Rushden & Diamonds Football Club

Rushden & Diamonds History

2005-06 Season

24th, Relegated from League Two
League Cup: 1st Round, Coventry City h. 0-3
FA Cup: 2nd Round, Leyton Orient h. 0-1
LDV Vans: 2nd Round, Swansea City a. 0-4

Highlight:
3-0 win over Oxford United 28/1/06

Low Spot:
1-3 home defeat to Wycombe Wanderers 22/4/06

Good:
Marcus Kelly
Quick and direct player who really established himself with his displays down either flank.
Never went hiding even with the side struggling badly and provided a real ray of hope for the future.
One way or another he should see league football again.
Simeon Jackson
Only featured late on when things were really desperate and showed himself up to the challenge with 5 goals from 8 starts and 5 sub appearances.
Quick and confident more should have been made of his talents in the relegation battle.

In Brief:
Six points came from the first four games but after that it was a real struggle all the way.
Six defeats in a row from Boxing Day confirmed that the club was facing an almighty relegation battle and although the club had its' best spell from the end of February when 14 points were gathered in 7 games this form could not be maintained.
Instead, with their rivals all picking up points at the death, Rushden lost their last four games to bow out of league football with a whimper.
In a word; tepid.

Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was formed in 1992 with the amalgamation of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds. The driving force behind this new club was Max Griggs, the owner of Dr Martens, and with his money behind them the club developed remarkably quickly.

In 1994 Rushden won the Southern League Midland Division and the following season they reached the semi finals of the FA Trophy before losing narrowly to Woking.

In 1996 they progressed into the Conference after winning the Southern League Premier Division.

The Diamonds then spent five seasons in the Conference before taking the step up into the Football League in 2001 as champions of that division.

Still the club continued to progress. They made the third division play offs in their first season in the league after finishing 6th. They were paired with Rochdale in the semi finals and could only manage a 2-2 draw at Nene Park in the first leg. The Diamonds came from a goal down in the return to win 2-1, however, and clinch a trip to the Millennium Stadium.

There was disappointment in store in the final as Cheltenham Town ran out 3-1 winners.

In 2002-03 Rushden won promotion to the second division as Division Three champions.

After a decade of continual success, however, this proved a step too far. The Diamonds were relegated straight back into the basement and finished only one place above the drop zone last season.

Rushden have yet to make it beyond the 2nd round of the League Cup but did reach the 3rd round of the FA Cup as a Conference club in both 1999 and 2000.

In 1999 they knocked out Forest Green Rovers, Leatherhead, Shrewsbury Town and Doncaster Rovers before meeting Leeds United. The Diamonds earned a goalless draw at Nene Park and actually took the lead at Elland Road before falling to a 3-1 defeat.

The following year they knocked out Sutton United, Scunthorpe United and Ilkeston Town before facing Sheffield United in the 3rd round. They drew 1-1 both away and at home before losing out 6-5 in a penalty shoot out.

The most famous name associated with the club remains Brian Talbot, the former Ipswich, Arsenal and England midfielder, who was the manager at Nene Park from 1997 to 2004 and steered the club from the Conference to the second division.

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