Luton Town moved to Kenilworth Road in 1905, leaving their previous home at
Dunstable Road after their landlord sold the site for housing at short notice. The club's directors quickly procured a new site, and the club's first match at the new ground came on 4 September 1905, a 0–0 draw against
Plymouth Argyle.
Watford player C. Barnes scored the first ever goal at the stadium, in a reserve match. Originally known as Ivy Road, The ground has undergone several major changes since its original construction in 1905. The original Main Stand, boasting a press loft and a balcony above the roof, burnt down in 1921, and was replaced by the current stand before the
1922–23 campaign. The new Main Stand was split into two: the upper tier contained wooden seats, so there was a ban on smoking in the stand; the lower tier, which became known as the Enclosure, was terracing. Kenilworth Road's capacity of the time was 25,000, so it was not deemed necessary to improve the ground. However, only three years later, on 25 April 1936, a match against
Coventry City attracted 23,142 spectators—at that time a club record. The decision was taken to renovate the stadium, already in disrepair, and work began at the end of the following season. The Kenilworth End terrace was extended, the Oak Road End received a roof and major work was done on the Main Stand. Following these steps, the ground was more in line with those of rival clubs, the capacity standing at 30,000. The Oak Road terrace was extended in 1955, and promotion to the
First Division for
1955–56 saw the average attendance climb as high as 21,454. Renovation of Kenilworth Road was neglected for the next two decades—financial difficulties and the club's ambitions to build a new ground meant that regeneration was unaffordable, and would also prove unnecessary should relocation occur. However, following the rejection of several potential sites for a new ground, the club finally turned their attentions back to the maintenance of Kenilworth Road. The
David Preece Stand was erected in 1991, simply called the New Stand on construction.
Artificial pitch In 1985, following the lead of
Queen Park Rangers' experiment at
Loftus Road four years earlier, the grass pitch was dug up and replaced with an
artificial playing surface. The surface, called Sporturf Professional, was manufactured by En-Tout-Cas, and cost the club £350,000. The first match on the new pitch resulted in a 1–1 draw with
Nottingham Forest. The new surface quickly became unpopular with both players and fans, and was derided as "the plastic pitch". Protests about the quality of the pitch from other teams resulted in a meeting with a number of major clubs in 1989, mediated by a
Football League Commission. The Commission concluded that the pitch had suffered excessive wear and tear from too much use, and Luton installed a replacement artificial surface, at a cost of £60,000, during the summer of 1989. The second artificial pitch was itself removed during the summer of 1991, following the banning of such surfaces by
The Football League, and the club returned to a natural grass surface.
Away fan ban On 13 March 1985,
Millwall visited Kenilworth Road for an
FA Cup sixth round match. After only 14 minutes the match was halted as the visiting fans began to riot. The referee took both teams off for 25 minutes, before bringing them back on to complete the match. Following the final whistle, and a 1–0 victory for Luton, another pitch invasion and subsequent riot by away supporters caused noticeable damage to the ground and the surrounding area. Many of those arrested turned out to be supporters of teams other than Millwall. The club's chairman,
David Evans, reacted by imposing a ban on all away supporters from Kenilworth Road from the start of the
1986–87 season as well as introducing a scheme that would require even home supporters to carry membership cards to be admitted to matches.
The Football League insisted that Luton relax the ban for
League Cup matches, but when Evans refused to allow
Cardiff City fans to visit Kenilworth Road for their second round tie, the club were thrown out of the competition. The ban continued for four seasons, with exceptions for cup matches, before Luton Town repealed the ban before the
1990–91 season.
Ownership The ground was first constructed in 1905, soon before the club moved in. The club rented the ground until 1933, when newly appointed chairman Charles Jeyes organised the purchase of the stadium. The club retained ownership of the ground until February 1989, when the
freehold was sold to
Luton Borough Council for £3.25 million. The club was granted a seven-year lease at
peppercorn rent for its continued use. This arrangement has been extended several times, and as of 2015 is due to end in 2028. ==Structure and facilities==