Can A Football Club Be Too Successful? The Story of Rushden & Diamonds

[Music] the English football pyramid is a peculiar thing especially the further down the pyramid you go indeed you'll find local businessmen foreign Nationals and even some A-list Hollywood actors but what happens when a club that no one's really heard of comes out of the blue and starts rocketing up the league we've seen teams such as filed easily and Billa Ricky town try without success but there have been some success stories look at Forest Green Rovers for example but what happens when a club becomes too successful is there even such a thing enter stage left Rushton and diamonds founded as a merger of two clubs in 1992 those being rushed in town and Earthling Borough Diamonds the brainchild of MAX Greg the then owner of shoe company Doc Martens Greeks whom at the time was the 50th richest man in Britain wanted to invest in football and considering doc Martin's Factory was based in northamptonshire it made sense to buy a local Club the new club would have rushed in towns placed in the football pyramid the southern League Midlands Division and the new club would play at Earthling Borough diamonds Neen park or if you're from Northampton nen Park I don't know why you call it that it's it's so obviously mean and that is the pronunciation that I will be sticking with throughout this video back to the story what happened next was nothing short of spectacular [Music] by 1996 four years after the club was formed it had reached the conference National an investment of 30 million pounds into neem Park alone bought it their Stadium to the standard of most division one clubs at the time with the capacity of just over six and a half thousand a staggering capacity for a non-league ground at the time by 2001 the club had reached the football league third division now of course League two managed by ex Arsenal and Ipswich player Brian Talbot within one season in their first season in the third division they'd finished sixth qualifying them for the division three playoffs despite a dramatic two-leg encounter with Rochdale in which they won 4-3 in extra time with the second leg it wasn't to be for the diamonds they lost the playoff final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to Cheltenham town by three girls to one but most seems that would create pressure meaning the club would not be as high-flying The Following season it's a first season they did very well but they won't they won't do as well in the second season right heightened expectations and everything you'd be wrong Russian diamonds were anything but conventional and would go on to win the division three title beating the likes of Hartlepool United wrexham and Bournemouth by the 2003-04 season now a division two Club League one as its modern day name with fixtures against the likes of Queens Park Rangers Brighton and HOV Albion Sheffield Wednesday and of course the greatest team to wear red north of Barcelona Swindon town unfortunately this would be as good as it would get for the diamonds as they would instantly return to the third division finishing third from bottom in the division two season and it would be the club's first ever relegation since being founded in 1992. it was here when the clubs spending on its Stadium training ground and other expenses such as player transfers would start to have an effect on the team it was in 2003 that griggs's doc Martin's Empire almost went bankrupt it closed its production sites in northamptonshire and moved manufacturing to China and Thailand but more important to our story is a football club that didn't make any money in fact the diamonds were spending at the time two and a half million pounds over their perspective income in fact by the end of the division two season they were a week away from Administration so there was a fire sale ahead of the 0405 Season back in the third division now rebranded officially as leaked to the diamonds survived relegation back to non-league by six points finishing 22nd in the league but by the 2005-2006 league two season the club's luck had finally run out finishing bottom of the football league with 45 points relegated alongside Oxford United and this club Oxford United will be of interest a little bit later in our story the clubs returned to the conference in the 2006-2007 season not only saw changes in ownership but in management and in playing staff with the team players and then manager Barry Hunter sacked he'd only been appointed in January of that year replaced by Paul Haas who would last until December 2006 before being replaced by Graham Wesley would leave in February of 2007 to be replaced by Gary Hill the new owners of the club were the supporters trust who had acquired the club from previous owner Max Griggs for one pound and that was during their final season in the football league but higher than average running costs and declining attendances meant that this was an uphill challenge in 2007 it was clear that the club's supporters couldn't continue to support the club as owners so the club was handed over to local businessman Keith cousins this agreement would see cousins become the club chairman and covered Club debts with short-term loans Gary Hill as manager could only finish 12th and 16th in two seasons in the conference for the average attendance for the club being half the size of which it was in the football league some positives for the 0809 season former Tottenham player Justin Edinburgh the lake but great Justin Edinburgh was appointed manager in February of 2009 and ended up finishing 11th in the conference Edinburgh side got off to a positive start The Following season for the 2009-2010 campaign by the end of the season they had an opportunity to get back into the football league by qualifying for the playoffs but it wasn't to be they're losing semi-final effort to Oxford United who if you remember were relegated alongside Rushton and diamonds the same season from the football league expectation was another potential promotion push for The Following season that despite mounting debts in the club still operating at a lost cousin sold the club to Gary Calder and Liam bessent halfway through the 2010-2011 season this is where the club reached the terminal stage of its decline as counter left months after purchasing the club the club would finish 13th mid-table in the conference however that would be it for Rushton and diamonds the tax man told the club it would need to raise three quarters of a million pounds at 750 000 pounds within two weeks to avoid a winding up petition the club were then expelled from the conference because of their financial positionment they were unable to fulfill this fixture list the southern League declined the diamonds application to join the League for the 2011-2012 season and by July 7 2011 the club had entered Administration our story doesn't end there though because diamonds fans would have to watch Arch Rivals Kettering town called neem Park their home for 18 months catering at that time also not in the greatest of financial positions after that the stadium laid dormant for six years as a great opportunity for urban explorers to have a look at abandoned sports stadiums however in 2017 demolition work began on the ground and it was turned into a combination of Housing and retail for Russian and Diamonds though their story does live on as AFC Rustin and diamonds founded in 2011 and currently playing their trade in the southern League Premier Division Central [Music]

Channel: The Football Fans Show

Views: 43,451

Keywords: Rushden & Diamonds, Rushden, Football Stories, Soccer Stories, Non League, EFL

Id: aj3GAflybnA

Length: 8min 42sec (522 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 26 2023