Choke on it

If there's one sliver of gratification to be gained from recent events, it's that for the final two years of the RR lease, Ben Pickering will reap his slice of gate receipts from the ladies team and the reserves. No disrespect to them, but I hope the extra £4.22 makes him very happy.

Well done Ben, you've managed to bugger this one up.

Now that the deal is done let's hear the last of any BP appeasement. "Ben saved the club in 1985". "Ben is just a businessman, you can't blame him". Various people claimed to be "close to Ben". And a fat lot of good it did us. For the last 26 years BP has profited to a quite extraordinary extent from his initial £70k investment, gifted him by a callow bunch of directors who to our eternal dismay never tested the willingness of the fans to put up or shut up. Maybe they wouldn't, but we'll never know.

Instead "Ben" has earned a fortune doing nothing except sit tight and occasionally tighten the tourniquet.

So enjoy the last few quid coming your way until you can eventually turn the old ground into houses. Well done you. Once there was a chance you could leave a legacy beyond pounds and pence. Not any more.

Initial thoughts - don't expect a rational analysis yet

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.

The End

Like most pro-Rockingham Road supporters I have left before the end of the procession meeting tonight.  I only hope that when Imraan finally calls for a show of hands the fact that only the pro-Non Pak element will be left in the building will be taken into account. But I doubt it.

It is a sad day for KTFC that so many of the supporters there tonight are not only content, but seemingly happy to go Irthlingborough. I'm sure some were already considering which seat they wanted to reserve in the Bestiality Stand or, as it will soon be renamed, the "Sid Chapman Bestiality" stand.  If they were really so f*cking desperate to go to Non Park why didn't the f*ck off down there 10 years ago when they at least had a good team there!

But you've got to hand it to Imraan.  He's as slick as snot that's been covered in an oil-spill.  He looks like he's got his way.  He's manged to get Poppies fans verbally abusing other Poppies fans for daring to say they want to support a Kettering team IN Kettering!  Masterful!

Who'd have thought that the Diamonds going bust would have bit us on the arse so badly?

The following link might prove useful.

http://www.britannia-movers.co.uk/britannia-pink-jones-removals-kettering

Please bear in mind tonight....

...when Imraan is busy telling us that we have no future in Kettering that we do still have TWO YEARS left on our lease at Rockingham Road. 

Just because he whistles, doesn't mean we have to scurry around....

Imraan:  "In you get, lads!"
Us: "Baa!"

Imraan - It all comes down to one question in the end.

We've all got dozens of questions for Imraan ahead of tomorrow night.  Has he really already signed a contract to move us to Non Park?  Exactly how much is Ben Pickering asking for?  How long would it be before we had to change our name in order to remain out of the Borough?  Is he prepared to walk away if the fans go against his wishes?  Endless questions.

But in the end there is but one question for any Poppies supporter, and ultimately for Imraan himself.

Would you rather watch a potentially relegation threatened, part-time Kettering Town FC play at Rockingham Road, or a potentially upper mid-table, full-time "Kettering Diamonds FC" play at Nene Park?

At the end of the day, regardless of any club owner's hopes and dreams of League Football and large off-field facilities, this is the only question that counts for anything.

Will Imraan dare to put this question to us?  Or if one of us asks it, would Imraan dare to answer it?

See you at Wickies tomorrow.  Come on you Poppies!

Imraan on the radio this morning

Being a man I'm not usually good with sub-texts, or "reading between the lines", but Imraan's interview this morning on Radio Northampton left very little to be misconstrued.

Annoyingly DJ Joe, who can generally be relied upon to start an argument with anyone he interviews, whether they are apologists for the Holocaust, or grannies trying to set-up a cake baking society, gave Imraan far too easy a ride.  Not so much a grilling, as a light dusting with icing sugar.

As well as not being much good with sub-texts, I'm also not much of a fortune teller.  However, I'm prepared to stick my neck out a little and look forward a couple of days: -

This Friday, a select grouping of season ticket holders and Trust members are invited to an as yet, undetermined meeting at Wicksteeds.  Presumably these two groups are seen by Imraan as the more pliable element of the Poppies support (which could be the first of many BAD CALCULATIONS). 

On the afternoon of the meeting Imraan will announce that all Poppies fans are invited, in the hope that such a late invite will hit numbers.  A smaller turn-out can then be used as further evidence that the people of Kettering really aren't that fussed about the club....

At the meeting Imraan will speak very eloquently, and state a very persuasive case for us taking over Non Park.  He will highlight all the following, and perhaps more reasons to move: -

• The rent will be lower. 
• The facilities much better. 
• The ability to raise additional funds with be heightened due to these improved facilities.
• Ben Pickering is asking for far too much money.
• The Council do not want us in Kettering.
• We have no future unless we take over at NP.
• The carrot of "far east investment", and "doing a Crawley" will be dangled.

We will remain Kettering Town FC for the meantime.  Perhaps mention will be made of the fact that to stay at Non Park in the middle to long term may need a little tweak to include the word "Rushden" or "Diamonds" in our name.  But only after a potentially shiny and Football League-style future has been spoken about at length.

The fact that this experiment has been done before and failed will probably be glossed over.  The fact that good facilities in an area WITH NO PEOPLE are worse than moderate facilities with a large population will be ignored.

If and when this meeting is confirmed, we have all got to be there.  If you want us to stay in Kettering, and be Kettering there can be no excuses for non-attendance.  Don't worry about the season ticket or Trust bollox - be there and have your say.  It will be difficult for Imraan to justify a move if the overwhelming majority are vehemently opposed.  At the same time our councillors, and even Pickering's people have got to wise-up and see that time is about to run out.  It really is now or never.

Really, really don't try to f*ck us over.

Diamonds Aftermath Part Three - Ben Pickering

Ben Pickering's position within the tangled web of Kettering town Football Club has always been a difficult one to assess.  True, he purchased the ground and agreed to rent it back to us, which saved us once upon a time.  But then, this was only because our board of directors at the time were so criminally short-sighted.  Ben saw the main chance and for a figure as low £70,000.00 made what was almost certainly the best investment he has ever made in his life.

He has continued to rent our ground back to us ever since, which, puts him firmly in the "plus" column.  Is it his fault that the various renegotiation's have favoured him so much?  Better surely to blame the various Poppies directors and chairman for allowing him to set some pretty outlandish terms (percentage of FA Cup AWAY games earnings FFS!).

In very real terms, he is the one man in the world with the power of life and death over the Poppies.  Not Imraan.  Not the Council.  Certainly not us fans.  Just him.  Him and his ownership of the one thing we simply cannot replace - Rockingham Road.

From his point of view he is on to a winner all ways round.  We stay - we pay what he says.  We leave - he applies for planning permission and the makes another killing.  Worse case scenario, we're gone, and he can't sell for houses straight away.  But even then, what does he lose?  Nothing.  The ground has earned back his investment many times over.  And land never decreases in value.  One day it will sell, and his family will benefit. 

So, what do WE suggest he does?  Pie in the sky admittedly, but would it affect the quality of life him in the slightest if he signed the ground over to the Supporters Trust, but had a caveat that any sale would benefit his estate?  This means he would have saved the Poppies twice and be a hero to generations of supporters to come.  Like 99.9% of Poppies fans, I've never met the guy, but would have no problem with attending the "Ben Pickering" stadium for for the rest of my life!  All thoughts on Non Park kicked into touch forever!

Come on Ben, we know you're a regular reader!  You know it makes sense!