TWO of Long Buckby FC’s key players from last season’s title winning team have left the club to join King’s Lynn Town.
Captain Richard Bunting and top scorer Russell Dunkley have left Station Road to join the team which finished runners up to The Bucks in the UCL Premier League.
Despite topping the table Long Buckby’s facilities are not good enough to allow them promotion, meaning King’s Lynn will take their place in the EvoStik League next season.
And for Bunting and Dunkley, the opportunity to test themselves at a higher level was too good to turn down.
Dunkley netted 35 times last season while Bunting chipped in with a further 11 as The Bucks racked up a record breaking 108 points.
Buckby boss Glenn Botterill said: “We are disappointed to see them both go but they received a very good offer from King’s Lynn. That’s the problem with us not being able to get promotion, but they go with our blessing and we wish them all the best.
“They’ve both been with me for a long time and are two fantastic lads, I can’t speak highly enough of them.
“A number of other offers came in but King’s Lynn blew everyone out of the water and I’m sure they’ll do well there.
“If we’d have got promoted I think we would have kept the whole squad together and gone again, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.”