Nene Park home of Rushden Diamonds

[selby]

Permission to demolish the stadium because it is in a dilapidated condition and unsafe is being saught by the owners.
   Such a shame,I remember the cup replay there,what went wrong?

[graingrover]

Permission to demolish the stadium because it is in a dilapidated condition and unsafe is being saught by the owners.
   Such a shame,I remember the cup replay there,what went wrong?

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[rich1471]

Never forget that punch by Colin Sutherland rang the length of the pitch to deliver it as well

[Sprotyrover]

The man behind them owned Dr Martens they went down the pan and so did Rushden and diamonds.

[roversdude]

Shows the dangers of an unsustainable model
Shame as I loved our rivalry

[albie]

Interesting article in this blog;
Diamonds are forever -The Rise, fall & Re-Birth of Rushden – Notes from an English County

The video from Urban Explorers in the link is worth a butchers.

[RedJ]

The man behind them owned Dr Martens they went down the pan and so did Rushden and diamonds.

Was it not because he wanted to give the club back to the fans or something (possibly more a "f**k it I'm done"?) or am I thinking of a different club.

[IDM]

I remember the game there in our first conference season, when we were struggling near the bottom of the table and they were top.

1-0 down at half time and Duerden gets a 2nd half hat trick to win 3-1..  IMHO that was the start of our slow return, if only on the pitch and not off..

[philsky]

Shows the dangers of an unsustainable model
Shame as I loved our rivalry

Its pretty sad.

And, likewise, i did enjoy our rivalry !

[NickDRFC]

I remember the game there in our first conference season, when we were struggling near the bottom of the table and they were top.

1-0 down at half time and Duerden gets a 2nd half hat trick to win 3-1..  IMHO that was the start of our slow return, if only on the pitch and not off..

Might be my memory playing tricks but I'm sure he got his hat trick with a header from a corner right in front of us, and just before the corner came in he held up 3 fingers as in "the third is coming now".

F**k it, even if it is the memory playing tricks, it's a fantastic memory!

[GazLaz]

The man behind them owned Dr Martens they went down the pan and so did Rushden and diamonds.

They are far from down the pan. They are still making plenty of coin.

[Sprotyrover]

Jin their heyday they were making £16 million a year profit then, the shoes went out of fashion and sales plummeted,the club was unsustainable due to its location and tiny fan base. Dr Martens are now back but I believe they are made in France.

[GazLaz]

Possibly not owned by the same crook now then.

[Sprotyrover]

I didn't think he was a Crook, the brand became unpopular and in 2000 had to wind down to one small factory to avoid Bankruptcy, looking at their history on the Website The brand picked up in 2007 and they have re opened a second Factory,I understand that a percentage of their footwear is now made in France.

[ballysbackin]

In the first game at Belle Vue, my son Liam was the mascot and had his picture taken with Mark Hume, I still have it on the wall at home, the replay was eventful and we got into a pub around ten after the game, we were still in it at three in the morning. brilliant. The owner of the club I recall was also on the board at West Ham and the FA rules were that he could not be a board member of two clubs, so he dumped R and D. I remember being in the Main Stand when a certain now departed very well known Lady therein was giving Brian Talbot a right torrid time, he enjoyed it and just turned to her, nodded and gave her a wink, Fair play to him I thought.

[Pancho Regan]

Possibly not owned by the same crook now then.

An uninformed and completely incorrect observation GazLaz

[RedJ]

Fan ownership eh? Clearly not for everyone.

On the other hand AFC Wimbledon aren't doing too badly...

[wilts rover]

The owner of the club I recall was also on the board at West Ham and the FA rules were that he could not be a board member of two clubs, so he dumped R and D.

No, Max Griggs was never on the board at West Ham, he only ever sponsored them (apparently his son was a fan).

[Pancho Regan]

This is a very sad end to what might have been a wonderful football story.
I have some inside knowledge about the whole Rushden & Diamonds saga and if I can find the time I will share it.
Suffice to say that all genuine Rovers fans and footie fans in general would sympathise with this story.
The outside perception is that they were a 'plastic' club, a dalliance, a plaything of a very rich and eccentric owner.

But that is not the whole story and does not do them justice.

At their height, they were a fine example of a community-driven football club, funded by a generous benefactor. They broke new ground in terms of supporter involvement, and they set high standards for a brand new club in a small town who not only made it to the Conference but also lived their dream, albeit briefly, as a Football League Club.

A great shame that they soared and crashed and burned.

[RedJ]

Would be interested to hear, if you ever get the time.

[acacia94]

Its a right shame that.
Spent a lifetime being a fan of the Doc Mart and Max Griggs and his splendid boot mixed with a footy club should sort of work don't you think? But football clubs tend to grow out of mates working at factories and forming teams over 100+ years ago. They lived in areas where there were loads of people to go and watch em play so places like Irthlingborough were always gonna struggle (R&D were originally a merger with Rushden and Irthlingborough Diamonds).
That FA Cup replay at the Airwear was one of the great Donny Rovers nights of all time and the League game in Jan when the cracking Ian Duerden banged em in straight in front of the away end was the real start of the fightback. Lovely stuff and hard to think back how it was so bloody precarious it was then.
Great non football track to come onto as well there – Shirley Bassey, 007, cmon!

[Sammy Chung was King]

A nice reminder of where we came from. For those who were not there at the time Rushden were very successful for some time and we were barely surviving. That's why that victory still means a lot to us-it was a turning point for us.
At least they are still in existence and have a chance of getting back to where they were. It would be nice if they could get the ground back but by the time they get into the better leagues where they might be able to run it, i suspect it will have been sold and flattened.
The game when we played them for the chance of playing 'The Champions of Europe' sticks in my mind. The money would have come in handy if we had won but we lost.

[roversdude]

Always thought it unfair having to play two teams at same time lol
Never realised the downfall of dm's

[ballysbackin]

The owner of the club I recall was also on the board at West Ham and the FA rules were that he could not be a board member of two clubs, so he dumped R and D.

No, Max Griggs was never on the board at West Ham, he only ever sponsored them (apparently his son was a fan).

I stand Corrected

[GazLaz]

Possibly not owned by the same crook now then.

An uninformed and completely incorrect observation GazLaz

Half of it was correct. He ran the club in an illegal way.

[RoversAlias]

When I got into football Rushden & Diamonds were THE team at non-league level. I don't know what the quality is like in the Conference now, or if it's just cos I was a kid, but having teams like Rushden, Yeovil, Dagenham, ourselves and Stevenage all at that level competing for one promotion spot seemed a tough competition and one that brought a lot of good players and teams through for a few years.

[The Red Baron]

That replay! Even though we lost it was a great night!

I took a fellow who was a huge rugger man along. Didn't like football at all. He loved it. He said if every football match was like that he'd start watching.

[Pancho Regan]

Possibly not owned by the same crook now then.

An uninformed and completely incorrect observation GazLaz

Half of it was correct. He ran the club in an illegal way.

How did he GazLaz?

[GazLaz]

Possibly not owned by the same crook now then.

An uninformed and completely incorrect observation GazLaz

Half of it was correct. He ran the club in an illegal way.

How did he GazLaz?

They were giving players £££ in bin bags to sign for them.

[BobG]

Rovers support that night, John, in that stand behind the goal, was, I think, the best I have ever seen. It was quite a sizeable contingent and the noise didn't stop from start to finish. Top night out that was even though we lost.

And, FWIW, I liked Nene Park. A tidy and smart ground. It's a desparate shame it's gone to waste. Anyone know what the capacity was?

Lol. 6,441. Thought it would have been more than that.

BobG