The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Dear All,

As it looks like I might not see you on Boxing Day, I thought I would take a moment to write and wish you all a merry and peaceful Christmas and to thank you for all the hard work that you have done on behalf of AFC Rushden & Diamonds this year.

It's strange to think that 12 months ago our club only had one Under 18s team, no physical assets to speak of and that I had only just written our very first letter of application to the Football Association for a place in the senior pyramid.

What we have achieved since then has been absolutely magnificent, almost unbelievable and I would like to thank every single one of you (and also several others whose email addresses I don't have) for the hard work, dedication, commitment and selflessness that you have shown in order to make it all possible.

Looking around at our rented home, it's amazing to see that it now feels partly ours and to think of the number of links with the community - from bringing in beer from the local brewer, to the young teams who come and entertain the crowd at half time - that we have forged and continue to forge on a daily basis. It's also amazing to experience the level of warmth and good feeling that we are receiving from the local area as a whole and to see all the old faces who are coming back to watch the club in their droves.

The last month and a half has, for me, been a demonstration of exactly why AFC Rushden & Diamonds is so wonderful to be involved with and why we have a long and successful future ahead of us. We've had several weeks without fixtures and where other local clubs have rested on their laurels, we've been pro-active. The first team has trained on every single weekend where there has been a postponed fixture, the shop has been open on several occasions in the cold winter evenings thanks to a dedicated band of volunteers, the christmas party and prize draw were a great success and we handled our long trip to Ashington with professionalism and decorum and accepted our defeat in good grace. The final icing on the cake was seeing the pictures of our players and management staff spreading joy at the hospital - a fine example of the kind of caring community club that we've become.

2013 is going to be bigger, better and more exciting than 2012 and I have lots of exciting plans for all areas of the club as I know many of you do, but as you enjoy your well-earned christmas holiday, I hope that you will take a moment to reflect on the year gone by and feel proud of your involvement in the only truly good thing to happen in Northamptonshire football for a long time.

Here's to another great twelve months.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Ralph


P.s. If you are able, please also forward this message on to those people who I haven't been able to add into the recipients list including Biff, Kelly, The Fundraising Team, The Commercial Team, The Dale's Bar Ladies, all the Stewards and Ground Staff plus all the other volunteers who are too numerous to list.