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The author’s fond
memories of the old County Ground, the last league ground to share with a
county cricket club….
A stroll around the place at the turn of the 1990s would take you from
the uninspiring main cricket pavilion past a small mound of blue seats,
formerly rows of green slats which, for years, had been a veritable haven
for sun worshippers and splinter dodgers alike.
A tiny club shop had replaced the ground’s ramshackle second scoreboard,
which has become a distant memory for legions of schoolboys who always did
their utmost to outscore the main rival opposite with a sleight of hand
hindered by the awkwardly flimsy and tattered plastic numbers which perched
oh-so precariously upon their rusty hooks.
Onward past the west stand, home to grumblers united or the ‘oxygen
thieves’, which an acerbic young cricketer from the North-East on the
county’s books at the time had rather unkindly christened the stand’s ageing
incumbents.
This structure latched onto the Hotel End. This was the start of the
football ground, the main covered terrace for the supporters of Northampton
Town Football Club during the winter months.
In the summer it glowered over the Gallone’s ice cream van parked close to
the penalty spot, from where the boundary edge of the cricketing arena
drifted away stage right.” |
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Former chairman
MICHAEL McRITCHIE on who saved the Cobblers……
“So who saved the football club? Well, put it this way without me, a little
fat Brummie, Northampton Town would no longer exist.
“Where were all these heroes coming in to save the Cobblers from extinction?
The council? No. The brewery? No. A big employer in the town? No. A business
consortium? No. The Supporters Trust? No.
“The Supporters Trust was even behind a winding-up order from the bloke who
did the programmes. That’s how much they were behind Northampton Town.
“No-one was in a position to help the club apart from me and my wife. They’d
all set against this abrasive outsider. I make no apologies for being
abrasive. I was fed up with people who couldn’t match words with actions.
“I was advised to put the club into administration and that’s what I did.
That saved Northampton Town.” |
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Former club director
and Supporter Trust representative BRIAN LOMAX on ex-Rushden and Diamonds
owner Max Griggs….
“The likes of Max Griggs looked to perpetuate the Victorian way of life in
the way they run their clubs.
“In Lancaster they have the Ashton memorial, a mausoleum to Lord Ashton who
on an annual basis made great play of handing out presents of chocolate to
local children. The kids would throw the chocolates back over the wall in
utter contempt.
“Mr Griggs continued that tradition. He is the mill owner at the top of the
hill who considers that those not so fortunate at the bottom of the hill
keep trooping in, doffing their caps.
“I am not sure he knew what he wanted. Rushden and Diamonds will only be a
proper football club once it is the property of the people and not just one
individual.
“The benefits should not just be financial, they should be wider than that.
Any sensible board of directors would want those advantages.”
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Former Rushden and
Diamonds millionaire owner MAX GRIGGS on why his money did not go to
Northampton Town....
“People say that Northampton has missed out on the facilities I went on to
provide at Rushden & Diamonds but that ignores several key points.
“I did not have the finances when I was at Northampton to consider a
development along the lines of what has gone up at Nene Park, although Nev
Ronson did have serious bidders for a stadium proposal to be built in the
town at the time.
“And as I’ve already said, I don’t think we would ever have found a site
that everyone would have been happy with. Outside the big towns, I have
found the East Northants planning authorities to be supportive of what we
are doing at Nene Park and the surrounding area.
“Also, I was born in Raunds, live in Rushden and my business interests are
in Wollaston, all in the east of the county.
“I wanted to give something back to my local community – that is my
community, not Northampton further to the west.”
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Former manager IAN
ATKINS on how he turned round the Bristol Rovers play-off semi-final in 1998
after a disappointing first leg at the Memorial Ground and ensured a second
successive Wembley appearance….
“I worked them hard, I didn’t let up and I wanted their aggression to
register. They were all p***** off with me that morning but gradually their
mental strength came to the fore.
“Razor began to bite, the adrenaline seemed to flood back and from that
moment on I had a feeling we would be all right. After the session, I took
them all over the road to TGI Fridays where I had booked the lot of us in
for a meal. No-one was allowed to opt out, otherwise they would have been
fined a week’s wages.
“They were all pretty quiet, mainly through moodiness and tiredness. Drinks?
Yes please, soft drinks not allowed. They were going to have a pint or
nothing at all.
“One pint was followed by another, and another. Gradually they all loosened
up and got into one another. Razor and Woody were soon on the banter and the
time had reached about 3.30pm. Some of the lads wanted to head off home. No,
have another pint.
“At around 4.30pm they were finally allowed to go. By that time they were
all up for it and had Bristol Rovers in their sights. They wouldn’t need a
lot of training from that moment on.”
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Pics:
Pete
Norton Photography |
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