Another very busy week at AFC Rushden & Diamonds with lots of change!
Voting in the election of members to the Board closed on Tuesday and the results were published on the Members’ Area of the website ahead of the EGM on Wednesday evening. Despite the awful weather, we were pleased to have 26 members attending the EGM in person and another 12 attending online via Zoom. This meant that the meeting was quorate, and the results of the election were unanimously accepted. In case anyone missed it, here are the results:
- Brett Abbott 70 votes
- James Anker 48 votes
- Jason Davis 46 votes
- David Kalicki 55 votes
- Alex Raspin 82 votes
- Robert Usher 69 votes
- Lee Sambridge 40 votes
Therefore, the following were elected to the Board:
- Alex Raspin and Brett Abbott for a period of 3 years
- Robert Usher until July 2025
- David Kalicki until July 2024
- James Anker until July 2023
As always, we extend our grateful thanks to Gemma Hartop who acted as our Election Officer.
The Board now has 8 members: Brett Abbott, Jim Anker, Dave Bland, Stacey Hawkins, David Kalicki, Roger Paterson, Alex Raspin and Rob Usher.
Following the EGM, the new Board met for the first time in order to discuss the most pressing matters and they will meet again next week in order to elect officials and spend a bit more time planning a way forward. The working groups are starting to come together. Initial meetings have been held of both the matchday and commercial groups. There are some great ideas coming from our fans and we look forward to working together to see them through. Our biggest concern now is the lack of a main sponsor, so if anybody knows of any firm who may like to sponsor the Club, please get in touch with either Alex Raspin or Rob Usher.
On Thursday morning, Richard Maxwell was relieved from his position as first team manager. It’s fair to say that Richard’s appointment proved to be a defining moment in our Club’s history and is one that has united us all. Nevertheless, we are grateful to him and his team for their input over the last few weeks. The search is already underway for a replacement and, having learnt a lot, from previous recruitment experiences, we have asked Tom ‘Shanks’ Lorraine to help us. Via the Members’ Forum, we have asked the Club’s members to let us know what qualifications and experience they would like to see from their manager. We’re aware though, that not everyone has access to the Members’ Forum so if you have any thoughts, please do email them to any one of us (email links above) or, speak to us at a match. Matt Vernon and Dean Snedker are looking after the first team in the meantime, and I’m sure you will all join the Board in thanking them for their support and commitment to our Club.
Please remember that next Saturday’s home fixture against Alvechurch FC will kick off at 12:30 pm and also, please note that our fixture at Needham Market FC on Saturday, 10th December will kick off at 1:00 pm.
Finally, we wish all our teams across the Club good luck for their fixtures this weekend. Thank you all for your continued support and dedication to our Club.
