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Nene Park
Jan 17, 2017 20:04:20 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2017 20:04:20 GMT
Former home of Rushden and Diamonds,to be demolished. What a waste. And a reminder of the perils of wealthy benefactors.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2017 21:12:10 GMT
Former home of Rushden and Diamonds,to be demolished. What a waste. And a reminder of the perils of wealthy benefactors. Completely nuts. |
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Post by Carlin on Jan 17, 2017 21:22:08 GMT
...It couldn't happen here?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2017 18:03:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2017 21:26:14 GMT
Just spent an hour reading up on this - a bit of football history I knew almost nothing about.
I remember R&D starting up and developing a 'super' stadium and them following us into the League - but by then we had folded, so I didn't keep up with non-league football for some years. And by the time I got interested again, R&D had been and gone! And so had Kettering - almost.
Nene park is bloody impressive, but too expensive for any non-league club. Its obvious tenants would be Kettering, after they lost their ground, but they tried and only lasted two seasons - once they dropped out of the Conference there was no way they could afford the upkeep of Nene Park. Even when they played there, they kept the biggest stand shut to reduce costs, and latterly one of the others was closed as well. That's the reality of non-league football and flashy stadiums.
And, unfortunately for Nene Park, there aren't really any other clubs in the area who need a stadium of that size and could afford to pay for it. So, unless it can be reused for something else without much modification, I fear that ultimately it will have to be demolished/rebuilt - at least partly.
As for the "perils of wealthy benefactors" - Max Griggs was involved with R&D for over 13 years, starting by buying both Diamonds and Rushton. then amalgamating the two clubs, then buying them into League football and building Nene Park. Developing the stadium alone cost him £30m, and he must have put a lot more besides into the club. In the end he had to pull out because Doc Martens (which he owned) was going bust.
So hardly, the typical Sugar Daddy. He was the Dale Vince of his time - in for the long run, and prepared to spend whatever it took to fulfil his football dreams. In the end, he was forced to sell up, but even then did the decent thing and sold the club and the £30m stadium to the supporters club for just £1. They were never going to make it work, of course, but what else could he do?
And, from our perspective, are we so sure we're any better or any more secure? After all, Terry and Oliver have only been involved with us for just about half the time Griggs was running R&D, and, although they've 'only' put a fraction of the money into the club that Griggs did, we are as dependent of their generosity as R&D were on his. OK, so if T&O did pull out and sold the club to the supporters for a quid, we could probably make a go of it, but it would be the end of development at the JWW, and any dreams of FL football.
This is the reality of football at our level, unless you've got FL-sized gates and/or you own a ground already developed to FL standard, you are entirely dependent on "wealthy benefactors" - whatever the perils.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2017 18:17:42 GMT
What a waste of a perfectly fine stadium...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2017 0:37:08 GMT
What a waste of a perfectly fine stadium... Absolutely terrible sight. You've really got to feel for the R&D fans - a worse roller coaster than us in some ways. |
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Post by moley on Mar 18, 2017 21:15:54 GMT
Went to Kings Langley today in the Southern League
They have a load of seats from Nene Park waiting piled up to be installed
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2017 11:59:29 GMT
Just spent an hour reading up on this - a bit of football history I knew almost nothing about. I remember R&D starting up and developing a 'super' stadium and them following us into the League - but by then we had folded, so I didn't keep up with non-league football for some years. And by the time I got interested again, R&D had been and gone! And so had Kettering - almost. Nene park is bloody impressive, but too expensive for any non-league club. Its obvious tenants would be Kettering, after they lost their ground, but they tried and only lasted two seasons - once they dropped out of the Conference there was no way they could afford the upkeep of Nene Park. Even when they played there, they kept the biggest stand shut to reduce costs, and latterly one of the others was closed as well. That's the reality of non-league football and flashy stadiums. And, unfortunately for Nene Park, there aren't really any other clubs in the area who need a stadium