train. Please spare a thought for tonight's visiting Burnley supporters, many of whom will be at work early tomorrow morning.
The irony of hosting Burnley tonight is not lost on us given we were expected to open our Premier League campaign at Kenilworth Road against the Clarets 12 months ago. We had to be patient - and thankful, to Burnley, and the authorities - in order to get our house in order to host top-flight football before embarking on a season that will live long in the memory, despite our eventual fate which saw us join our visitors back in the Championship.
A very warm welcome is extended to everyone from Turf Moor as they are increasingly becoming a familiar foe in our annual fixture schedule. Looking around the ground last weekend as we went toe-to-toe with a technically excellent La Liga side, I couldn't help casting my mind back to last year and looking on with pride at how Kenilworth Road has changed in such a short space of time.
From the Bobbers Stand - an award-winning project, by the way, in the summer, and a big congratulations to the hundreds of people involved in that mammoth task - to seeing the Oak Road end, where I, and no doubt many of you have once stood back in the day, looking resplendent with installed safe standing seating.
As is always the case in the close season, modifications and subtle enhancements have been made around the old girl as we edge ever closer to our momentous move to Power Court. Custodians of the Oak Road end will find new toilets; those making noise in one corner of the Kenny Lower will sit in newly formed seating; while those entering the ground up from Kenilworth Road and Hazelbury Crescent will notice considerably more space to move within with less space taken up by broadcast infrastructure as was the case last season; plus the welcome re-introduction of the all-new Hatters Hideout for our younger fans.
While our facilities team battles and overcomes the challenges posed by our eagerness to leave Kenilworth Road in its prime, progression on Power Court continues unabated. I'll keep it short and sweet here because very soon - within a month, in fact - a long-awaited, significant and detailed update on our relocation will be published.
However, what I can say now is that the activity on the project in the past 12 months has been huge, even if not too visible. Promotion to the Premier League has enabled us to inject more long-term ambition into the construction of the stadium by bypassing the phased nature of the build over a number of seasons. Instead, we intend to skip the first two phases of development and directly construct an even more iconic, increased capacity stadium of circa 25,000.
Designs and detailed planning are complete and will be submitted to the council in the coming weeks - at which time everything will become public and we are looking forward to sharing it with you when the time comes. On the pitch, tonight begins the long road back to, what we hope will be, a return back to the Premier League.
At the time of writing, the wider recruitment team have been working tirelessly to conclude a couple of key signings in what has been possibly one of the most random of transfer windows we have experienced in recent years.
Whilst we expected change, a number of factors have attributed to such a quiet window to date. Naturally, the European Championships have impacted the timing of activity but the very real threat of points deductions looming over clubs in the Premier League and the ongoing impact of Profit & Sustainability rules across all levels of our sport are beginning to be seen seriously, ultimately resulting in the best business to be concluded late rather than early, as is our usual strategy.
Most importantly, if there's one thing 32 transfer windows have taught me - don't panic! A signing is a long-term commitment, not just for a game or two.
However, the primary objective remains to keep our talented and established squad together. If we sell, it's to sell to improve - not sell because we have to. It's worth noting that of the 14 players we recruited last season, 10 still remain with us, all of whom were brought to the club with the Premier League in mind.