The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

To pull this back from the membership thread, can we get an update on current state of play re the new home situation. I think if memory serves me right, (at last face to face AGM) I think Ralph said we had agreed a nominal rent on the piece of land with the Duchy of Lancaster?? If so are we still paying this? How far down the development road are we??

I think the general fan base have no idea what is the latest situation on the proposed new ground. There has been zero communication from the board on this matter despite a number of board members registered on this forum.
We apparently have a New Home committee headed up by David Taylor so I think we would all appreciate a short update on the latest progress.

May be an unpopular opinion but I'm happy with where we are at the minute,

I think we need to have a serious discussion about what step we are actually wanting to get to, we don't want to be building a new stadium and then struggling to fill it while banking on getting promoted, we need to make sure we have a good structure in place first, income streams etc, youth teams, it should be possible to build a stadium for this league that is easily expandable for if and when we move up the league, until we find such a site the current site is good enough for this level.

Adrian wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 7:49 pm May be an unpopular opinion but I'm happy with where we are at the minute,

I think we need to have a serious discussion about what step we are actually wanting to get to, we don't want to be building a new stadium and then struggling to fill it while banking on getting promoted, we need to make sure we have a good structure in place first, income streams etc, youth teams, it should be possible to build a stadium for this league that is easily expandable for if and when we move up the league, until we find such a site the current site is good enough for this level.

It may not be such an unpopular opinion as you think. Many Diamonds fans will look back on how the RDFC Supporters Trust were unable to make a success of the club when they had "ownership" of Nene Park - and how much of that was down to stadium running costs. Many other Fan owned clubs have relied on subsidised arrangements for their stadium, and the likes of Wycombe Wanderers have had to sell out to an investor.

The possibility of community grants seems very difficult to align with this initiative - and how reliable such grants might be given political changes, pandemics, recesssions etc.

There are many unanswered questions about any new ground, regarding access, parking, local transport which are fundamental to the profitabilty of such a venture - and then there is the question of the playing surface and the possible impact on gates. That needs discussing alongside how many locals might embrace such a location and start coming to games.

It's easy to think we must have our own ground to progress - but there needs to be consideration of whether it might prove to be a millstone.

Formic wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 7:42 am

Adrian wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 7:49 pm May be an unpopular opinion but I'm happy with where we are at the minute,

I think we need to have a serious discussion about what step we are actually wanting to get to, we don't want to be building a new stadium and then struggling to fill it while banking on getting promoted, we need to make sure we have a good structure in place first, income streams etc, youth teams, it should be possible to build a stadium for this league that is easily expandable for if and when we move up the league, until we find such a site the current site is good enough for this level.

It may not be such an unpopular opinion as you think. Many Diamonds fans will look back on how the RDFC Supporters Trust were unable to make a success of the club when they had "ownership" of Nene Park - and how much of that was down to stadium running costs. Many other Fan owned clubs have relied on subsidised arrangements for their stadium, and the likes of Wycombe Wanderers have had to sell out to an investor.

There are many unanswered questions about any new ground, regarding access, parking, local transport which are fundamental to the profitabilty of such a venture - and then there is the question of the playing surface and the possible impact on gates. That needs discussing alongside how many locals might embrace such a location and start coming to games.

Written with absolutely no understanding of what the cost implications of either would be, is there not an argument that we would be better off using the funds required to build a new home from scratch to try and secure ownership of Hayden road and develop it ourselves?

Worth remembering that AFCR&D is much more than the first team and the new home gives us opportunities to promote/house the youth and community teams which is simply not possible at Hayden Rd.