Dog and Duck Stadium, London Road, Wellingborough NN8 2DP
Kick-Off 3pm
FA Trophy Preliminary Round
Saturday 3rd October 2015
AFC Rushden & Diamonds v Basford United
AFC Rushden & Diamonds will make their debut in the FA Trophy on Saturday when Basford United visit the Dog and Duck. Both teams have moved up to Step 4 this season, and so will be appearing in the FA Trophy rather than the FA Vase.
The competition rules are slightly different for this competition, but the decision has been made there will not be extra-time if the scores end level, with the tie then going to a replay at Greenwich Avenue on Tuesday 6th October.
The winners of the tie will play in the First Qualifying Round due on the 31st October. Details of the round dates, full draw and prize money are in the FA Bulletins here.
This is an all-pay game. Admission prices are £8 adults, £5 concessions with Under 8’s free.
The arrangements for this match are as follows :-
- The Clubhouse will serve alcohol for consumption inside only until 2:45pm and again at full time.
- Alcohol will not be served at half time in the clubhouse.
- Dale’s Bar will serve soft drinks only throughout the game.
Fans are asked to co-operate fully with this rule, as it is closely monitored by the FA.
Please note that there has been extensive remodelling of both the pedestrian and vehicular access to the ground over the summer – please follow designated routes. There is also continuing work in London Road which will also result in some local parking restrictions and pedestrian access alterations.
There is a Diamonds Match Diary here, and the club twitter feed will provide the latest information before, during and after the match using the link https://twitter.com/AFCRD or by following @AFCRD.
See below for details of all the social media options for following the Diamonds, as well as details on Radio Diamonds.
Our Opponents
Like the Diamonds, Basford United have earned two promotions since the clubs played each other in an FA Vase game in 2012. They currently play in the EvoStik Northern Premier League First Division South, where they are in a mid-table position of this Step 4 league.
They had a decent run in the FA Cup this season before going out at the hands of Sporting Khalsa in front of a record home crowd last weekend.
They are managed by Martin Carruthers, a veteran of over 350 Football League games for the likes of Stoke City, Scunthorpe and Southend, and who led their strikeforce against the Diamonds in the FA Vase game in 2012. Their strikeforce now includes Ben Hutchinson who played for Middlesbrough and Celtic, and they have other players with Football League experience, notably keeper Saul Deeney who played against R&DFC for Notts County, most notably in a game at Nene Park in 2004 where the Diamonds scored after just 10 seconds.
The club was formed in 1900, and played in local Nottinghamshire Leagues until the 2011-12 season when they joined the Central Midlands League and were promoted into the East Midlands Counties league for the 2012-13 season after winning their division. They won that league in 2013, going up into Northern Counties East League Premier Division, before being moved into the newly formed Midland League Premier Division for 2014-15. They won that league last season to step-up to play in their fifth different league in five seasons.
Their club colours are yellow and black. Their club website is here and twitter feed here.
The two teams met in a goal-filled encounter at the Dog & Duck in November 2012. The FA Vase game ended 5-3 – see here for a report, and here for the match video, which perhaps also shows how things have changed in under three years.
The Dog and Duck
For directions to the Dog and Duck see here, where you will also find details of car parking options. You will find a range of bars and catering facilities, as well as a Club Shop. There is covered seating available, as well as two covered standing areas. You can see a stadium plan that maps out these facilities here, along with details of catering facilities (including a snack bar menu / prices with details of the famous Diamond Burger). For this game onwards there will be an additional tea bar near to Dale’s Bar.
There is always a need for additional volunteers to help with ongoing maintenance and matchday work, as detailed here.
Other Info
The fixture list is here, and latest fixture news is here. Details of the Diamonds playing squad and management team are here. Individual player profiles for the Diamonds squad are available here. Player and Match Stats are here, and previous seasons stats are here.
Player and Match Sponsorship options are detailed in the Commercial Section of this website as detailed here
There are a range of social media options available to help follow the Diamonds, with the well used and liked twitter feed to the fore, as well as a Facebook page and Club Instagram Page (follow afcrd). For this season we have also launched a Snapchat service, accessible on mobile platforms such as an iOS or Android Phone, so you can follow the live matchday story by finding afcrd on Snapchat.
Radio Diamonds will be broadcasting for this game – details here.
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 Hevey 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.
People accessing the website via Tablet or Mobile who want to access some of the nested menus on the website may find the “Quick Links” tab useful – found just above the “Hevey” logo on the homepage.