The 61 FC (Luton) is a non-league football club based in Luton,
Bedfordshire that was formed in 1961 by Richard Everitt. After several years of
playing local league football, 61 joined the Hellenic League for the 1972-73
season, finishing fourth place in Division Two.
The club was transferred to Division One of the South Midlands League for the following campaign. After three top five finishes, the team won the Division One title in 1980-81 to go up to the Premier Division at their Kingsway Recreation Ground home.
The 1982-83 season saw 61 finish as league runners-up. Upon league re-organisation, the club was placed in the Senior Division as founder members of the Spartan South Midlands League in 1997-98.
61 were relegated at the end of the first season, but won promotion to Division One, which was the new title of the Supreme Division in 2000-01. However, the club was demoted at the end of the 2003-04 campaign as the facilities at Kingsway were deemed insufficient.
A third place ensued in 2007-08 before 61 were crowned as Division Two champions
in 2008-09. A fourth place came in 2013-14 before performances fell away in the
following years.
Chris Mapp took over the manager’s job from Everitt for the 2016-17 season before Everitt would later take back the role. The team sat bottom of the table in both 2019-20 and 2020-21 when the seasons were ended early owing to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The team finished bottom of the table in 2022-23 after a slightly better performance twelve months earlier. It was a similar tale in 2023-24 though the side did amass more points in their previous two seasons.
The 61 FC (Luton) will play in the Spartan South Midlands League Division Two in the 2024-25 season.
My visitsThursday 26th July 2012
I had the day off work and was on my way to meet my pal Gary Griffiths for tea before taking in that evenings Bedfordshire Premier Cup clash between Dunstable Town and Luton Town. I had just called in at Kenilworth Road to grab some photos of the ground for their page on this blog.
The sun was beaming down, so I took the opportunity to follow the roads down to see the Kingsway ground. I went past the easiest way to get in and ended up walking up Beverley Road where I came across an entrance.
The ground looked beautiful in the sun, but it was soon obvious as to how they struggled with ground grading as it wasn't secured and anybody could walk inside. The pitch was surrounded by a post and rail fence.
There were two dug outs and a slope down to the houses on the Connaught Road side. The Kingsway End had a playground behind the goal, where young Asians including some in bhurkas were having an impromptu game of football.
The Dunstable Road side sloped down to the pitch, with a couple of park benches near the entrance from the road. In the corner further down were the changing rooms and a small cover for spectators with a training floodlight on top.
I left, pleased that I had made the effort to have a look, but annoyed the bus to Luton went straight past a former Spartan South Midlands League ground, the home of Luton Old Boys FC.
Still, you can't do it all in one day!
Sanctions were slowly being lifted as the UK tried to recover from COVID-19.
Some lower ranking non-league competitions were running shortened seasons or
competitions to keep up interest.
The caveat being that only games in open public grounds were allowed to have spectators in attendance. This ridiculous ruling meant that grounds where regulated track and trace was possible and in operation were ruled out.
A perusal of possible matches drew my attention of a game at Kingsway, where I’d only previously been to take photos. I contacted my pal Ian Anderson who was also keen on a meet up. A plan was hatched.
Football had hit the headlines because of the announced plans of the proposed European Super League. I was livid. Therapy was desperately needed, so the timing of the outing was perfect, as was the weather.
I took the train from West Hampstead to Luton, from where I walked to
Kenilworth Road for a possible last chance of photography, depending on my hopeful
departure to Thailand and the Hatters move to a new stadium.
My walk continued, popping into the Tesco’s on Dunstable Road in the Maidenhall district of town for some small craft cans of beer to go with my snack. It was a relief to see the teams warming up on my arrival, where Ian had already arrived in readiness for the 6.15pm kick-off.
Some local lads were keen to point out that the bar was open in the permanent building, which was good news. Other locals decided that riding a motor bike round the ground was a worthy activity while others hogged a bench and enjoyed exotic substances.
We had a wander around and took up a position behind the clubhouse end goal for the first half. It was definitely not the highest standard game I've ever watched, with the hard bumpy pitch not helping matters.
The visiting keeper made a proper howler with a pass straight to a 61 player in the box, who couldn’t put away a guilt edged opportunity. At the interval we patronised the bar. The choice was limited but it was good to help the club shift some stock.
Fortunately, a bench became available for the second half, offering us a raised view of proceedings as the chill drew in. The youngsters of Ampthill looked the better side throughout, having had a couple of efforts go narrowly over in the first half.
They went ahead through Connor Saunders before Charan Basra added a second with a fine individual effort. The result was about right. I enjoyed every minute at a traditional club in good company, having a couple of beers and watching every player give 100%.
Not for the glamour or money. Because of their love and passion for our beautiful
game. I felt in my natural habitat, and there were no curtain twitchers looking
to report anyone for having fun in a safe outdoor environment.
Ian kindly dropped me off at Luton station after the game, meaning I was back home for 10pm to get a proper rest before early shift the next day.
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