The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Final game of the season at the Dog and Duck for the U18''s

Not just the final game of the season but the final game ever in the Northants Senior Youth League for Diamonds U18's.

Whilst the decision to re structure the clubs youth/under 21's is a good idea it will be a shame to not have any Monday evening youth football to watch in future...or have I misunderstood something.?

Will we have U21's instead to watch if we join the UCL Under 21 League? which I hope is the case.

Saturday mornings at Raunds Manor, playing in a meaningless league, have been a no show for most fans and I am not sure how useful it has been for the senior players to get match fit etc as most of them left the club or had a strop if selected.

That first season following the Under 18's will never be forgotten by the fans of AFC R & D, nor by the players who won that Cup Final at Corby. Those lads will always have a place in the history of AFC R & D.

At the Members Forum IIRC it was said that the U21's would not play on a regular basis at the Dog & Duck since there is a limit that the pitch can take with the amount of football currently played on it. It would seem that they will continue to play on the 3G surface at Raunds Manor next season whatever the U21 league they actually decide to enter.

Thanks Trek.

I was not able to be at the Fans Forum so the news about the Under 18's came as a surprise to me.

I guess if we join the UCL under 21's league we may be able to play at Raunds Manor, do they have floodlights there?

Thereare floodlights at Raunds, but as games will be played on Saturday mornings they won't be nnecessary.

There are a few options open to us regarding pitches

It is a shame games have to be played on a Saturday morning as they will get virtually no support.
That means with no gate money the club will lose money on these games and one of the reasons given for the change of structure was to cut costs.

This is assuming we stay in same under 21 league

It might be better to play in the UCL Under 21 league at a ground that does have lights and get some sort of crowd. Maybe Whitworths will oblige! or more realistically Irchester might be happy to assist.

sussexdiamond wrote:It is a shame games have to be played on a Saturday morning as they will get virtually no support.
That means with no gate money the club will lose money on these games and one of the reasons given for the change of structure was to cut costs.

This is assuming we stay in same under 21 league

It might be better to play in the UCL Under 21 league at a ground that does have lights and get some sort of crowd. Maybe Whitworths will oblige! or more realistically Irchester might be happy to assist.

Don't forget that any initiative to play these games in front of paying spectators has various implications, not least that it needs a set of volunteers to perform the various matchday roles. Given the response to requests for additional volunteers for the U18 / U21 setups, I'd guess that the "usual suspects" would be required once again.

I'm not sure if the new U18 side, which I'm told will be of similar standard to the current one, will be able to enter the FA Youth Cup, but that was certainly one of the few times we saw a reasonable turnout for U18 games last season.

sussexdiamond wrote:It is a shame games have to be played on a Saturday morning as they will get virtually no support.
That means with no gate money the club will lose money on these games and one of the reasons given for the change of structure was to cut costs.

This is assuming we stay in same under 21 league

It might be better to play in the UCL Under 21 league at a ground that does have lights and get some sort of crowd. Maybe Whitworths will oblige! or more realistically Irchester might be happy to assist.

UCL U21's will also be played on Saturday mornings, UCL ground gradings won't apply.

Whitworths & Irchester both have first, reserve and U18 playing on their pitch so wouldn't want another game on it.

Formic wrote:I'm not sure if the new U18 side, which I'm told will be of similar standard to the current one, will be able to enter the FA Youth Cup, but that was certainly one of the few times we saw a reasonable turnout for U18 games last season.

The Academy U18 side will be eligible for the FA Youth Cup next season.

On the U21 front, the UCL have announced that Biggleswade Town are entering a team into their U21 league, which broadens the UCL network a bit further south east, at least at U21 level. They claim to have 7 teams confirmed now, with 3 others interested, so its getting closer to being a viable league.