On behalf of the Trust Board and as a fellow fan of Rushden and Diamonds I want to take this opportunity to update you on what has been happening at the Club over the last few weeks.

We have today announced the securing of additional investment in the football club from Keith Cousins. I am delighted to welcome Keith to the football club and very much value his willingness to provide us with much needed funds and the benefit of his considerable experience. Over the coming weeks you will all get to know Keith as he takes up his new role as Club Chairman. I am sure that he will want to take the opportunity of presenting his plans and ideas at a fans forum in the coming weeks.

I think everyone is aware that running a football club requires more financial backing than the Trust could afford to commit. Indeed I think it would be fair to say many football clubs find it difficult to survive in a commercial environment solely on gate receipts. Rushden and Diamonds is no different in that sense. We do however, have some superb facilities that have been designed to complement the football club and provide much needed additional revenue streams and I am confident that Keith’s expertise in this area will prove invaluable.

A great deal of information is contained in both the formal announcements and a series of “Frequently Asked Questions” that I have attached so you have it as early as possible. You will see the same information is posted on the official Club and Trust websites, and we have issued it to rdfcnet.co.uk for inclusion. It is important to everyone on the Trust Board that you receive factual information, and wherever possible before it is issued to the media and press.

I know people have been anxious to know what has been going on. I hope the information we have now been able to provide begins to give you what you have been looking for. We will be holding a Trust members meeting in the next few weeks to set out some aspects of the deal in more detail and to ask members to vote on some of the arrangements.

As is always the case in such delicate negotiations there has been a period when it was impossible to give out information for both legal and commercial reasons. We have been bound by a confidentiality agreement until the deal was completed and for this reason we have not been able to provide any information before today.

It has been difficult not to respond to the various rumours, “exclusives”, innuendo, speculation, inaccurate reporting, mixed messages, and the so-called factual information from “sources” which has been surrounding the Club. As you will now see from what has been announced the facts are somewhat different from what has in many cases been reported or believed. I hope that you will now understand that we have been working tirelessly to ensure this Club goes forward. Everything we have done has been with the aim of securing the best long-term interests of the football club.

We had to act decisively over parting company with Paul Hart and his team only a few weeks ago. During the intervening period the football club directors have interviewed a range of potential managers; however, it would be folly to not recognise that we were also close to completing the deal to bring in additional investment and it is therefore appropriate that Keith makes the appointment of the First Team Manager.

If people did expect us all to fail then they have been proved wrong. At the time we took over the previous owners had been seeking a buyer for over eighteen months. Through the hard work and support of us all we have turned the business round to a point where an outside investor has been attracted. And do not forget two things. First, if we had not taken over when we did the Club would have folded at the end of the 2004/05 season. And second, at the time we took over the £750,000 we received was only enough to keep the Club running for a further six months.

So what we have achieved so far is fantastic and today signals the start of the next phase of the development of our football club. Keith now needs to complete the work we have started to put the Club on a firm financial footing as we strive to return to the Football League. So please, let’s all get behind Keith in his new role and give our support to the team to ensure we bounce back to winning ways on Saturday against Aldershot.

Thank you for taking time to read this and for your continued support,


Paul Hajduk
Chair
Rushden and Diamonds Society Ltd

22nd November 2006