Station Road, Long Buckby NN6 7QA
Kick-Off 7:45pm
ChromaSport & Trophies United Counties League Premier Division
Tuesday 12th November 2013
Long Buckby AFC v AFC Rushden & Diamonds
AFC Rushden & Diamonds make a trip towards the west of the county on Tuesday evening when they travel to face Long Buckby in the ChromaSport and Trophies UCL Premier Division.
Long Buckby have confirmed that admission prices are their normal £5 adults, £3 concessions and under 16 free. Regarding car parking they have offered the following advice – “Please ensure that fans do NOT park half on half off the road obstructing any pathways, if they do they WILL get a ticket, it is our suggestion that supporters park at the railway station car park, which is a 150-200 yard walk to the ground, albeit up a hill.” They have a clubhouse which is detached from the ground itself, but facing Station Road, with the Rugby / Cricket pitch in between it and the pitch (which isn’t that obvious from the road). When the Diamonds visited for a pre-season friendly before the 2012-13 season only three sides of the ground were accessible, with the area on the side of the pitch behind the dugouts inaccessible. The main covered area is a stand on the opposite side of the pitch – pictured here. Match Status information is here.
Our Opponents
Long Buckby AFC was formed in 1945, and AFC R&D assistant manager Andy Peaks was in a similar role with the club for a period. The Bucks won the UCL Premier Division in the 2011-12 season with a record 108-point haul, after a record breaking run of 16 straight league wins at the start of the season – with both Russ Dunkley and Fazel Koriya being key players, scoring goals 37 and 22 goals respectively, helping them to a total of 130 goals that season.
They went on to also break the points total for the league, but Kings Lynn, who they beat twice on their way to the title, were the team accepted into the step 4 leagues due to ground grading issues at Station Road.
Their club colours are all-claret and they are managed by Phil Mason, assisted by Ashley Stewart. Their website is here, but they do not appear to have an active twitter feed.
Last weekend they lost 4-1 at home to Holbeach, having been ahead until their goalkeeper was sent off, and ex-Diamond James Allcock had to go in goal. They also have ex-Diamonds Lance Allen and Nat Liburd on their playing staff. Another player who may be known to Diamonds fans will be ex-Posh and Yeovil 38-year-old striker Howard Forinton. Their striker Josh Crawley won the Player of the Month award in August after scoring eight goals, including two hat-tricks that month.
Travel / Facilities
The ground is at Station Road, Long Buckby NN6 7QA, around 22 miles from the Dog and Duck – directions here. The following warning is in the UCL Handbook – “Please note that cars that park half on/off the kerb will receive a parking ticket.” – a message repeated by the club advice quoted above. If traveling via Northampton take the A428 towards Rugby, then turn left to Long Buckby between the East Haddon and West Haddon bypasses. Continue to the market square and proceed towards Buckby Wharf / Daventry. The ground is 200 yds past the market square on the left, before you descend to the Railway Station.
The ground is next to the Rugby Ground – the Football Clubhouse is to the right of the equivalent facility for the Rugby club, and is easy to spot from the road, although the ground itself is away from the main road. As the name suggests the ground is situated between the village and the railway station, and there is parking in the village centre or at the station as well as in a number of side streets – but please be aware of the parking restrictions on the grass verges.
Those that live within easy reach of Northampton station can consider travelling to the game by train from Northampton to Long Buckby station, from where the ground is a short walk up the hill. Details of trains are here.
With this being an evening game other public transport options are rather limited.
Other Info
A summary set of profiles for the Diamonds Players and Management is here. Individual player profiles are here, with player and match stats available here.
Player and Match Sponsorship options are detailed in the Commercial Brochure as detailed here.
The fixture list is here, and latest fixture news is here, and specific match status information here, along with the next planned fixture for the various AFC Rushden & Diamonds teams. Don’t forget you can get a regular Diamonds news bulletin delivered to your inbox, including details of all the forthcoming fixtures by signing up to the Club Newsletter – you will see a sign-up box on the right-hand side of the site homepage – just under the EA Sports Logo.
For details of the history of AFC Rushden & Diamonds see here.
There are details on how to become a member of AFC R&D here, as well as news on Season Tickets, Multiple Game Tickets and related prices here.
The club depends upon volunteer support from its fanbase. If you would like to join the group who help either on matchdays or behind the scenes see here.
A full directory of UCL clubs, including links to websites, ground details (with a map pinpointing all the UCL grounds), along with club links including Twitter details plus some general UCL links is here.
The UCL Handbook, along with links to competition rules for the season are here.
