Trust given thumbs up
Supporters of Rushden & Diamonds last night gave 100 per cent backing to the bid to secure the club's survival.
The unanimous vote to set up a supporters' trust came at the end of a two-hour meeting with around 300 people packed into the Kimberley Suite at Nene Park to hear about ambitious plans.
Volunteers will now set up a working party and steering committee to officially launch the trust before their first annual meeting and a takeover of the Irthlingborough complex, except for the Dr Martens Sports & Exhibition Centre, within the next few months. Max and Stephen Griggs have vowed to hand control to the supporters with an extra incentive of £750,000 over two seasons after failing to find a buyer since putting Diamonds up for sale in October 2003.
Club chaplain Canon Roger Knight, who chaired the open meeting, said: "The last year and a half have been unusually hard for the club. Thanks to the generosity of Max and Stephen we now have the opportunity to find a way forward. This is a very important meeting about the whole future of the club."
Paul Hajduk, trust co-ordinator and Supporters' Club treasurer, added: "This is probably the best way to ensure football is played at Nene Park. We are looking at owning the club. Most of all what we need is passion and commitment to make this work.
"If we don't form a trust then ultimately it's for Max and Stephen to decide what happens. But I think as things stand at the moment they can't afford to continue to fund it so football would cease to be played here."
Dave Boyle, deputy manager of Supporters Direct who helped to set up more than 100 trusts nationwide, declared: "It's onwards and upwards now. You are going down a path where many others have been. This is not an experiment which might go wrong. It's a tried and trusted method.
"The fans are the moral owners at the heart of the football club. You will have real ownership and you are finding yourselves in a wonderful situation with fantastic facilities and pretty much no debts. You can't afford not to do this."
Both supporters clubs vowed to unite over the trust project while Diamonds secretary Dave Joyce confirmed there are no potential buyers currently showing an interest who could challenge a takeover, now likely to take place in the summer.
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