By Will Foster

In the annals of Luton Town few can possibly have lived a more interesting life than Mike Beevor, who worked in a number of commercial roles at Kenilworth Road in the 1980s. We recently visited Mike at his home in Luton where he was kind enough to share his memories of his time at the club and more.

He grew up in the shadow of Loftus Road and became a QPR fanatic. ‘I loved watching Bobby Cameron in particular. I’d hang around the ground and talk to the players. When I was a little older I remember walking home in the rain one day and a car pulled up and offered me a lift home. It was the manager, Alec Stock, and he made me head ball boy. That was great, because it meant I got into games for free.’

When it came to finding a job he had a career mapped out for him, ‘my Father had grown up in the depression and was adamant that I should work in insurance, so I started in the city. I found it boring though and wanted to work in sport’.

After moving to Houghton Regis Mike quit his city job and took up a role at Stopsley Leisure Centre. He impressed enough to be quickly promoted and was soon cordinating sports events at the council, including a cross-country relay that was covered on Grandstand, giving him the chance to meet David Coleman among others.

Luton in the 70s had become a hot-bed of distance running. This included Mike who had been running at a good level since his teens, becoming Middlesex Cross Country champion and representing Hercules Wimbledon. He took part in the Commenwealth trials and was part of incredibly strong group of local runners such as Ian Thompson, Tony Simmons and Dick Brockway. He has been a life long friend of Dave Bedford, who competed for Britain in the 1972 Olympics.

He joined Luton in 1980, leaving the safety of his council job for the volatile world of football. He had known John Smith from his time at QPR, where Smith had been the youngest executive in the game.

‘The commercial department was a bit of a mess. The programme was loaded with adverts but it was actually costing more money to run the advert than we were getting back. They asked me to take it over and I cut it down, which actually made more money!’.

Sadly he missed the historic day at Maine Road in 1983 through illness but he did sent a message of support to each of the players, with Raddy Antic sending Mike particular thanks for his. He was at Kenilworth Road for the visit of Millwall two years later, and went onto the pitch with John Smith to plead with the Luton fans not to retaliate.

He was particularly fond of Ricky Hill and was honoured to be chosen to give the main speech at Ricky’s testimonial. More than a bit nervous he remembered to thank everyone he needed to, only realising at the very last minute that he’d missed a mention of one man – Ricky himself!

Despite success on the field low gates at Kenilworth Road often meant the need to find additional income or ways of creating interest. He was behind the Luton Strykers dancing troupe, and arranged games of Take Your Pick before matches. This included procuring a signed picture of Des O’Connor as a ‘prize’ for Eric Morecambe, much to the comedian’s mock disgust.

Mike was heavily involved in the deal with brought Barry McGuigan’s fight to Kenilworth Road, though negotiating with difficult figures like promoters Frank Warren and Frank Maloney made the experience a stressful and unhappy one. More fond in the memory is ‘Carol Aid’ which he helped to organise to raise money for local and national charities. Starting in 1988 It drew big crowds to Kenilworth Road to see school choirs. Many local school children will recall raising money for the event or performing. He also helped set up a local netball league with matches played on the Maple Road car park. One participant was workmate Cherry Newbery, who had played the game at a high level.

He would eventually leave Luton in 1990, returning to the insurance business. ‘I may be a QPR supporter but when I worked at Luton I wanted them to win every game, even against the Rangers. I still get teased by my QPR mates now, who can’t wait to tell me if Luton go behind in game. ‘Your lot are losing,’ they never fail to tell me.’

Below: With his good friend Alan West, and Mike today.