The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

the ground isnt up to the standard we need ,thats why i said take a step backwards ie drop down a league....if we show the council we are prepared to sacrifice our momentum they may feel a little guilty and help us (and rhfc)out ,but i wont hold my breath

discodunk wrote:the ground isnt up to the standard we need

Surely Hayden Road is only graded for Step 6 football? Has the issue with the discovery of asbestos in the main timber grandstand now been resolved? Following your thinking and suggestion would mean a two league demotion and whilst we may have played before a near 1200 crowd back in October 2012 in our first senior season I shouldn't think there would be the same enthusiasm amongst our regular fan base now for watching at football at this ground in the UCL Division 1.

If we could be guaranteed a very long stay at Hayden Road I would vote for it. Demolish the main stand and completely rebuild that side of the ground & put the Debanke terrace behind the goal. Yes that would cost ££££ but no more than a whole new ground. I could live with ground sharing at St Neots for a season.

However I'm sure everything has been considered and looking forward to Wednesday

I can't see Hayden Road happening for a number of reason, some stated already. You need to add in the parking issues, the bar ownership. The ground isn't owned by the football club so you potentially have the same problem as the D&D.

Plus the dressing rooms are one of the three worst in the UCL.

oliverrush wrote:

discodunk wrote:i personaly think a best option would be to take a step backwards(contraversial i know),,,my reasoning is___as proven by a high attendace---is to try and share with rushden and higham,,,,if we shoehorn our way in then we can be part of whatever scheme the council have when they move the football club and cricket club in the future

Pretty sure Rushden and Higham ground isn't up to scratch, and it will cost the club a lot of money to get the ground up to scratch.

You're right, but if it's an option (and that's a big if) you've got to weigh up those costs against the inevitable drop in attendances if we moved further away from Rushden/Higham/Irthlingborough, compared to the a potential increase in attendances if we're back in our home area. A difference of just 50 adult supporters per game is £9k over the course of a season (this is a very simplistic figure, and doesn't include tax deductions, but you get the picture).

As much as I'd love to ground share with R&H at Hayden Road, it would cost the club far too much to upgrade the ground to the level we want to be, plus the asbestos issue still isn't resolved as far as I know.

I'd be happy to go to Bedford or even Raunds Town, I'm not sure what Raunds ground grading is though.

Just popping my head up from lurking. Interesting to hear this proposal. I live in north Beds and pop along to Rushden games and Bedford games on occasion. My two-pence worth is that the biggest bugbear I have with BTFC is that the ground is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't feel part of Bedford as a town. For AFCRD, it's undoubtedly the wrong side of town, however the southern bypass does make it pretty easy to get to, and Rushden fans who are not close to the A428 (Turvey) route could now use the A6 and cut across on the new northern bypass to double back to Great Denham and get on the southern bypass (which has got to be quicker than battling through Bedford High Street). You could maybe even go cross country via Thurleigh etc to come at the bypass from the other side via Norse Rd etc depending where you live.
One leftfield suggestion though - did anyone consider Bedford Rugby Club for a groundshare? More work involved in changing marks and goalposts, but what a location that would be for a football team. You'd get big crowds from the footfall of a town centre location.
Best of luck whatever you do. Try to save Nene Park though, love that place.

I think some people are assuming that Hayden road isn't up to scratch have these people been to any away games recently!! I know it's not perfect but with a very small outlay the ground will be perfectly acceptable for the level we are currently at and the level above as for the changing rooms I can think of several worse than at Hayden rd the dog and ducks are hardly glamorous. I think people need to look at the bigger picture and not how close they may live to our temporary new home the club needs to grow as does the fan base so keeping it as close to our original birthplace is definitely going to benefit us in the long run.

Bedford has a nice ground but if we move there it would be disaster in my eyes, St Neots could work for a season but long term the club has to stay local.

St Neots is a much bigger no go than bedford in my eyes. There are no public transport lines between st Neots and Rushden for a start, it may be a nice ground but it's bloody awkward to get to