The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Unable to attend last night but certainly reads like an interesting meeting. Was it mentioned how much has been collected in donations and the hard work of many people which I understand is being held by the Trust ?.Well done all concerned.

very good meeting, i would love to see a youth team playing as AFC Rushden & Diamonds. The guys have done an amazing job so far, lots of hard work moving forward. Interesting to hear the guests speaking too, give you hope doesnt it.

diamondal wrote:Unable to attend last night but certainly reads like an interesting meeting. Was it mentioned how much has been collected in donations and the hard work of many people which I understand is being held by the Trust ?.Well done all concerned.

I think its around £7,5k held in cash donations.

The season ticket pledges were about £23k

Biggles wrote:

diamondal wrote:Unable to attend last night but certainly reads like an interesting meeting. Was it mentioned how much has been collected in donations and the hard work of many people which I understand is being held by the Trust ?.Well done all concerned.

I think its around £7,5k held in cash donations.

The season ticket pledges were about £23k

Excellent ! Well done all concerned. Was there for start of RDFC, Hope to be there for the new beginning When you get to my age it,s all about hope eh, Red Diamond

Yes Alan, Bob and no hope! :lol:

Red Diamond wrote:Yes Alan, Bob and no hope! :lol:

But Chris was there ;)

Long way to go, but every journey starts with a first step. If Truro can do it then so can we. IMO the current Trust needs to be an integral part of the new set-up, maybe the club steering group (once it's been set up) could also be Trust board members, and every fan who pays for a share also becomes an automatic Trust member?
As for the guys currently driving this initiative, if they are not going to stand for election to the steering committee then PLEASE pass on whatever knowledge you have amassed so far to those that do.

All sounds very positive, for those that weren't there, whats the plan? What's the next step?

Once we've had confirmation R & DFC is done for following the FA & Conference appeals, to register a youth team for next season in a local youth league (the current R & DFC one has an offer to remain at it's current level). A chap called Steve Whitney has come forward to set it up and get it going, playing evening games so we can get along to support and raise more funds. Location as yet not determined as still no ground sorted. There have been preliminary discussions with 3 local clubs to use facilities, but no firm offers nor deals on the table.
Set up a steering committee elected by the fans (one fan, one vote) to run a "practice" season with the youth set up before setting up a senior side probably at UCL level somewhere. This is the highest we will be able to apply for considering the new FA rules, and we'll have to have a business plan in place to justify which UCL division we can apply for.
Following confirmation of R & DFC's demise a follow-up meeting will be called.

Two of Diamonds wrote:Once we've had confirmation R & DFC is done for following the FA & Conference appeals, to register a youth team for next season in a local youth league (the current R & DFC one has an offer to remain at it's current level). A chap called Steve Whitney has come forward to set it up and get it going, playing evening games so we can get along to support and raise more funds. Location as yet not determined as still no ground sorted. There have been preliminary discussions with 3 local clubs to use facilities, but no firm offers nor deals on the table.
Set up a steering committee elected by the fans (one fan, one vote) to run a "practice" season with the youth set up before setting up a senior side probably at UCL level somewhere. This is the highest we will be able to apply for considering the new FA rules, and we'll have to have a business plan in place to justify which UCL division we can apply for.
Following confirmation of R & DFC's demise a follow-up meeting will be called.

Thanks for that ToD. An excellent summary

PigmanRDFC wrote:Cracking meeting tonight, well done to all involved, especially to Marshall and Ralph who led the meeting so professionally, but also to the guys behind the scenes who have obviously all worked so hard.

A hard route ahead, but exciting all the same - the prospect of watching a youth side this year really appeals to me, I hope it can be pulled off, I've been greatly encouraged talking to various people tonight.

I'm still a tad worried that the "movers and shakers" to make it all happen haven't yet come forward - we need leaders and while I see lots of people willing to help (which is terrific) we do need people to assume the top jobs, by their own mouths Marshall and Ralph indicated they may not be willing to take it forward beyond getting the ball rolling - we need some key people, have we got them waiting in the wings somewhere?

The next few weeks will be interesting, but as I say, I'm greatly encouraged after tonight.........oh and another £320 in the kitty

Well said Jim. Well done to all for putting on a well organised/structured event, and thanks to all the people that were able to turn up as well.

Also just to confirm officially to all £320.27 was raised and bagged [will be rechecked today, but we had 3 or 4 counters last night]

And to the person that was getting a little ahead of themselves with the first donation for our European Fund, thanks for the 10 Eurocents ;-)