Irthlingborough Diamonds was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club from

Irthlingborough Irthlingborough () is a town on the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England. It had a population of 8,900 at the 2011 census and was the smallest town in England to have had a Football League team, Rushden & Diamonds F.C., prior to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Founded in 1946, in 1992 the club merged with

Rushden Town Rushden is a market town and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some . The population of Rushde ...

to form

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

, which played at Irthlingborough's

Nene Park Nene Park was a sports stadium situated at Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England, along the bank of the River Nene, which could accommodate 6,441 spectators, with 4,641 seated and 1,800 standing. It formerly hosted football matches but at ...

until financial troubles caused it to enter administration in July 2011.

History

Irthlingborough Diamonds were founded in 1946 and joined the

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckinghamshi ...

in 1964. The club won the UCL First Division in 1970–71, but were not promoted to the Premier Division until after the next season, when they finished 3rd. The 1970s and 1980s saw a sustained period of success, with the Diamonds only finishing outside the top half twice, and winning the league on three occasions. They also did well in the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

, reaching the semi-finals twice (in 1981 and 1984) and the quarter-finals five times. The club's reserve team also joined the UCL, playing in the second and first divisions until 1980 when they were moved to a special reserve division. On 21 April 1992 it was announced that the club was to merge with nearby Southern League club

to form a new club,

. The merger was the brainchild of

Max Griggs William Maximillian Griggs (September 1938 – 8 July 2021) was the president of the R Griggs Group, owner of the Dr. Martens shoe company, and one of the largest shoe manufacturers in the United Kingdom. In 2002, the company ceased production in ...

, the owner of

Dr. Martens Dr. Martens, also commonly known as Doc Martens, Docs or DMs, is a German-founded British footwear and clothing brand, headquartered in Wollaston in the Wellingborough district of Northamptonshire, England. Although famous for its footwear, Dr ...

, and saw the new club play at Diamond's Nene Park (Rushden Town had been relegated from the Southern League's Premier Division the season before due to the poor state of their Hayden Road ground). The new club assumed Rushden Town's place in the Midland Division of the Southern League. With stadium improvements and significant investment in the playing squad, the club advanced to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

by 1996, and into

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in 2001. However, Rushden & Diamonds was relegated back to the Conference following the 2005–2006 season in which they finished bottom of the table. In July 2011, after a period of instability and financial difficulties, the club was wound up and entered into administration after being expelled from Conference National. Following the dissolution of Rushden & Diamonds, a "

phoenix club The Phoenix Building and Cincinnati Club are two historic buildings in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The membership of these two clubs was chiefly Jewish. Located at 812 Race Street, the Phoenix Building was constructed in 1893, desi ...

AFC Rushden & Diamonds A.F.C. Rushden & Diamonds is an English football club based in Rushden in Northamptonshire. They played their opening season at Kiln Park, the home of Raunds Town, in 2011–12 and subsequently shared the Dog & Duck ground with Wellingboroug ...

, was formed, which as of the 2017–2018 season competes in

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Division One South. Unlike Rushden & Diamonds F.C., the new club plays its home games in

Rushden Rushden is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some ...

rather than Irthlingborough.

Achievements

**Semi-finals: 1981, 1984 **Quarter-finals: 5x * UCL First Division **Winners: 1970–71 *

**Promotion to: 1995-96 *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

**Promotion to: 2001

References

External links

* * Irthlingborough Diamonds F.C. Association football clubs established in 1946 Association football clubs disestablished in 1992 Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Northamptonshire Rushden & Diamonds F.C. 1946 establishments in England 1992 disestablishments in England {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub