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Ground Name: Nene Park |
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| Contents | |
| What's The Ground
Like? Looking Towards The Airwair Stand (photo) Air Wair Stand (photo) What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? Looking Towards The Peter De Banke Terrace (photo) Where To Drink? North Stand (photo) How To Get There By Car & Where To Park By Train A Closer Look At The Airwair Stand (photo) Admission Prices Ground Layout Local Rivals Disabled Facilities Fixtures 2007-2008 Record & Average Attendance Fans Ground Reviews Hotel Accommodation Feedback Return To The Main Menu |
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| What's The Ground Like? | |
| The ground 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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| What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? | |
| Away fans are
housed in one end of the ground, in the all seated, Air Wair stand where the normal allocation for away
supporters is 1,000. This end is normally
shared with home supporters but if demand requires it then the whole of
this stand can be given to visiting fans, increasing the number to
2,372. I was thoroughly impressed with the ground and facilities and on my last visit there was a good atmosphere generated. It still has a new feeling from when it was built and from what I can judge no expense has been spared. The leg room and views from the away end are excellent. I also found the stewarding to be okay and the Rushden fans to be amicable. If you are feeling hungry then the refreshment areas offer large 'Diamond double burgers' at £2.60, which are excellent, as well as the delicious 'Football's Famous Chicken Balti Pie'. There are also televisions located around the concourse, showing Sky Sports, as well as some welcome sit down areas to enjoy your food and drink. You may also want to have a look in the Club Shop which carries a range of discounted Dr Martens clothing and footwear. |
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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 and away fans are treated
to their own bar, called 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 right called 'The Bull' which is quite popular with away fans. If you continue straight on past this pub, then you will reach another 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! 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. You will find the supporters of Rushden a friendly lot'. |
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| How To Get There By Car & Where To Park | |
| So where are Rushden & Diamonds located? Well they
are in Northamptonshire. The ground is located in Irthlingborough, 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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| By Train | |
| 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.
John Thompson
informs me; 'Alternatively you take a train to Bedford and then take
the hourly number 50 bus from Bedford bus
station, about 10 minutes walk from the railway
station. I caught the 12:55 bus from there direct to outside the
ground, excellent value at £4.50 and approx 55 mins journey time.
Return was at 16:55 so if the game drags on into
injury time you may miss the first bus
although there is another 20 minutes later which although
advertised as a change in Rushden is I suspect
the same bus all the way through to Bedford'. |
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| A Closer Look At The Airwair Stand | |
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| Admission Prices | |
| Home Fans: North Stand: Adults £16, Concessions £11, Under 16's £5, Under 8's Free* South Stand: Adults £16, Concessions £11, Under 16's £5, Under 8's Free* Airwair Stand: Adults £16, Concessions £11, Under 16's £5, Under 8's Free* Peter De Banke Terrace: Adults £13, Concessions £8, Under 16's £5, Under 8's Free* Away Fans: Airwair Stand: Adults £16, Concessions £11, Under 16's £5, Under 8's Free* * Under 8's who are accompanied by an adult can gain free admittance, provided that they are accompanied by a paying adult. |
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| Programme Price | |
| Official Programme £2.50. | |
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| Local Rivals | |
| Kettering Town, Northampton Town, Peterborough United and from a little further a field; Luton Town. | |
| Disabled Facilities | |
| For details of disabled facilities at the ground please visit the relevant page on the National Association Of Disabled Supporters (NADS) website. | |
| Fixtures 2007-2008 | |
| For the Rushden fixture list click here (to take you to the BBC Sports Website) | |
| Record & Average Attendance | |
| Record Attendance: 6,431 v Leeds United FA Cup 3rd Round, January 2nd 1999. Average Attendance: 2006-2007: 2,044 (Conference National) 2005-2006: 3,162 (League Two) 2004-2005: 3,321 (League Two) |
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| Fans Reviews Of Nene Park | |
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Sean Wilkinson
(Northampton Town) 27/02/05 Ben Twitchen (Wycombe Wanderers) 12/02/05 |
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| Hotel Accommodation | |
| If you require hotel accommodation in the area then first try a hotel booking service provided by Football Hotels who are powered by Activehotels, who specialise in locating accommodation near or within a short travelling distance of the football ground. They also have the added advantage over some other hotel booking services that you pay on departure. 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. To access their Rushden page click here. | |
| Feedback | |
| If anything is incorrect or you have something to add,
please e-mail me and I'll
update
the guide. |
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