Creasey Park, Dunstable, LU6 1BB
Kick-Off 3pm
FA Carlsberg Vase
First Qualifying Round
Saturday 7th September 2013
AFC Dunstable v AFC Rushden & Diamonds
After their excellent performance in the FA Vase in their first season in the competition, AFC Rushden & Diamonds will start their new campaign in the competition with a trip to face AFC Dunstable at Creasey Park. With the excellent victory at Northwood on Saturday, this will be the second in a run of three cup games before they get back to league action.
AFC Dunstable are a fellow Step 5 club, playing in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division. They are currently second in that league, having won five and drawn the other of their six league games this season, averaging over three goals per game, so will present another stiff challenge for the Diamonds. In midweek they won 4-1 at Hertford Town despite missing six first team players.
Creasey Park is a £3m facility that is shared with Dunstable Town, and it also has a range of community facilities.
The winners of the tie will host Hoddesdon Town in the second qualifying round on the weekend of 21st September. If scores are level after 90 minutes there will be extra-time, and if the scores are still level after 120 minutes there will be a replay at the Dog & Duck, scheduled for Tuesday September 10th.
AFC Dunstable have advised there is a large car park at the ground, as well as local street parking, and they will have parking stewards on duty.
Match Status information is here.
Our Opponents
The AFC Dunstable name was first used in 2004 by the Old Dunstablians, who themselves were formed in 1981, and who had joined the South Midlands League in 1995, shortly before it was restructured as the Spartan South Midlands League. They moved to Creasey Park in 2009, sharing the ground with Dunstable Town. They are an FA Charter Standard Community Club.
Their nickname of “The OD’s” is a derivation of their original title of the Old Dunstablians.
Their club colours are blue, and the OD’s club website is here and their twitter feed here. They are managed by Alex Butler.
Directions / Getting There
AFC Dunstable play at Creasey Park Community Football Centre, Creasey Park Drive, Dunstable, LU6 1BB. For directions for the trip of around 35-miles from the Dog and Duck see here. The ground is towards the north end of Dunstable, close to the A5.
Getting to Creasey Park by public transport is an option, although the delays in completing the Luton-Dunstable Busway (now due to open on September 25) mean this option which would have significantly reduced journey times is not yet available.
The most obvious route involves getting a train to Luton, and then taking the Arriva Bus 70 from the station to High St North in Dunstable (Watling Court Stop), from where it is a short walk down Brewers Hill Road to the Creasey Park Drive. For door-to-door directions see the Traveline website.
Other Info
A summary set of profiles for the Diamonds Players and Management is here. The fixture list for the forthcoming season 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.
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 current season are here.
