The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

K*ttering Town Trust members want a meeting with Ladak but can't seem to contact him:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 439897.stm

They want to take over the running of the club... which has worked out so well for everyone else who's tried it.

wewantourdarbyback wrote:They want to take over the running of the club... which has worked out so well for everyone else who's tried it.

Your irony / sarcasm is appropriate (with a few exceptions) - and they can't expect to be spoonfed with such a generous gift and cash injection as our Supporters' Trust had. Perhaps that might make them rather more focussed on running a successful club within its means, rather than keeping the blinkers on until they end up giving their Crown Jewels away.

Contraversial Formic !! :lol:

I hate the scum with a passion, but I'd never wish them to fold, just get relegated and plod along in a godforsaken lower league somewhere living on scraps ;)

If their Trust do takeover good luck to them, they'll need it.

I think our Supporters Trust should have made a success of running the club - instead they hired idiot managers, and splashed out on donkeys like Leo Fortune-West.

Unfortunately we had people running the ship who had no clue about running a football club including HT, who by the way I believe is still Secretary of the trust AND chairwomen at Corby? Conflict of interest - oh yes!

It's easy to forget how generous Max was - here are the words from the fateful press release in Jan 2005 -

"Following this morning's Board Meeting and further to the initiative from Rushden and Diamonds FC supporters to set up a supporters' trust, Max and Stephen Griggs would like to make it clear that their preferred option for the future of Rushden and Diamonds FC would be for the Club to be owned and managed by its supporters in the local community.

"To this effect Max and Stephen are prepared to give the Club, the stadium (but not the Sports & Exhibition Centre) and all of the 22 acres of land at Nene Park to a supporters' trust. They are also prepared to offer a cash injection of £500,000 for the season 2005/06 and £250,000 for the season 2006/07 to facilitate the transfer to the supporters. This offer would, however, not bind the Club to the continuation of Dr Martens shirt or stand sponsorship, so that the Club will have more possibilities of attracting new sources of income."

UttoDiamond wrote:I think our Supporters Trust should have made a success of running the club - instead they hired idiot managers, and splashed out on donkeys like Leo Fortune-West.

Unfortunately we had people running the ship who had no clue about running a football club including HT, who by the way I believe is still Secretary of the trust AND chairwomen at Corby? Conflict of interest - oh yes!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and we all had our chance of making a success of it. At the time we looked to the future, but only when we read the small print did we find out that the board members of a Football Club are personally responsible for its debts. How many of us would want that hanging over us as a volunteer?
I believe at the time that Max gave us all the money in a lump sum, and a fair proportion of it probably went into the upkeep of the facilities, leaving a gaping hole in the playing budget. If he'd kept going until the end of that season we'd probably not have lost our players nor got relegated, we would have been in a better position to cope.

Two of Diamonds wrote: Hindsight is a wonderful thing and we all had our chance of making a success of it. At the time we looked to the future, but only when we read the small print did we find out that the board members of a Football Club are personally responsible for its debts. How many of us would want that hanging over us as a volunteer?
I believe at the time that Max gave us all the money in a lump sum, and a fair proportion of it probably went into the upkeep of the facilities, leaving a gaping hole in the playing budget. If he'd kept going until the end of that season we'd probably not have lost our players nor got relegated, we would have been in a better position to cope.

I can't agree with that. There was limited / no opportunity for most of us to get involved in those key early days - the initial composition of the Trust seemed to be a "done deal" for those of us who weren't privy to the "behind the scenes" meetings. I was on holiday when the only open meeting took place, but the reports from it appeared to suggest the various positions had been pre-filled.

The point about the implied liabilities is a reasonable one - but why did it take over 12 months to surface ? I know it would be the first thing I would check.

During the 2005/06 season, when the Trust took control, our gates were around 3000 even though we faced our second season of struggle in League 2. There had been a focus on costs - such as player wages - for well over 12 months, with Max having started the ball rolling with the cuts involving Onandi Lowe, Paul Underwood, Paul Hall and Marcus Bignot in March 2004.

The Trust chose not to communicate properly with its members - banning board members from various internet forums and putting out statements in minutes that led the fanbase to believe things were under control - e.g. the minutes of the meeting at the start of the 2006/07 season stated:

"Update of current season Profit and Loss. This showed that the Club continues to make good financial progress, with around £1m improvement in the run rate trading position during the current year.
"Forecast for 2006/07 season. This showed that it is possible for the Club to achieve break even over the year.
"Cash Flow Projections for 2006/07. This showed that Club should be able to maintain positive cash balances over the year."

However, just four months later KC had taken over and the statement was:

"I am pleased that we have been able to rescue the club from almost certain closure. The Board has worked tirelessly to secure the long-term future of the club and we are delighted to now have completed this agreement with Keith. "

Indeed, the Q&A issued at the time stated:

11. Q. What would have happened without Keith’s investment? A. It is almost inevitable that the club would enter administration because the costs are too high in relation to the income. This could lead to the transfer of the club to alternative parties where the Trust would have no influence in the ongoing running of the club.

That of course was followed a couple of months later by the revelation that the deal was dependant upon a plan to effectively give KC control of the assets - and thus deny the Trust any further significant "influence in the ongoing running of the club".

If you look at the Playing Squad for the 2006/07 season, and work out which of them would have been with the club during the four months things turned on their head, you won't find many "pre-Trust" players in there - http://www.thediamondsfc.com/page/Stats ... 86,00.html

I've spent a lot of time and effort trying to support the Trust, but we have to accept the initiative hasn't worked for Rushden & Diamonds.

Formic wrote: There was limited / no opportunity for most of us to get involved in those key early days - the initial composition of the Trust seemed to be a "done deal" for those of us who weren't privy to the "behind the scenes" meetings.

I would endorse that having attended the first ever meeting of the fund raising group. Recall having a discussion with Charlie Brown after that meeting and we both came to the conclusion that every thing was 'cut and dried' with regard to those who had decided that they would run the Club.

Never mind it's all water under the bridge and I will be interested to see if the Ploppies can make any headway in their Trust's desire to run their club. They certainly will have to put their egos to one side.

I don't deny that errors were made by the Trust, but didn't we vote for who we wanted on the Board? It's all too easy to criticise when you're not or haven't been in that position to know what's going on.
People put their heads above the parapet and themselves under severe stress as volunteers, I'm certainly not going to take a pot shot at them - even after the event. Hell, even I had sleepless nights with the limited info I had. Max himself admitted he'd created a "monster", and that was before handing it to the Trust, THAT'S why we must get behind our current owners and give them the chance to succeed where we failed.