DIAMONDS AREN'T FOREVER

June 2011

Rushden & Diamonds currently find themselves on a life support machine, expelled from the Blue Square Conference earlier today and facing an uncertain future with a winding up order due to be heard on Monday. They say that only the best die young but outside of the towns of Irthlingborough and Rushden you mind not find too many shedding a tear if their sad demise is confirmed in 48 hours.

At 19-years-young it looks like Rushden's days are well and truly numbered. As one of two hot topics that have been trending on Twitter during the close season it's not been lost on us that the other one, the one that we're not allowed to talk about even though it's widely accepted their identity has been revealed, has actually had a playing career that has lasted two years longer than the club.

What's more, whilst Rushden's rumoured debt of £750k pales into insignificance compared to a lot of clubs, ironically again, it is probably less than the legal costs that a certain someone has absorbed recently trying to keep their identity confidential.

The fact remains that the rise and fall or Rushden & Diamonds is now legendary. Climbing to League 1 at their peak, they now find themselves back in the Southern League where their reputation as 'money bags' Rushden first began.

On a day when UEFA President Michel Platini was paying tribute to the Chairman of the 72 Football League clubs for introducing a financial fair play policy, a lesson to us all in the importance of a sustainable business model was being highlighted by the punishment handed out to Rushden for financial irregularities and concerns over their ability to complete the 2011/12 season.

There is sure to be a lot more to unfold over the coming weeks but should Rushden survive the summer, just as they kick off life in a new division, media attention will turn to the Football League's new boys – who have arrived together in npower League 2 from opposite ends of the spectrum.

Crawley Town were immediately installed as favourites to win the division on the back of the reported financial backing from the Far East that saw them romp to the Conference title. They will be joined in League 2 by Play-Off winners AFC Wimbledon, a club formed just nine years ago, who have set the standard to non-league clubs on how success can be achieved with a strict budget and a bit of team spirit.

It'll be interesting to see where those two clubs will be in 19 years time.

Should the Nene Park outfit disappear altogether from the world of football and supporters chose to take a leaf out of AFC Wimbledon's book, perhaps the reformed phoenix club, Rushden & Cubic Zirconia will be back in the League on the back of a self-sustainable model too.

Only time will tell what lessons the world of football has learned.

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