The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

After an enforced weeks break we return to the business of finding our 'greatest XI'. Today we start the voting for the two positions in the centre of the park. We had a substantial long list for these positions so whittling them down has taken some counting (and miscounting) this has lead to there being an unusual 9 nominees owing to tied voting. The nominees are as follows, as usual click on the names for info:

Garry Butterworth is the clubs all time appearance holder. In a Diamonds career spanning 8 years and 368 appearances he became a club legend and the embodiment of the rise through the divisions. Signed in 1994 he captained the side to the Beazer Homes Premier title in 1996 and won POTS awards in 95, 97 and 2000. His goals were rare, however they were always memorable or at a crucial time. He also holds the record for most consecutive appearances at 104 and would play in the clubs big day out at the Millennium stadium in 2002 in what would be his last appearance for the club.

Adie Mann joined the club in 1992 on it's formation having already appeared over 100 times for local rivals Northampton Town. He would go on to break the century barrier for RDFC as well, pulling the shirt on 130 times in total. He scored his first goal in the clubs first ever FA Cup tie and would go on to score an impressive 44 goals for the club. He is currently assistant manager of Raunds Town.

Stuart Wardley can at times be a divisive player amongst some fans, however there is no doubting that he was at the heart of the team that climbed to the club highest ebb. Signed in 2002 from QPR on an initial months loan Wardley went on to make 66 appearances for the club. His time at the club was cut short after a serious knee injury. He struggled to find the same form afterwards and dropped out of the professional ranks after a spell at Cambridge United.

Steve Spooner began his association with RDFC in 1995 and would make more than 50 appearances for the club as it rose into the conference for the first time. After a spell away from the club he returned in 2000 to take up the role of youth team coach. In 2002 he succeeded Terry Westley as First Team coach working alongside manager Brian Talbot but would leave midway through the following season to join Derby County's centre of excellence.

Dougie Keast arrived at Nene Park in 1994 after a long association with rivals K*ttering Town. He made 75 appearances after scoring on his début against Hinckley. After leaving for Burton Albion he had spells in management with Corby and Stamford and currently holds a similar position at Quorn FC.

Michael McElhatton joined the club in 1998 from Scarborough. The midfielder showed an incredible talent during his 96 appearances for the Diamonds before his career was cruelly cut short by an injury sustained in a collision with future Diamonds player Warren Patmore. He scored 22 goals in his Diamonds career but after a short attempt to return in 2002 his career was over prematurely at 27.

Ritchie Hanlon spent two spells at Nene Park. His first, in 1998 lasted just 7 games before Peterborough United snapped him up. After a difficult time at London Road he rejoined the Diamonds in 2001 for the clubs first season in the Football League. He put in some very impressive performances in one of the clubs greatest ever midfields culminating in an appearance in the clubs one play off final appearance. However, he picked up a serious injury in the coming pre season and despite returning to the team, now playing in Division 2, he was never the same player as before. He left the club on it's relegation in 2004 for Stevenage Borough.

Gary Mills is another central midfielder who has spent two spells at the club. He came through the youth ranks in 1998 and would eventually become an important part of the Conference winning team of 2001and the 2003 Division Three winning side. He suffered a bad injury that kept him out of most of the clubs first season after relegation and would only make 5 more starts before moving on. In his second spell he boosted his appearance record to 170 after being brought back in by Graham Westley during his short yet eventful spell as manager. He currently plays for Mansfield.

Shaun Carey was an influential part of the Conference winning side of 2001 alongside Garry Butterworth. He joined the club at the start of that season and would make 52 appearances for the club before he left for Chester City in early 2002. He went on to achieve the same success with Chester as he did at Nene Park.

Next up: LM

How on earth did Mills make that list?!?!
Couldn't pass, couldn't shoot and was as good in the tackle as Paul Scholes...... :lol:

Adie Mann is now manager of Rushden & Higham United, not assistant at Raunds anymore.

Has to be Butterworth and McElhatten for me, though Wardley in a close third place. Also, special mention to Carol Van Der Velden, i still have yet to see a player pass the ball with such accuracy, shame his spell at the club wasn't longer!

macca and butts for me too but seems such a shame to leave adie mann out of a all time diamonds 11. i can remmember taking some mates from school (we were about 14) to nene park for a game and going on about how he was our greatest player, used to think he was awesome.

but butterworth HAS to go in the 11 for the service he gave to the club, he was the first name on the teamsheet for a good few years and i honestly believe macca was, at his peak, one of the best midfielders this league has ever seen
and a bloody nice bloke too!

hanlon was pretty handy in his second spell with us but always thought he was a t**t after missing that pen against luton......we should have won that day :twisted:

Superhans wrote: hanlon was pretty handy in his second spell with us but always thought he was a t**t after missing that pen against luton......we should have won that day :twisted:

He was never going to score after Beresford had pretended to be seriously injured for so long.

Macca and Butts for me too. Macca is probably my favourite Diamonds player, and Butts simply cannot be left out, though Wardley might have got close to pushing him out for me if he'd been able to carry on playing longer

wewantourdarbyback wrote:

Superhans wrote: hanlon was pretty handy in his second spell with us but always thought he was a t**t after missing that pen against luton......we should have won that day :twisted:

He was never going to score after Beresford had pretended to be seriously injured for so long.

yer forgot that bit ...he was taking the p*ss, was down for ages!
still cant forgive hanlon though.

Superhans wrote:

wewantourdarbyback wrote:

Superhans wrote: hanlon was pretty handy in his second spell with us but always thought he was a t**t after missing that pen against luton......we should have won that day :twisted:

He was never going to score after Beresford had pretended to be seriously injured for so long.

yer forgot that bit ...he was taking the p*ss, was down for ages!
still cant forgive hanlon though.

Ritchie's head was never right after that injury, he just wasn't the same player.

wewantourdarbyback wrote:

Superhans wrote: hanlon was pretty handy in his second spell with us but always thought he was a t**t after missing that pen against luton......we should have won that day :twisted:

He was never going to score after Beresford had pretended to be seriously injured for so long.

That cheating bastard tried the same trick later the same season when he was on loan at Barnsley.

Macca and Butts here too.

Agree with Downsie about Carol Van der Velden, he was a special player. I remember it was a little trick, that led to him falling over, doing his shoulder and never really getting back into the side. Had he not done that, he'd be on this list today

Carel Van Der Velden was mentioned during discussions over who should be nominated, however, you can't really include someone who only played 14 games for the club. (Having said that, I'm sure Billy Sharp will be nominated in the strikers category, depite only making 16 appearances - his circumstances are slightly different though! ) I agree though, he was an extremely talented player (still one of the most talented to play for the club IMO), and had he not dislocated his shoulder and subsequently fallen out with OBN then I'm sure he would have made the list.