Rushden & Diamonds

Club Profile

First Played: 1996-7

Win Rate: 38% (from 21 games)

Last Updated: 04 July 2022

Rushden & Diamonds is one place we’ve been – but won’t be going back; the club collapsing in 2011 after a rollercoaster ride. Nene Park was once an imperious bricks-and-mortar representation of a Diamonds side in their pomp. Now, it’s the forlorn reminder of an equally rapid fall; half demolished and about to become little more than a stitch or three in the rich tapestry of English football. The club lasted just 19 years from formation to disintegration.

Life was a rollercoaster. They were the result of a merger between Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds; both former opponents of ours in their own right. That was in 1992. Nine years later, they reached the Football League. Such a rise couldn’t be possible without the support of business tycoon Max Griggs; the man behind the birth and rapid rise of the Diamonds between 1992 and 1996.

After pushing higher at the top end of the Conference, promotion to the Football League was theirs – though not before we’d had a laugh at their apparent struggle to do the job. By 2003, the Diamonds were at their peak; Division Three champions and heading into the third tier (or League One as it now is). But the rise couldn’t last. The bubble began to burst. The Diamonds lasted one season in the third tier – and then finished 22nd in the 2004-5 season.

That summer, Griggs handed control of the club to a fans’ trust. On the pitch, however, things got worse and they were  relegated again in 2006. After returning to non-league football, crowds fell and cash worries rose. It felt stable enough until the 2010-1 season; a campaign where the Diamonds went through tragedy, drama and boardroom movements. The Football Conference kicked ’em out in summer 2011 as the club didn’t have the cash to complete the new season.

A last-gasp bid to join the Southern League also fell through. Administration and closure followed, as did the formation of a new club now looking to get back up.

 

Rushden & Diamonds: The Facts

Who are Rushden & Diamonds?

Rushden & Diamonds formed in 1992, but the story of us and them goes back a bit further. The club was born out of the merger of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds; a duo that Stevenage Borough did battle with in our United Counties League days. It took just four seasons to climb two rungs of the Southern League and join the Conference. Five more seasons and they were in the Football League. It was a truly meteoric rise; the likes of which you can bet probably won’t happen again – of course, click here if you think otherwise.

Now, the elephant in the room is the cash that propelled them upwards. The Diamonds, as we know, had a fair amount of wedge and huge financial clout thanks to Max Griggs. Not that their first season in the Conference was a blistering success. In finishing 12th, it was the first time the Diamonds had ended a season outside the top five. Boro’ did the league double over them in 1996-7 too, including a 4-1 win at our place. From that next season, however, the Diamonds had their sights set on the League. It wouldn’t take them long to get there.

In the seasons that came after, Rushden recorded finishes of 4th, 4th, 2nd and 1st. In some ways, it was almost a surprise that it took ’em four seasons to do the deed. It didn’t help us that it did take them that long. Boro’ won just one of nine meetings in that time! And that was that, for the time being at least. Up they went, momentum still behind them; promotion to Division Two took just two attempts too. After that 2003 nadir, however, the tide turned. The Diamonds had risen like Reggie Perrin. Now they were about to fall like him too.

Rushden & Diamonds: Record vs Boro'

Pl W D L F A GD Pts* WR%
Overall 21 8 6 7 28 24 4 27 38%
Home 9 6 2 1 16 9 7 20 67%
Away 12 2 4 6 12 15 -3 7 17%
League 18 7 6 5 24 21 3 27 39%
Cup 3 1 0 2 4 3 1 n/a 33%

* league points only


Rushden & Diamonds: Result-by-Result (Boro' Scoring First)

Saturday 13 February 2010

Saturday 29 August 2009

Thursday 01 January 2009

Friday 26 December 2008

Wednesday 05 November 2008

Tuesday 01 January 2008

Wednesday 26 December 2007

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Friday 06 October 2006

Saturday 27 January 2001

Tuesday 24 October 2000

Tuesday 05 September 2000

Monday 03 January 2000

Monday 27 December 1999

Tuesday 09 March 1999

Saturday 26 December 1998

Thursday 01 January 1998

Friday 26 December 1997

Monday 21 April 1997

Tuesday 19 November 1996

Tuesday 24 September 1996

No Players