The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

^^ I think he means 'Rushden' in the sense of the supporters having the funds, not neccessarily my hometown. Remember that in the wider footballing world, the club is generally referred to and known as Rushden.

Personally I don't think it did happen "rapidly". The loss of fans seemed to happen over a 5 year period of time. I still recall playing St. Albans (I think it was) in the BSP in front of 2500 (ish) fans. Enough to have kept the club going.
That's another reason why I'd prefer a name change, so it doesn't end up with the stigma of being from 1 place. We're gonna draw support from all over the area still and a lot of people at the meeting will be from that area not just Rushden or Irthlingborough. Of course the "identity" needs preserving, but that will be in us and our legacy (and hopefully our badge) not our name.

But those people at the meeting in the main will be interested in a team with Rushden & Diamonds or similar. People know you're on about, and as I keep saying the club is known by both names in the local and wider football community by those names. Any radical change and it's not a phoenix club.

Anyway I would have thought that the number of people that follow us who aren't from Irthlingborough or Rushden shows that a team with 'Rushden' and 'Diamonds' in it's name has appeal.

Alienate our starting fanbase over a radical change in name and we'll be dead before we begin.

As many of you know, I'm not local, I'm from Bedford, so have no great affinity with the area, its the club I've supported. I'd prefer the name to stay the same, or as near as damn it, but can see what Robin is getting at.

The club IS the people, its the community, as long as its founding members understand who were are and what we stand for we could be called anything, providing the heritage of the "old" club has been preserved in some way (colours, badge etc) we'd know who we were, our sense of identity would be sound.

Providing the majority of the people who are setting up the club agree on a name, then we'll have that clear identity.

I'd prefer AFC R&D because it clearly does what it says on the tin - but if we wanted to appeal to a wider area then we may need a fresh new name - anyway, we may find that our previous owners block any use of the name and that we're forced to find a new one.

One thing that worries me is KTFC moving into NP. If KC pulls off some investment to give them a flying start (the Japanese?) and ultimately changes the name (I know the statement said there would be no name change, but hey, isn't that what Wimbledon said when they moved to MK? What happened soon after they moved in?) they may well claim our heritage - which would be wrong IMO, but he holds all the history in the stadium doesn't he? For many ex-Diamonds, the name change and fantastic facility might sway them, make it more palatable and they'll go for the easy option - setting up and following a new side in the UCL is definately not that !! We may end up with the moral high ground, but little else if we don't get the support.

Thats why it is so important to move fairly swiftly to gauge how many people will follow a newly formed side (not all ex-Diamonds will) and get the ball rolling - I personally think KTFC in its current guise has one season.

Mad Dog wrote:But those people at the meeting in the main will be interested in a team with Rushden & Diamonds or similar. People know you're on about, and as I keep saying the club is known by both names in the local and wider football community by those names. Any radical change and it's not a phoenix club.

Anyway I would have thought that the number of people that follow us who aren't from Irthlingborough or Rushden shows that a team with 'Rushden' and 'Diamonds' in it's name has appeal.

Alienate our starting fanbase over a radical change in name and we'll be dead before we begin.

I agree 100%. Any name that doesn't include both "Rushden" and "Diamonds" in its name would make the whole venture worthless, as it would be the same as founding a brand new club with no history. Over 3000 people used to follow Rushden & Diamonds, and two-thirds of them have moved on - if we can attract some of them back to a new club without the baggage that turned them away in the past we'll start getting somewhere.

Now the meeting date has been fixed we can make it clear to any press who chase up stories about the demise of R&DFC 1992-2011 that steps are being taken to revive it - and with the AFC Wimbledon story getting a lot of press we might just get enough coverage to tempt a few people back into the fold.

Formic wrote: I agree 100%. Any name that doesn't include both "Rushden" and "Diamonds" in its name would make the whole venture worthless, as it would be the same as founding a brand new club with no history. Over 3000 people used to follow Rushden & Diamonds, and two-thirds of them have moved on - if we can attract some of them back to a new club without the baggage that turned them away in the past we'll start getting somewhere

Sorry Formic, but you've contradicted yourself there so I'm confused. In one sentence you call it a worthless venture setting up a new club, in the next you're trying to attract some of them back to a new club. We didn't start as Rushden & Diamonds with 3000 fans, we got them along the way. We are starting a new club aren't we ?
I'll go with the majority view, just worth debating I thought.

Two of Diamonds wrote:

Formic wrote: I agree 100%. Any name that doesn't include both "Rushden" and "Diamonds" in its name would make the whole venture worthless, as it would be the same as founding a brand new club with no history. Over 3000 people used to follow Rushden & Diamonds, and two-thirds of them have moved on - if we can attract some of them back to a new club without the baggage that turned them away in the past we'll start getting somewhere

Sorry Formic, but you've contradicted yourself there so I'm confused. In one sentence you call it a worthless venture setting up a new club, in the next you're trying to attract some of them back to a new club. We didn't start as Rushden & Diamonds with 3000 fans, we got them along the way. We are starting a new club aren't we ?
I'll go with the majority view, just worth debating I thought.

I'm saying there's no point starting a club called East Northants United - it has to have "Rushden" and "Diamonds" in the title. The last thing I'm trying to say is that it's a worthless venture doing that !!!!

Despite what you have been told, I believe neither "Rushden and Diamonds" nor "Rushden & Diamonds" are registered trademarks. The only registered trademark is R&DFC. This means that subject to a bit more checking you should be free to use "AFC Rushden and Diamonds" or something similar if you want to.

Hedgehog wrote:Despite what you have been told, I believe neither "Rushden and Diamonds" nor "Rushden & Diamonds" are registered trademarks. The only registered trademark is R&DFC. This means that subject to a bit more checking you should be free to use "AFC Rushden and Diamonds" or something similar if you want to.

Useful bit of info that. I think you should contact the SaveRDFC team via the website, unless they've contacted you already.

Everyone who has run rdfc since max left :evil: :evil: :evil: