The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

To Dinky Diamond

You are absolutely so wrong. And I hope everyone reading this board disagrees with you as well.

I am a parent of 2 boys who play for RDFC CoE u15.

Words fail me when I read what you have just suggested about the CoE.

This is THE ONE AND ONLY part of RDFC football club that has been run at break even for the last 2 years - financed through the £400 / year per player and numerous fund raising events. Financed so well I might add that it was the CoE that paid the assistant managers wages! Not that we were aware of this.

Assuming 8 squads of 15 players we have (had) 120 lads who trained twice a week and played 20 - 30 games per year as well as tournaments etc. Many have gone through the squads from u9 to u16 and so have given much of their time to RDFC over 7 years.

Take the lads plus parents plus relatives etc etc and you can see that there are many people involved / impacted by CoE. They have have given many hours per week to RDFC, far more than any supporters, many of which I guess turn up once a fortnight for a couple of hours on a Saturday.

And taking last years 1st year scholars plus this years scholar intake - you have a ready pool of talented youth players available for your Pheonix side. Where else would you get a ready pool of free players?

And you want to throw this away just like that. Priceless.

Deano wrote:To Dinky Diamond

You are absolutely so wrong. And I hope everyone reading this board disagrees with you as well.

I am a parent of 2 boys who play for RDFC CoE u15.

Words fail me when I read what you have just suggested about the CoE.

This is THE ONE AND ONLY part of RDFC football club that has been run at break even for the last 2 years - financed through the £400 / year per player and numerous fund raising events. Financed so well I might add that it was the CoE that paid the assistant managers wages! Not that we were aware of this.

Assuming 8 squads of 15 players we have (had) 120 lads who trained twice a week and played 20 - 30 games per year as well as tournaments etc. Many have gone through the squads from u9 to u16 and so have given much of their time to RDFC over 7 years.

Take the lads plus parents plus relatives etc etc and you can see that there are many people involved / impacted by CoE. They have have given many hours per week to RDFC, far more than any supporters, many of which I guess turn up once a fortnight for a couple of hours on a Saturday.

And taking last years 1st year scholars plus this years scholar intake - you have a ready pool of talented youth players available for your Pheonix side. Where else would you get a ready pool of free players?

And you want to throw this away just like that. Priceless.

Agreed to an extent, but knowing the strength of the set-up, many players will have no trouble getting contracts/scholarships at other clubs - where they have a chance of professional football at the end it (which I assume is what your two boys want). If I was an U16 now and wanting to make it I'd go and try my luck at P*sh/Northampton/Luton/MK/Leicester, not stick around.

Still, you're right about breaking even, and if this efficiency is able to continue, the youth system should definitely be a big part of the new pheonix side in my opinion!

To be honest have we even got much of a youth system left?

From what I hear most lads are trying at Northampton, MK Dons and a vast majority of them will probably end up at K*ttering, whom strangely enough look like they will end up playing out of Nene Park.

Lets be honest a player first and foremost would have sorted himself out now and needs to aspire to a first team. Which at present we havent got?

Despite the Trust agreeing to support the youth set up next season, unless I'm missing something, surely this only applied if RDFC in it's current form was saved?
The Trust has absolutely no mandate from those people that donated money to direct funds raised into any other youth set up, particularly one under the auspices of the proposed new tenants to Nene Park. :evil:

Deano, i wasnt trying to be controversial and I did say regrettably, I cant see the point in investing in a CoE set up if we dont have a first team which we dont/wont have based on the current situation.

I know what effort/money/time has gone into the youth but why groom players for K*ttering/Corby Towns.....all players who are obviously talented need to try to get a run in those teams..............extremely regrettable.

In the fullness of time as and when RDFC get back to where they are the youth setup needs to be reinstated to the level it is now which is excellent.

I do not accept that the money raised to keep club in Conference should be used to maintain the current youth setup - that is not whay the money was raised.

I am really sorry for your two boys!

Why not maintain the youth set up at another club so that if/when the phoenix is at a level to allow it access to the Conference Youth League, we then regain it, whilst ensuring no skills or experience that has been built up over the years is lost?