Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Jay Z, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Usher, Justin Bieber, and many more A-listers thronged to watch the Super Bowl 2024. But the biggest sports and celeb cross came a week later, 30 miles north of London, where Harry Styles was spotted watching Manchester United taking on Luton Town. Styles' presence for Man Utd games is not surprising, given he is a long-time supporter of this club, but it's the place and occasion that makes it truly special.
Luton Town is a century-old institution, but its legacy doesn't amount to much; they didn't even play a single Premier League game till last year, and it took them a while to register their first victory. Unlike Manchester United, they don't carry the weight of history; they carry the lack of it. Their stadium doesn't carry the stress of 74,310 fans; the busiest day will have merely 11,500, all of them making a way to the venue through a narrow gate from where you can see the backyards of the neighbouring houses. But these features don't give any sense of inferiority complex to Luton fans; they are just as loyal and dedicated to the team as the fans of more traditional clubs. The loudest cheer at Kenilworth Road is usually reserved for the club's captain Tom Lockyer, and the presence of Styles in the house didn't really make any difference.
Styles watched it from the comfort of his seat—tucked in between hundreds of ordinary fans— and not the VIP gate that he must be so used to. For a club whose existence can be summed up as a perpetual fight to avoid extinction, a visit by one of the world's most beloved pop star would surely go down as a significant moment. The unassuming and utilitarian architecture once made this stadium a subject of light-hearted mockery on social media, but the same traits now make it one of the most endearing venues. There's an air of innocence around the stadium, the authenticity that is actually authentic, not a made-up concept by corporations to sell more tickets.
Styles could have chosen any other occasion to watch his team, but he chose this, and if that doesn't explain the charm and appeal of Kenilworth Road, then nothing would. Luton Town won't be in the Premier League for long (unless some nation-state-powered hedge fund sees a possibility and starts injecting cash), but for however long they stay, it should be cherished. They don't make a club like that anymore.
