Over the past two weeks, AFC Rushden & Diamonds Members have been voting to decide upon the Club’s new home for the 2017/18 season and beyond, with the poll closing at midnight on Saturday 4th February.
From the three available options, Hayden Road, the home of Rushden & Higham United, was selected by the Membership, receiving over 94% of votes cast.
AFC Rushden & Diamonds would like to place on record our special thanks to the other Clubs involved in the vote, Kempston Rovers and Northampton Sileby Rangers, for the time and effort which they have spent in working with us over the previous weeks and months.
Chairman Ralph Burditt said “I am really pleased that the Members have been so united in their decision. It is a very exciting time for the Club and we can’t wait to start working closely with Rushden & Higham United. To have the opportunity to play within one of the towns which the Club represents is fantastic, although there is obviously a lot of work to do in order to prepare Hayden Road for the new season. In order to complete the work within a reasonable time frame, we will need to rely once again on volunteer effort from our supporters and I know that they won’t let us down.”
In order to comply with ground grading regulations, the Club is required to have a ground share agreement at a ground graded D or above in place by 31st March 2017 for the 2017/18 season. Hayden Road does not currently hold this grade and, therefore, discussions have already commenced with some of the clubs who have expressed an interest in hosting AFC R&D for a short time while we work on Hayden Road and the outcome will be announced in due course.
AFC Rushden & Diamonds will also soon launch a fundraising campaign to assist with covering the cost of the upcoming move to Rushden. Anyone interested in volunteering either to help with this or with some of the practical aspects of the move can register their interest in doing so by emailing membership@afcdiamonds.com
