BREAKING NEWS;The rivalry match between Watford and Luton Town has been rescheduled due to..

Chances are, though, you don’t know much about it. The two teams will not meet in the 2023-24 season after Luton Town was promoted to the Premier League. But, we still want to share this north-of-London battle.

The two stadiums are just 20 miles apart, with Watford in Hertfordshire and Luton in Bedfordshire, leading to the nickname Beds-Herts Derby. The media also like to call it the M1 Derby for a highway that passes near each ground. They do the same thing, by the way, with the Crystal Palace – Brighton rivalry, calling it the M23 Derby even though it’s the A23 that comes closest to connecting the two.

First, as we do with all of our posts on the top derbies in English soccer, let’s review the history of each club in excerpts from our book, The Groundhopper Guide to Soccer in England.

Luton Town FC History

If we told you Luton Town was founded in 1885 and have been playing at Kenilworth Road since 1905, and then you walked into the place, you’d probably say, “Yeah, that seems about right.” In fact, you would be at the first club in the south of England to go fully professional, in 1891. And no, those seats are not from those days.

For more on their fabulous dump of a ground (now a Premier League ground!), check out Groundhopper Paul’s visit to KenilwortLuton Town FC History

If we told you Luton Town was founded in 1885 and have been playing at Kenilworth Road since 1905, and then you walked into the place, you’d probably say, “Yeah, that seems about right.” In fact, you would be at the first club in the south of England to go fully professional, in 1891. And no, those seats are not from those days.

 

For more on their fabulous dump of a ground (now a Premier League ground!), check out Groundhopper Paul’s visit to Kenilworth Road.