Rushden & Diamonds F.C.
| Rushden & Diamonds badge | |||
| Full name | Rushden & Diamonds Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Diamonds | ||
| Founded | 1992 | ||
| Ground | Nene Park Irthlingborough | ||
| Capacity | 6,441 | ||
| Chairman | Keith Cousins | ||
| Manager |  Garry Hill | ||
| League | Conference National | ||
| 2006–07 | Conference National, 12th | ||
|
| |||
Rushden and Diamonds is an English professional football club who play in the Conference National.
History
Rushden and Diamonds were formed in 1992 by Max Griggs, the owner of the Dr Martens shoe company who bought two non-league clubs (Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds) and merged them to form a team which would compete in the Southern (Beazer Homes) League Division One and play its home games at Nene Park in Irthlingborough in Northamptonshire. Rushden Town was formed in 1889 and were known as 'The Russians'.
Rushden and Diamonds won promotion to the Beazer Homes Premier League in 1993 and GM Vauxhall Conference in 1996. In the season following promotion to the Conference, Brian Talbot was appointed as the club's new manager. As a player, he had turned out for Arsenal in the early 1980s. His previous managerial spells with West Bromwich Albion where he was sacked following defeat by in the FA Cup by Woking and Aldershot were disappointing. After three near-misses they finally won promotion to the Football League as Conference champions in 2001. In their first season they reached the Division Three playoff final but lost to Cheltenham Town. In 2003 their promotion challenge was successful, they pipped Hartlepool United to the Division Three championship on the last day of the season and won their third promotion/league title in eight seasons.
2003–04 was a difficult season for Rushden and Diamonds. The club's board and supporters were hopeful of another promotion challenge, and some promising results in the early part of the season suggested that this could be achieved. But a run of bad results during the winter saw the club slip down the table and in March 2004 Brian Talbot left the club after seven years as manager to take charge at Oldham Athletic. Barry Hunter, with no previous managerial experience, was appointed as the caretaker player-manager, but with the club needing to offload its top players to balance the books it continued to slide further down the Division Two table and they were relegated in 22nd place after losing their last game of the season.
Ernie Tippett was appointed temporary manager of the team for the last three games of the 2003–04 season, and confirmed as permanent manager for the start of the 2004–05 season. Despite bringing in a large number of new players, after a dismal run of results which saw the team the media predicted as promotion contenders fall to 22nd place in League Two, he was sacked. Barry Hunter became caretaker manager again, and although there were many applicants for the position, he was appointed full-time manager towards the end of the season. The club staved off relegation but released several players at the conclusion of the campaign. In the summer of 2005, Max Griggs handed over the club and certain assets to a supporters' trust, along with an initial cash pledge.
The 2005–06 season saw the club perform towards the lower end of the table as expected by the media. Manager Hunter rebuilt the squad in the January transfer window, and at the same time sold youth team products Andy Burgess, David Bell, and John Dempster. However, the club continued to struggle and on April 29, Rushden were relegated to the Conference after a 2-0 defeat at Boston United, which resulted in manager Barry Hunter being told his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season. Paul Hart took over as manager on May 23 and on July 7 signed former Gillingham F.C. defender Chris Hope on a 2-year deal. Other close-season signings have included Leo Fortune-West, Glenn Wilson, Paul Watson and Jon Ashton. However, following a poor run of results, Hart left by mutual consent in mid-October, with goalkeeping coach Tony Godden becoming caretaker manager.
During their final two seasons in the Football League, Rushden & Diamonds enjoyed a fierce rivalry with fellow Northamptonshire club Northampton Town. The Diamonds won one encounter and Northampton won the other three. Since relegation back to the non-league the club have renewed their old rivalry with near-neighbours Kettering Town.
In July 2006 Helen Thompson became chairman of Rushden and Diamonds FC. In November 2006, the club was taken over by former Peterborough United vice-chairman Keith Cousins. In December 2006, former Farnborough and Stevenage manager Graham Westley was appointed as Rushden & Diamonds manager, with the aim of getting the club out of the relegation battle and build towards promotion back into the league. After a seven-game unbeaten run, which featured five wins and two draws, Graham Westley was relieved of his duties on 24 February 2007. Two days later it was announced that former Weymouth manager Garry Hill would be Westley's replacement.
Hill's first match, on Saturday 3rd March, was a 3-0 win over Exeter City with goals by Simeon Jackson, Mark Albrighton & the returning Curtis Woodhouse.
After this game, the club hit a poor run of form, however it won the last 3 games of the season. And finished a mid-table 12th position.
Players
Record goalscorer Darren Collins scored 153 goals in his 286 games.
Only 8 players have made over 200 appearances for the club. These are;
- 371 Garry Butterworth
- 301 Paul Underwood
- 286 Darren Collins
- 253 Billy Turley
- 247 Tim Wooding
- 239 Andy Burgess
- 207 Jim Rodwell
- 205 Andy Peaks
Andy Burgess is currently on 189 apps but is likely to be the next addition to the 200 club
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
See also
Record goalscorer: Darren Collins