William Maximillian Griggs (September 1938 – 8 July 2021) was the president of the R Griggs Group, owner of the

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 ...

shoe company, and one of the largest

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

manufacturers in the

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. In 2002, the company ceased production in the United Kingdom and began outsourcing to

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and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. According to the ''

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...

'' in 2019, Griggs and his son Stephen were worth £264 million. The Dr Martens boots (nicknamed DMs), having been manufactured in England since 1960, were most popular in the 1980s, but in the following decade, their popularity started to decline. In 1992 Max Griggs bought Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds football clubs. He merged them into one as Rushden & Diamonds football club, which enjoyed

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

status for a time. One of the stands in the club's ground was called the Airwair stand (a type of DM shoe). Max Griggs sold the club to the fans in 2005 for £1. The club went into administration six years later. He died on 8 July 2021, aged 82.

References

External links

BBC - Griggs hands over Diamonds

Scotland on Sunday - Even well-heeled can't ensure Diamonds are for ever
English football chairmen and investors 1938 births 2021 deaths Place of birth missing Rushden & Diamonds F.C. {{UK-business-bio-1930s-stub