Dunstable Town F.C.
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| Full name | Dunstable Town Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Blues |
| Founded | 1883, (reformed in 1998) (see history) |
| Ground |
Creasey Park Dunstable Bedfordshire |
| Capacity | 3,200 |
| Chairman | John McLoughlin |
| Manager | Tony Fontenelle |
| League | Southern League Premier Division |
| 2015–16 | Southern League Premier Division, 12th |
Dunstable Town Football Club is a football club based in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, currently playing in the Southern Football League. They play their home matches at Creasey Park Stadium.
The original 'Dunstable Town' were in existence from the nineteenth century until 1975, being replaced by Dunstable F.C. They themselves then folded in 1993–94, and the new Dunstable Town were created in 1998.
The club is affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association. The clubs' main rivals are AFC Dunstable with whom they groundshare.
Dunstable Town FC were formed in 1883, first playing in local league and cup competitions. On 6 April 1896, they won the Bedfordshire Senior Cup, a feat they were not to repeat until 1956.
The history of the club is sketchy until 1950, when Dunstable Town joined the Metropolitan League. The club moved to a stadium at Kingsway, and played in this league for many years, before moving to the Southern League in 1965. In 1956, they also achieved their best result in the FA Cup, reaching the first round proper.
In 1973, the club received the financial backing of Keith Cheesman. He hired a young Barry Fry as manager, and gave him money to build up a strong team; indeed in his autobiography, Fry claims that he was often given blank, signed cheques. Of note, both Jeff Astle and George Best were bought in to play for the team (Best only actually playing three competitive games). However, this spending quickly led to the accumulation of debt, and the club folded.
Dunstable F.C. was formed to take over the team's fixtures, completing the 1975–76 season. They were then demoted to the bottom level of the Southern League. There they stayed for following twenty years; however, more financial difficulties led to the club's disbanding in 1994, for the second time.
Creasey Park, the current stadium, was leased in 1997, allowing the team to be reformed for the 1998–99 season. Promotion from their initial league, the South Midlands League Division One was obtained at the second attempt, followed by two promotions in three years to the Isthmian League First Division. A feeder club, Dunstable Town 98 F.C., was established in 2003 based around the former reserve side. League restructuring put them in the Southern League Premier Division, from which they were relegated for the 2005–06 season. Roger Dance the new chairman brought in Kerry Dixon but he and Paul Reeves failed to stop the rot and the Blues were relegated again until the FA's restructuring granted Dunstable a reprieve. Young manager Darren Feighery was drafted in for the 2006–07 season in the Southern League Division One Midlands, and he and his young side finished 11th as well as winning the Bedfordshire Senior Cup Final, for a record 11th time.
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