Max Griggs merged Irthlingborough Diamonds and Rushden Town to form Rushden and Diamonds. He built a new football stadium by the River Nene in Irthlingborough called Nene Park. Rushden and Diamonds made their way from the non-league system to one season in League 1. I saw them play Queens Park Rangers at Nene Park which was good enough for that level of football.
Max Griggs merged Irthlingborough Diamonds and Rushden Town to form Rushden and Diamonds. He built a new football stadium by the River Nene in Irthlingborough called Nene Park. Rushden and Diamonds made their way from the non-league system to one season in League 1. I saw them play Queens Park Rangers at Nene Park which was good enough for that level of football.
Then the Doc Martens business ran into trouble. Griggs gave the club to a trust, but they were unable to sustain it and it folded, although AFC Rushden and Diamonds has progressed as a phoneix club. For a while Rushden’s rivals Kettering Town used the stadium after they lost their ground in Kettering. However, the running costs of the stadium were high and it was needing more maintenance as it aged. The Poppies departed and the stadium has since been empty.
Griggs was criticised for creating his own plaything in the Northamptonshire countryside, a Meccano set football ground. Rushden and Irthlingborough are small towns and are surrounded by other small towns or villages. There was a lack of chimney pots, although some fans came from Wellingborough (AFC Rushden and Diamonds play there at the Dog and Duck ground) and others were attracted from Milton Keynes before MK Dons got under way.
Plans have now been announced to demolish the stadium and build a retail park on the site. Some community football facilities will be incorporated, so it may provide an eventual home for AFC Rushden and Diamonds. I hope the planners have taken into account the fact that the site is on the flood plain of the River Nene and has been flooded in the past.