of that size and could afford to pay for it. So, unless it can be reused for something else without much modification, I fear that ultimately it will have to be demolished/rebuilt - at least partly. As for the "perils of wealthy benefactors" - Max Griggs was involved with R&D for over 13 years, starting by buying both Diamonds and Rushton. then amalgamating the two clubs, then buying them into League football and building Nene Park. Developing the stadium alone cost him £30m, and he must have put a lot more besides into the club. In the end he had to pull out because Doc Martens (which he owned) was going bust. So hardly, the typical Sugar Daddy. He was the Dale Vince of his time - in for the long run, and prepared to spend whatever it took to fulfil his football dreams. In the end, he was forced to sell up, but even then did the decent thing and sold the club and the £30m stadium to the supporters club for just £1. They were never going to make it work, of course, but what else could he do? And, from our perspective, are we so sure we're any better or any more secure? After all, Terry and Oliver have only been involved with us for just about half the time Griggs was running R&D, and, although they've 'only' put a fraction of the money into the club that Griggs did, we are as dependent of their generosity as R&D were on his. OK, so if T&O did pull out and sold the club to the supporters for a quid, we could probably make a go of it, but it would be the end of development at the JWW, and any dreams of FL football. This is the reality of football at our level, unless you've got FL-sized gates and/or you own a ground already developed to FL standard, you are entirely dependent on "wealthy benefactors" - whatever the perils. When I was up in Carlisle and local builder, Fred Storey took over he said to me that football clubs need to things to survive. Fans and a stupid person (like him) with money to put into it when required and to attract capital investment. The season before he too over, the previous chairman, John Courtney, had put in £4m to keep the club afloat |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2017 13:00:26 GMT
When I was up in Carlisle and local builder, Fred Storey took over he said to me that football clubs need to things to survive. Fans and a stupid person (like him) with money to put into it when required and to attract capital investment. Read more: maidstoneunitedfc.proboards.com/thread/6848/nene-park?page=1#ixzz4bs2sEUQbThe season before he too over, the previous chairman, John Courtney, had put in £4m to keep the club afloat If you're gonna pick other people up on typos you really should be more careful about proof reading your own posts  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2017 23:49:17 GMT
When I was up in Carlisle and local builder, Fred Storey took over he said to me that football clubs need to things to survive. Fans and a stupid person (like him) with money to put into it when required and to attract capital investment. Read more: maidstoneunitedfc.proboards.com/thread/6848/nene-park?page=1#ixzz4bs2sEUQbThe season before he too over, the previous chairman, John Courtney, had put in £4m to keep the club afloat If you're gonna pick other people up on typos you really should be more careful about proof reading your own posts The difference is, of course, that mine were typos because I missed something out. You added something in. Hardly a typo. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 7:28:38 GMT
If you're gonna pick other people up on typos you really should be more careful about proof reading your own posts The difference is, of course, that mine were typos because I missed something out. You added something in. Hardly a typo. Rubbish. You know me well enough to realise that using an apostrophe in a plural was unintentional. Just for once admit you're in the wrong. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 23:41:43 GMT
The difference is, of course, that mine were typos because I missed something out. You added something in. Hardly a typo. Rubbish. You know me well enough to realise that using an apostrophe in a plural was unintentional. Just for once admit you're in the wrong. I have no doubt that you made a mistake but it was not unintentional. Mine were because I didn't hit a key hard enough. Yours involved and apostrophe between and 'e' and an 's'. So what you are saying that you had two letters to type which are diagonally adjacent to each other but you instead unintentionally added something in that is across the other side of the keyboard. Why don't you admit to being incorrect. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2017 23:57:34 GMT
The difference is, of course, that mine were typos because I missed something out. You added something in. Hardly a typo. Rubbish. You know me well enough to realise that using an apostrophe in a plural was unintentional. Just for once admit you're in the wrong. never going to happen... |
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