When the final whistle blew at Rockingham Road on Saturday April the 30th, one set of supporters were in despair and the other were happy at ending the season on a high. Today I suspect many of us would swap places with Southport. Reprieved by Rushden's demise, they can look forward to another BSP season in their own ground in their own town. We, on the other hand, will never have that privilege again, and face a future as an American style franchise transplant. Not quite on the same geographical scale as the Brooklyn Dodgers moving to California, but far enough for the type of Kettering fan who baulks at walking to the opposite end of the ground to buy a ticket.
It's hard to shake the feeling that the stark choice which was presented last night has been carefully engineered, with a degree of collusion between like minded individuals. From a cold business perspective there is a certain logic to it - club with no stadium, meet stadium with no club. Happy ever after. Imraan must have been mightily encouraged by the show of hands of those willing to go to NP, more surely than he can possibly have expected. If nothing else, this shows what a salesman he is. And how suggestible were many of the audience.
Trying to put nostalgia and sentiment aside (difficult), I am attempting to visualise a future at a smart, modern stadium decked out in red and black, with stands named after Poppies legends (please God NOT Sid Chapman), a proper little museum, and all trace of R&D eradicated. Would that be so bad?
But who would go? And for how long? Maybe 75% of our hardcore, at least initially. A few hundred plastics. Away fans obviously. Average crowds in the low to mid 1,000s - just like at Rockingham Road? And on a wet midweek night when Man Utd are on the box, when the novelty has worn off, and it's a toss up between another crawl up the A6 or a quiet night in? 500? All by car of course. No public transport, and much too far to walk.
And would the partisan, guttural Rockingham Road roar survive the transfer or be diluted? Would it become another nice neutered family crowd loudly mocked from the away end?
Perhaps the key assurance that appeased the Wicksteeds gathering was the pledge - if it was a pledge - that the club will always remain KTFC. Providing crowds don't dip below an arbitrary level. Or until the profile of the support has shifted away from Kettering to the point that there's a majority in favour of a new name?
Deep down I fear that even if the name stays the same, the club will evolve into something different, a broader thing that is linked to Kettering in title only. After all, isn't that part of the plan? Imraan has no emotional attachment to the town or its fans, to him they are just customers and if some of them are lost but more come from elsewhere, fine. But the demise of Rushden proved that you can't build a lasting football club on shallow foundations, and small town, one-eyed and dense as some Poppies fans may be, they care and enough have stuck with the club through thick and thin to keep it alive this long. They are the heart and soul. And there is a lot of soul searching to be done now and in the coming weeks.
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