Where did all the Glory Hunters go?

That's a question that's always bothered me.  We all remember the thousands of glory hunters who used to flock to Non Park during the infamous Griggs "Open-Chequebook" period.  Within a couple of years their gates mushroomed from a couple of hundred to several thousand.  All who thronged to the ground declared their lifetime support of the team that hailed from the town of Rushdenanddiamonds.  Unfortunately for theses band-waggon jumping Trappists, Uncle Max suddenly came to his senses and realised that he was just pissing his money away.  A couple of relegations later and the Glory Hunters were in search of a new team to offer their life-long devotion to, provided they won every week of course.


They didn't have to go far either.  A couple of miles away the cricket team from Finedon was beating all-comers.  Finedon, or County League Champions Finedon, to give them their full title, hadn't always been the all-conquering heroes of the modern era.  Even my old team at Rushton used to give them a bit of a pasting back in the day.  Then one day a midgety little Roberts turned up, followed by another midgety little Roberts and the rest was history. 

Look at me Mummy!  I can get it all in!

Suddenly attracted to unbridled success, more and more people suddenly found themselves utterly devoted, life-long Finedon Dolben supporters.  Just today I watched an hour or so of their game at Rushton, and I can honestly say that the crowd there would give an average day at the County Ground a run for it's money!  It took me fully five minutes to actually recognise a Rushton face in the gathering. 

As County League Champions Finedon cruised towards their victory target I felt suddenly plunged back into the Direones Glory Days. I was surrounded on all sides by people bragging about great their team was, whilst wearing smug grins and clutching their seat cushions.  And just like Direones fans, they were all heading for the exits before the game was over in order to beat the rush, and wondering about who they were going to beat next week.