Northwood Park, Chestnut Avenue, Northwood (HA6 1HR)
Kick-Off 3pm
FA Cup with Budweiser
Preliminary Round
Saturday 31st August 2013
Northwood FC v AFC Rushden & Diamonds
AFC Rushden & Diamonds will play their second ever tie in the FA Cup on Saturday when they head south to face Northwood FC.
Northwood are a Step 4 club, playing in the Southern League Central Division, so will be the highest ranked team the Diamonds have faced in any competition to date.
The winner of the tie will travel to face either Cockfosters or Hadley on the weekend of 14th September. You can see more information on this season’s FA Cup on the FA Website here.
Admission prices are £8 adults, £4 seniors and £2 Under-16s, with a programme costing £2. There is a club-house on site, with adjacent parking, and there are over 300 covered seats available. Northwood have advised they have also made arrangements for additional parking should this be necessary, and that the facilities will be available from 12:30pm.
Match Status information is here.
Should a replay be necessary this would be at the Dog & Duck on Tuesday evening – 3rd September – KO 7:45pm.
Our Opponents
Northwood FC was formed in 1926. After a period in local leagues they joined the Hellenic League in 1978, gaining senior status in 1981. In 1984 they switched to the Spartan League and in 1992 won promotion to the Isthmian League, where they worked their way up to the Premier Division in 2003. In recent seasons they have been switched back and forwards to the Southern League, and last season they finished mid-table in the Southern League Central Division. You can read more about their history on their comprehensive website here.
Their club colours are red, and the Woods club website is here and their twitter feed here. They are managed by Mark Burgess, whose twin brother James Burgess is team captain.
In their league game on Bank Holiday Monday they won 1-0 at North Greenford United, which preserves their 100% record away from home – although they have still to pick up a victory at home.
Directions / Getting There
Northwood FC play at Northwood Park, Chestnut Avenue, Northwood (HA6 1HR). For directions for the trip of around 60 miles from the Dog and Duck see here. Directions on the Northwood website are here – although these are focused on reaching the ground from within London.
The club is running a coach to this game, which was fully booked when bookings were taken at the last home game. The coach will leave Skinners Hill, Rushden at 11:30 and the Dog & Duck, Wellingborough at 11:55 – details here.
Getting to Chestnut Avenue by public transport is an option. The most obvious route involves getting a train to St Pancras, and then taking the Metropolitan Line to Northwood Hills. The station is actually quite close to the ground, but the advised walking route is a rather circular one. The walking directions given on the club website are to turn right out of the station then at the roundabout turn left onto Pinner Road, then left into Chestnut Avenue – the entrance to the ground is then on the left, with a further walk to the ground / clubhouse at the end of this drive. This is a total walk of around three-quarters of a mile.
The picture above (courtesy Google Maps / Streetview), shows the approach road to the ground, with the clubhouse in the distance. The ground itself is hidden to the right of the clubhouse.
For door-to-door directions see the Traveline website. Those travelling by train might consider the Groupsave Travelcard fare offers from First Capital Connect from Bedford, which can reduce the cost to a total of £40 for four people – noting this fare cannot be used on East Midlands Trains.
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 referenced 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.
