there for a while, a lot of people sending them off, but it will be moving through the streets to st george s square, where thousands of people dressed in orange are waiting to congratulate them. so i suppose, sarah, do you think it could have an impact on other premier league players when they come to the ground, the difference for them? yeah, absolutely, and it will be one of the things that luton as a club and a team will really try to harness, the power of this intimate ground, using it as a fortress and really kind of trying to play that to their strengths, because you look at some of the other teams, and i will be used to playing, you know, potentially on wider pitches where there is more space, you know, different styles of football can play well on that, but if you are coming into a more claustrophobic environment, you know, where the crowds will really be on top of them, they may not be able to hear as much as they are usually able to hear when fans are so close to them,
today s parade began at kenilworth road, luton town s home for more than a century. but this 10,000 capacity stadium will first have a £12 million update before it welcomes football s elite in august. awaiting the team s arrival, a sea of orange filling st george s square. the stage was set. 15 years ago, these fans almost watch their team go bankrupt. nine years ago, they were playing in the fifth tier of english football. now look at today, what a difference a premier league team makes to a community. i think it s something positive for luton. it s got a story, a proper fairy tale story. you know, we ve done it with no money. it means so much to us. honestly, like, we needed this. as you can see, the town s crazy at the minute. - rob edwards has only been leading luton since november, but has already won over the town. we ve got to enjoy this moment
and basically, if you go towards that direction that i am pointing in, that is where it will be. right in, that is where it will be. right in the centre of luton. they have had planning permission for quite a while, but of course covid meant that the building work did not start on time, so the latest that they hope is that they will be in by 2026, i think, hope is that they will be in by 2026, ithink, that hope is that they will be in by 2026, i think, that is when they are hoping the new stadium will be built. it will have a bigger capacity, up to 23,000, to bring them up the standard they would need for the premier league. hopefully, they will still be in the premier league at a time. as you can see, st george s square is getting very busy, a rendition of sweet caroline going on at the moment, this is the road at the bus will come down next to the galaxy centre in luton, thousands of people lining the route, waiting for the bus and the players to leave kenilworth road,
the players on the bus. have we heard anything about whether tom lockyer will be there? that is the big question, isn t it? tom lockyer, captain of the hatters. instrumentally getting into the premier league and we saw, scarily, in kind of fall backwards on the 15th minute of that final against coventry in which they have won on penalties. we heard rob edwards in the post match say i m delighted to get the premier league but i can t relax until i know how tom lockyer is and then tom lockyer s dad posted a picture from tom s hospital bed of him celebrating over the final whistle. we know he is responsive, you know he s been talking to his family. we don t know much more than that but if he is on the bus today when it turns out here in st george s square that is going to be a big cheerfor the team and george s square that is going to be a big cheer for the team and that is going to be an even bigger cheerfor tom lockyer. his going to be an even bigger cheer for tom lockyer- tom lockyer.
already in full swing. we canjoin our reporter who was among the crowds, where are you, nicky? so our reporter who was among the crowds, where are you, nicky? 50! crowds, where are you, nicky? so i am in st george s crowds, where are you, nicky? sr 1 am in st george s square, where crowds, where are you, nicky? sr ! am in st george s square, where the bus will arrive. i m going to turn my camera around so that you can see some of the fans who are here, so bear with me, and there we go, this is the scene in st george s square, so that over there is st george s square, and a bus will come up the road that you can probably see which is being lined with thousands of fans. i have been here since ten o clock this morning, and it has absolutely grown in size, as you can imagine, the band have been playing, the looting youth jazz band have been playing all morning, and in talking to some of the fans, they have said it is still sinking in that they are going to be part of the premier league n