The notion of your football club ceasing to exist is unthinkable for many fans, but for supporters of Rushden & Diamonds it became a sad reality in 2011. The Northamptonshire-based side, backed by the late Max Griggs, rocketed through non-league in the 1990s and in 2003 reached the third tier of English football before financial issues after he stepped away ultimately saw them fold. A community lost its focal point, and within years their Nene Park stadium had been razed to the ground.
"It was heartbreaking - we knew we'd been robbed." reflected Rob Usher, the chairman of phoenix side AFC Rushden & Diamonds, who will make their FA Cup first-round debut this weekend. "I think it was that anger that probably fuelled the fans saying 'no, we don't accept it. We're not gone, we're not done and we want our club back." Some 2,000 travelling fans will make their way to see the now eighth-tier Diamonds take on League One side Burton Albion on Saturday - a bittersweet reminder of days the supporters of the original club could have once taken for granted.
Usher, like many of those involved with the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands side, has followed both incarnations of the club - firstly as a fan, but also as a groundsman and turnstile operator before becoming chairman in 2022. "My first game was an FA Cup tie against Shrewsbury Town in 1998. It was the year we ended up playing Leeds United in the third round." he said.
"Rushden & Diamonds gave us some great times. Winning leagues, the Duane Darby's, the Onandi Lowe's of our past. But I tell everyone I've never traded for what we have with AFC Rushden & Diamonds.
"This is a community, this is an army of people who turn up and give their time and their money, their care, their devotion... not because they want the club to exist, but because they want the club to thrive. That's why it's so special". Diamonds, who now play their home games at Hayden Road, started their journey to the first round proper with a 5-0 win at Kimberley Miners Welfare in the extra preliminary round on 8 August.
They have also beaten Long Eaton United, Desborough Town, Peterborough Sports, Braintree Town and Morecambe to reach this stage. Along with Stafford Rangers, who host Grimsby Town on Sunday, they are the only side left in the competition to have played from the earliest round and have so far earned £23,194 from the FA's prize fund. The winners of the tie at Burton's Pirelli Stadium will collect £47,750, with the losers taking £15,800.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
