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| Contents | |
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What's Nene Park Like? |
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| What's Nene Park Like? | |
| In a surprise move, the Club
after have left their Rockingham Road
grund, which had been their home for 114 years
and moved to Nene Park, the former home of
their local rivals Rushden & Diamonds, who
recently went bankrupt. On the face of it, the
move makes sense with the current lease on the
Rockingham Road ground due to expire in
2013. However, it remains to be seen whether
sufficient numbers of the Kettering fans will
make the 20 mile round trip journey into the
countryside at Irthlingborough, to a stadium
that at least spritually, will never actually
ever be theirs. Nene Park was completely rebuilt during the 1990's. What emerged was not only a modern stadium, but one of quality in terms of workmanship and materials used. The ground is totally enclosed, with all stands covered and roughly the same height. Three sides of the ground are all seated, with terracing behind one goal in the home end. The Air Wair Stand at one end is particularly pleasing to the eye, having a semi-circular roof. The corners of the ground although enclosed do not house supporters. One corner has an electric scoreboard, apparently bought from Millwall FC. An unusual feature are the owl statues on the roofs brought to deter other birds from the area. |
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| External View |
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| What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? | |
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It is unclear at the
moment, where away fans will be housed within the
stadium. So assuming that it will be similar to when
Rushden & Diamonds played there, then it was as
follows; For Clubs with larger followings
then supporters are housed in one end of the
ground, in the all seated, AirWair stand. The
normal allocation for away fans in this
area is 1,000, although if demand requires it
then the whole of this stand can be allocated,
increasing the number to 2,372. For Clubs with
a smaller away support (less than 250 expected) then
they are seated in the South Stand towards the
Airwair Stand. |
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| Where To Drink? | |
| There are no pubs within
the immediate the vicinity of the stadium. However
there is the Strikers Bar at the
ground itself. Apart from 'high profile' fixtures,
away fans are admitted and the bar which can
be found behind the South Stand. Within the
ground away fans housed in the Airwair Stand are
treated to their own bar, called appropriately the
Airwair bar. If you want a proper pub, you can either
take the 15 minute walk into Irthlingborough, or drive down the A6
for another couple of miles to Higham Ferrers. At the traffic island by the entrance to the ground, you will find a road leading up to Irthlingborough. If you walk up this road you will first come to a pub on your left called 'The Horseshoe', a small comfortable pub serving real ale. A little further on from this pub is 'Mai's Chinese take away & chippy' which we found to serve good food, that we happily munched on the way back down to the ground! Mark Pacan informs me; A little further up the High Street from the Horseshoe, is the Oliver Twist Pub which close by has a fish and chip shop called Vince's Fish bar. Opposite Vince's fish bar is Baker Street. At the bottom of Baker Street is the British Arms, a patriotic English pub popular with Bikers'. Roger Paterson adds 'if you go into Higham Ferrers heading towards Rushden itself you will find a pub called the Green Dragon (located just before Higham market square on the left hand side). Here you will find a large selection of beers. They specialise in real ales and often have a good range of guest ales. An assorted food menu is also available. A little further up the High Street is 'The Griffin', with a smaller selection of beers but the restaurant is excellent and good value. The Queens Head (located on the opposite side of the road) is more basic offering regular lagers and bitters. Alternatively you can drive to the Needle and Awl. This is probably the best place for away fans, as it offers a vast amount of ales, beers and lagers as well as good food. Driving there will take five minutes. When you exit the ground, turn left towards Rushden (on the A6),then right at the roundabout (this will have you heading towards Wellingborough on the A45). Proceed along the A45 for approx 1 1/2 miles then take the 1st exit of the next roundabout and there will be the Needle and Awl'. |
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| How To Get There And Where To Park | |
| The ground is located in
Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, just off the A6
between Bedford & Kettering. It is a little
strange as the ground basically seems to be in the
middle of nowhere, on the outskirts of Irthlingborough
and surrounded by green fields. Travelling down the A6
it just seems to appear out of nothing!
From The
North/Midlands: From The South: |
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| A Closer Look At The Airwair Stand | |
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| By Train | |
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The nearest
railway station is in Wellingborough,
which is six miles away! Therefore it may be advisable to take
a taxi to the ground and then at the same time
book one for the return. Phil Nicholson
adds; 'From Wellingborough you can get the
Number 45 Bus direct to Irthlingborough and Nene
Park. The bus leaves Elsdon Road in
Wellingborough (5 minutes walk from the station)
on the hour (stops at Irthlingborough and Nene
Park) and on the half hour (stops at
Irthlingborough Cross which is a 10-15 minute
walk away from the stadium). The
Bus returns opposite Nene Park at 17:35 or from
Irtlingborough Cross at 17:08 and 17:38. The Return
fare is £3.30 or single £1.90.
Unfortunately there is no return bus running after
the end of evening games. Bus timetables can be downloaded from the Stagecoach website (PDF files): Stagecoach Route 45 Stagecoach Route 50 |
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| Admission Prices | |
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All areas
of the stadium: |
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| Programme Price | |
| Official Programme £3 | |
| Local Rivals | |
| Corby Town. | |
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| Fixtures 2011-2012 | |
| Kettering Town FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website) | |
| Record & Average Attendance | |
| Stadium Record
Attendance: 6,431 Rushden & Diamonds v Leeds United FA Cup 3rd Round, January 2nd 1999. Kettering Town Record Attendance (at Rockingham Road): 11,526 v Peterborough United 1947/48 Average Attendance (at Rockingham Road): 2010-2011: 1,371 (Blue Square Premier) 2009-2010: 1,387 (Blue Square Premier) 2008-2009: 1,615 (Blue Square Premier) |
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| Fans Reviews Of Nene Park | |
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Paul Willott
(Luton Town) 2/1/12 |
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| Hotel Accommodation | |
| If you require hotel accommodation in the area then first try a hotel booking service provided by Late Rooms. They have a huge choice of places to stay and their booking facility is straightforward to use. Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book through them, but it will go to help with the running costs of keeping the Guide going. Access their Northamptonshire Hotels and Guest Houses page. | |
| Location Map Showing The Area Around Nene Park | |
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Map showing the
location of the stadium, railway station and listed
pubs.
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| Feedback | |
| If anything is incorrect
or you have something to add, please e-mail me duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide. |
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All rights
reserved
Last Updated : 14 January 2012
