The only thing that surprised me about the news that Rockingham Road has been sold by Ben Pickering Ltd for housing is that someone out there has met the Pickering's insanely unreal valuation of the site. That, coupled with our Council's twin aims in life of sucking up to housing developers and f**king the town's football club, meant there was no real prospect of us making an emotional return. We were never going home.
Property Owner Shafts Town
Details of which group of hutch-building, serial-liars have untold millions burning a hole in their pockets are scant, but it seems that an agreement has been reached. Images of the trees behind the Rockingham Road terrace being felled did seem to suggest some movement for the ground was on the cards.
Presumably the new owners will start demolishing the old girl, whilst at the same time laying before our councillors plans for an unfeasibly large number of tiny, plaster-board dwellings with scant parking, and no gardens. There will be plenty of sturdy, manageable, quick growing hedges to act as a faux green space. Just right for the druggie, bottom end of the social housing lowlifes, who'll end up wrecking the area, to drop their dog muck and used hypodermics into.
Everyone will have favourite memories to tell and write about Rocky Road. We'll no doubt regale a few ourselves in due course. But, call me unsentimental, I find I'm more relieved than devastated by the news of the sale. The removal of Rocky Road from the equation means we need no longer be split in our aims and intentions for the club. We are where we are. Time to make the best of it perhaps? Stop dreaming of a fanciful return? Stop imagining that if we somehow acquired millions, and got Rocky Road back that hundreds of people would descend upon the ground to repair all the damage and get the place back to its best. That would never have happened. Look at the turn out for any sort of event or volunteer day. And then thousands would flock to games. We were barely getting a thousand Poppies fans through the gates for Conference National games by the end. of our tenure at Rockingham Road.
Also, with our immediate future now in Burton Latimer maybe some of our old, lapsed supporters will find it in themselves to separate the idea of Kettering Town FC from Rockingham Road and realise their club still exists, and is playing not a million miles away. Their old friends are still attending and the Poppies are, in effect, being run by fellow supporters.
Come back and join us. Remember Rocky Road with affection, by all means, but please not at the expense supporting the club itself.
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"It may not be Rockingham Road,
but Latimer Park is worth a thousand
souless Non Parks" |
