Diamonds are Forever?

Perhaps you remember the Doc Martins, are they still around? Remember Max Griggs the owner of Doc Martins, who was the man behind the merging of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds to become Rushden and Diamonds, with the merger kicking in on the 21^st April 1992, a new club was formed. So what happened to the ‘Diamonds are Forever’ tag?

Griggs at the time was the fifth richest man in Britain, and the aim was to fast track up the pyramid system with their rise being nothing short of spectacular. The clubs’ starting point was in the Southern League Midland division, to be played at the Diamonds Nene Park Stadium in the delights of Northamptonshire. The kindreds of the area to be called a hen, to be part of the tribalism of the country cousins, a strange quirk in that part of the country. The rocket was launched for the Diamonds with the rocketing up the leagues to begin, and within four years the club had landed in the National League Conference 1996 being the pivotal year. To celebrate the club’s launch pad further a 30 million pound investment was pumped into an advanced stadium development, to reach out to a six thousand five hundred capacity and became the standard of most division one clubs.

In 2001 the club attained Football League status, which was classed as the third division of the Football League, known as League Two today. To further brand name with the former Arsenal and Ipswich Town midfielder Brain Talbot leading in the technical area. The oracle lasted one season with a quickfire relegation to the National League, the club’s first relegation. The Diamonds regrouped and laid out a huge outlay on the training ground facilities, to upgrade on a better environment for players to train. It had an immediate impact, and in the season 2003-2004, the Diamonds laid true to their tag and regained their Football League status. During the season, owner Max Grigg’s Doc Martin empire collapsed with bankruptcy knocking at the door. Production of the ‘Docs’ ceased, with the Northamptonshire production site closing. The can of Diamonds started to spill, with the balance sheets bust gutting at the scatter gun rate of a 200 million pound overspend against incoming revenues. The mounting debts led to a fire sale come administration at the end of the 2005-2006 season, declining attendances fast tracked the demise. In 2007 local businessman Keith Cousins covered the club’s debts with short term loans once the club was handed to him. Prior to Cousins’ takeover, the club’s supporters trust acquired the club from Griggs for one pound. For the 2008-9 season the former Tottenham player Justin Edinburgh was appointed the manager with the Diamonds missing out on promotion via the play-offs. During mid-season 2010-11, Cousins sold the club to businessman G Calder, with the club in terminal decline and needing to raise an initial 750,000 pounds within a two week deadline. The money could not be raised, and the Diamonds were expelled from the league at the final resting position in the league at the number 13 slot, unlucky thirteen. For the 2011-12 season the Diamonds applied to join the Southern League, but that was too fanciful to transpire, and on July 7^th 2011 the club entered administration which led to officially being wound up. The Nene Park Stadium remained abandoned for six years and was demolished in 2017, all that remains of the ground is a section of steps for supporters to reminisce. A tragic end to a fairy tale story, but lessons are there to be learned. Looking to fast track can lead to oblivion, that’s the risk factor, link to article dated Jan 5^th 2022 ‘The Pyramid System’, glorification the calamitous.

The Barce Diamonds

Staying with the Diamonds are forever theme, with Barcelona to create their own Barce diamond catalogue using the pitch grass to carbonise, magic diamonds are forever, it’s a high pressure process to conjure the diamonds drop zoned out of thin air, show me your hand set the magician man, diamond pins, bracelets, cufflinks, rings, necklaces, the diamond studded Lionel Messi Inter Milan Sheild, all part of the play, any concept deal to get the punters to part with their cash cream the items at £1200 a piece at a net busting 25 million pounds a year diamond heist, no more trips to South Africa on those gold seeking mine trips, but the Camp Nou Stadium is near on demolished to renew, a gravel laden pitch, all makes sense doesn’t it, smell the diamonds?