Luton Support Question Clubs Decision Making Over Yesterdays Press Release

If everything was rosy in the Hatters garden yesterday, it is fair to say that might not quite be the case this morning.

We all yearn for the day when supporters can be allowed back into the ground once more, generating that atmosphere that is unique to the sport.

Yesterday, it appeared that for the Championship fixture, against Derby County, this Saturday that could be the case with 1,000 fans admitted.

Seemingly, the EFL had agreed that 10 fixtures, this weekend, could be attended by supporters.

But, before we could all ponder over just how those 1,000 supporters would be selected, things changed dramatically.

The club issued a statement outlining why there had been a sudden change in heart, a part of which can be found below:

“On Tuesday at around midday, having received an email from the EFL asking for clubs to volunteer to take part, we put ourselves forward. We responded within the hour because, like many clubs, we are desperate to have our supporters back inside Kenilworth Road.

To stage a game with supporters here would take a lot of preparation time, and unfortunately, despite asking again from very early this morning, we had heard nothing from the League until a few minutes before they issued their statement stating that we were one of the clubs taking part.

Sadly, this does not give us enough time to get ready, so we are unable to host spectators here for the Derby match.”

The remainder of the statement can be found by following the link – Luton Town FC.

Naturally, there was confusion among the Hatters support with many taking to social media to question the decision, with many questioning Luton’s commitment to the so-called pilot programme, a point illustrated below:

Applied yesterday and got a response today. Were they planning on working throughout the night to implement stuff? If other clubs have enough time, how can they suggest we don’t? We have 4 different stands to use along with multiple entrances and exits.

— Rob Moss (@robmoss1989) September 16, 2020

Not like they haven’t had any time to prepare for this. 🤷🏻‍♂‍

— Tony (@tony_cop) September 16, 2020

Sounds to me that someone at Luton didn't think this through yesterday when they put their hat in the ring. Good that they're now decided not to take the risk, but poor judgement in the first place

— Rob Johnson (@RobJohnson19) September 16, 2020

Wow what a missed opportunity. Surely managing 1000 fans in a 10k stadium for social distancing could have been achieved in 3 days. Respect the clubs decision but that's bold.

— Madasahatter29 (@MartinEcott1) September 16, 2020

So we chased the EFL from 9am and they responded with a ‘yes’ by 1pm. You really can’t blame the league for that. If those four hours were so critical, why did we apply in the first place!!!!

— Chris Mitchell (@chrismitch99) September 16, 2020

With the mutterings having been around for quite a while relating to re-opening of grounds, albeit with limited capacity, did the Hatters not do their groundwork?

Continuing to look at the responses to Luton’s decision, one post strikes a chord:

Are you able to explain a bit more what the issues are, given the other games seem to be going ahead? Thanks.

— Neil Rose (@LF_Neil) September 16, 2020

So, how about it Luton, the support deserves better!

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