29-505: 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 its time of demolition it was unused. The car park could hold 800 vehicles. From 1992 until the club's demise in 2011, it was the home ground of Rushden & Diamonds , having from 1969 been
58-485: A wren , wagtail or lapwing . Bird names are frequently used to form compounds with Old English 'burh'. Irthlingborough was called Yrtlingaburg in the 8th century, Erdiburn in the Domesday Book of 1086, and Artleborough later. King Offa of Mercia held court near Irthlingborough circa 790. John Pyel , the mayor of London in 1372, is believed to have been born at Irthlingborough circa 1310. In
87-492: A critical time, both during construction and once opened. Nene Park was to be used as a training camp for athletes ahead of the 2012 London Olympics . The sports to be hosted were archery, fencing, football, judo, table tennis and wrestling. On 11 December 2012, it was reported that Coventry City were considering moving to Nene Park, due to a rent dispute with their landlords at the Ricoh Arena . However, Coventry entered
116-401: A ground-sharing agreement with Northampton Town , and played "home" matches at Northampton's Sixfields stadium during the 2013–14 season. In September 2014, developers Rose Property Consultants announced plans to demolish Nene Park to make way for a leisure park, consisting of a multi-use football facility along with entertainment and retail zones. On 27 February 2017, demolition started on
145-608: A large number of away fans needed to be accommodated. That stayed the same during the first season of Kettering Town's tenancy. However, after their demotion to the Southern League it was permanently closed. The Dale Roberts Terrace (Formerly the Peter De Banke Terrace), was named after the late former Rushden & Diamonds goalkeeper and fan favourite Dale Roberts , who died aged 24 in December 2010. It
174-604: Is a town on the River Nene in North Northamptonshire , England . As of 2021, it has a population of 9,325, and was at one point the smallest town in England to have had a Football League team, Rushden & Diamonds F.C. . The parish church , St Peter, has a lantern tower , unusual for Northamptonshire churches, which was built to guide travellers across the Nene valley in foggy weather. It also has doors at
203-639: Is now in Wollaston . There is an infant school, with nursery attached, a junior school and one secondary school, Huxlow Academy , which has a sixth form that is part of the east Northamptonshire sixth form college. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia . Television signals are received from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Northampton on 103.6 FM, Heart East on 96.6 FM and Smooth East Midlands (formerly Connect FM ) on 107.4 FM.The town
232-423: Is served by the local newspaper, Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph . Between 2001 and 2006 Irthlingborough held the distinction of being the smallest town to hold a Football League club when Rushden & Diamonds F.C. were promoted to League 2 (then known as Division 3) after winning the 2000-01 Football Conference title. This was in part due to the funding of local businessman Max Griggs who bankrolled
261-565: The Football League . However, another tier was never constructed. Although thought to be too big when built, the North Stand underwent some significant improvements. The press box was relocated further east along the stand to make room for brand new corporate boxes at the back of the structure. Behind the stand, new offices and administration facilities were built, as well as a 150 square-metre club souvenir 'Doc Shop'. The new complex
290-660: The United Counties League (Step 6 in the FA Pyramid ) in a ground share arrangement with Wellingborough Town at the Dog and Duck stadium. Two further promotions followed with AFCRD reaching Step 4. In 2018, having played for one season at Hayden Road ground in Rushden (the former home of Rushden Town before the forming of RDFC in 1992) in another ground share with Rushden and Higham Utd , the club won promotion to
319-460: The water board . In 1978, Nene Park became the first United Counties League stadium to have floodlights installed. They were turned on by Bobby Robson , then manager of Ipswich Town . He was watched by Brian Talbot , a player who managed the Rushden & Diamonds team some 20 years later. Beginning in February 1992, soon after the merger between Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds,
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#1732780197038348-471: The B571 (Wellingborough Road). Sonifex, a manufacturer of radio broadcast products, has been in the town since its beginning in 1969 and has its research and manufacturing based on Station Road. Dr. Martens has a long history with the town; the manufacturer R. Griggs, owned by Max Griggs , had its head office in the town until production moved to China in 2003, after suffering large losses. The company's office
377-578: The Nene Park site. On 12 May 2017, the stadium had been completely demolished. The site in 2012, when Kettering Town F.C. were tenants. The South Stand included the Diamond Centre and hospitality suites. Away fans, if travelling in small numbers, were situated in a block of this stand. There were 1,224 seats. The North Stand was home to the press box and more hospitality suites. It held 976 people (all seated). After Kettering Town's demotion to
406-597: The North Stand, with a capacity of just over 1,000. The brand new Diamond Centre was erected, along with new floodlights and a freshly-laid pitch, as the stadium continued to take shape. The new structures were officially opened in April 1995 by the Prince of Wales . The focus then turned to the west side of the ground and the construction of the Peter De Banke (home) terrace, capable of holding 1,800. With three sides of
435-508: The Southern League in 2012 it was decided to close this stand permanently due to lack of demand for the stand's capacity. The Airwair Stand was the biggest stand in the stadium. Holding 2,372 fans, it was situated behind one of the goals. During Rushden and Diamonds' tenancy it was split between away fans and home fans. After the club's relegation to the Conference National it was closed in order to cut costs, only being used when
