Rushden & Diamonds F.C.
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| Full name | Rushden & Diamonds Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Diamonds, The Russians | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Nene Park Irthlingborough |
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| Capacity | 6,441 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Keith Cousins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Garry Hill |
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| League | Conference National | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | League Two, 24th (relegated) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rushden and Diamonds are an English professional football club who play in the Conference National.
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[edit] 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 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.
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 the 24th 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.
[edit] Current Squad 2006-07
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[edit] Out on loan
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[edit] See Also
Rushdenshire
[edit] External links
- Rushden & Diamonds F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News - Recent results - Upcoming fixtures - Club stats
- Rushden & Diamonds Official Website
- Rushden and Diamonds Unofficial Website
| Conference National 2006/07 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Aldershot Town • Altrincham • Burton Albion • Cambridge United • Crawley Town • Dagenham & Redbridge • Exeter City • Forest Green Rovers • Gravesend & Northfleet • Grays Athletic • Halifax Town • Kidderminster Harriers • Morecambe • Northwich Victoria • Oxford United • Rushden & Diamonds • Southport • Stafford Rangers • St Albans City • Stevenage Borough • Tamworth • Weymouth • Woking • York City edit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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