Irthlingborough Diamonds was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club from

Irthlingborough Irthlingborough () 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 pari ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Founded in 1946, in 1992 the club merged with

Rushden Town Rushden Town F.C. was a football club from Rushden, England. Founded in 1889, the club merged with Irthlingborough Diamonds to form Rushden & Diamonds in 1992. Nicknamed "the Russians", the club played at Hayden Road. History The club was foun ...

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 F.C., Ket ...

, 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 ...

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 ''GCE Hire Fleet Ltd. United Counties League'') is an England, English association football, football league covering an area including the English Counties of the United Kingdom, ...

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, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

, 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 company, and one of the largest shoe manufacturers in the United Kingdom. According to the 2019 Sunday Times Rich List G ...

, the owner of Dr. Martens, 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 of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

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," AFC Rushden & Diamonds, was formed, which as of the 2017–2018 season competes in

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

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

Rushden Rushden is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of B ...

rather than Irthlingborough.

Colours

The club's traditional colours were red shirts and blue shorts.

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 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

**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