464-569: The club in the late 1990s until the mid millennium when he sold to a fans group for just £1 in 2005. The club were relegated from the Football League in 2006 and went out of business in 2011 due to severe financial problems. A successor fans owned club, AFC Rushden & Diamonds , was formed two months after Rushden and Diamonds folded in July 2011. In its first season it had an under-18 youth team which played at Raunds Town F.C. , then joining
493-416: The four cardinal points and has eight misericords in the chancel . Irthlingborough railway station , opened in 1845 and closed to passengers in 1964. The town's name origin is uncertain. ' Ploughmen's fortification', with the suggestion that oxen were once kept here. Perhaps, 'fortification of Yrtla's people'. Alternatively, the first element may be an Old English 'yrthling', a type of bird such as
522-474: The ground complete and the capacity rising to over 4,000, only the new east stand, which was to be the focal point of the ground, remained to be constructed. Initially without a roof, the Airwair Stand was completed in December 1996, accommodating 2,372 spectators. During the following summer the roof was finally installed. The original plans also included the addition of a second tier should the club reach
551-413: The ground was radically redeveloped at an estimated cost of £30 million. In the first stage of the project, a new all-seater North Stand was built. It had a capacity of 1,000, and was completed in summer 1993, in time for the new football season. In the next stage, the old south stand, which included dressing rooms and the clubhouse, was torn down and replaced by another all-seater stand, similar in design to
580-465: The home of predecessor Irthlingborough Diamonds . It became Kettering Town 's home for 18 months, but the club left the venue in November 2012 to play at Corby , due to the costs of running the ground. Demolition of the ground began in late February 2017 and lasted approximately two and a half months. The original ground was built in 1969 as the home of Irthlingborough Diamonds , on land bought from
609-498: The ore being sent to RTB's Redbourne steelworks in Scunthorpe. The ore was extracted from a system of underground tunnels approximately 80–100 ft below the surface. The mine was closed down as no longer economic on 30 September 1965. More recently, the River Nene floodplains between the town and its neighbour, Higham Ferrers , have been quarried for gravel. Quarrying in the area was extensive, stretching to Northampton in
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#1732780197038638-529: The past, ironstone was mined near Irthlingborough, and as part of the local ironstone mine, a tunnel was bored between Irthlingborough and nearby Finedon . The tunnel still exists, but the Irthlingborough end has been landscaped over, and the Finedon end sealed with concrete . Iron ore was mined at Irthlingborough from 1918. The mine was owned and operated by Richard Thomas & Baldwin's Ltd.,
667-509: The town, but was bypassed in the 1930s to the north. The former route is the B5348. Irthlingborough Viaduct was built in 1936 and connects the town to Higham Ferrers and the busy A45. The A45 (former A605 ) is a straighter and more dependable road than the A6. Whitworths , the home baking and fruit snack company, has been based in the town since 1886, and in 2024 employed 200 people at the plant on
696-503: The west (upstream) and Thorpe Waterville in the north-northeast (downstream). The quarries were later left to fill with water to produce artificial lakes. In 2012, the area was acquired by The Wildlife Trust , and has since been turned into Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows , a nature reserve. It will be part of the Upper Nene Valley Special Protection Area . The A6 used to pass through
725-513: The whole of the Nene Park Sports Complex and perpetuate the special gift that Max Griggs gave to the local community. Our personal thanks go to all those involved in supporting this application. In recent years Irthlingborough has unfortunately witnessed the redevelopment of many employment sites, we have a serious lack of local jobs. The range of full and part time positions this scheme will bring will provide an economic boost at
754-455: Was allocated for teams with smaller followings. An unusual feature of the stadium was the model owls in each corner, to deter birds from nesting in the roof. Nene Park had permission to build a three-star, 150-bed hotel on its grounds. Strategic Director at Rushden & Diamonds, Helen Thompson said, This is of huge significance to the Club to assist in working towards a sustainable future for
783-464: Was developed later on in the season to complete the work. A Nando's outlet was also provided. In the mid 2000s, the all-seater Airwair Stand, the stadium's biggest, was closed. Falling attendances meant that keeping it open had become uneconomic, although it was opened when large numbers of travelling fans were expected, with a potential capacity of 2,372 if required. A section of the South Stand
812-441: Was opened in late 1994. Holding 1,800 fans, it was an all-standing covered terrace. Within two years of Max Griggs taking control of the club, the terrace was constructed, which replaced the temporary dressing rooms and offices. 52°19′40.92″N 0°35′59.97″W / 52.3280333°N 0.5999917°W / 52.3280333; -0.5999917 Irthlingborough Irthlingborough ( / ˈ ɜːr θ l ɪ ŋ b ər ə / )
841-517: Was opened on 16 July 1998, by club chairman Max Griggs . During the 1997/1998 season, improvements were made to the adjacent training ground. New dressing rooms were constructed beside pitch two, with two entirely new training pitches (three and four) added to the Nene Park complex. Shortly before the 2000–01 season, the Dr. Martens Sports and Exhibition Centre was opened, which included a gymnasium, recreational facilities and offices. An all-weather pitch
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