The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

As part of the ground grading requirements needed for AFCR&D, a number of works have been taking place at Hayden Road over the last weeks, in order to be compliant for the deadline at the end of March.

Further to the previous update - http://www.afcdiamonds.com/hayden-road- ... date-21219

In the update below, we include a few pictures (as pictures are always better than words).

[All pictures come from myself, and various volunteers that have been assisting on the work - using local Trades where required, though we have supplemented that work with the volunteers for final finish etc.. in most cases.]

We have a fairly regular group of volunteers and we use Whatsapp in general to arrange when things are going on for ease, so if you are able to help at times feel free to contact Matt Parker at the club shop - or contact members @ afcdiamonds.com and we can get you added or let me know of others availability for planning - some work happens during the week, and others often on a Sunday morning 10am onwards.]

Taking each area in turn, will include details for each below.

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1/ Work has started yesterday (21st Feb) on the internal changing room work to comply with the new FA Regulations of 18 square metres. The new changing room configuration will be complete in time for the AFC Rushden & Diamonds home fixture against Alvechurch on 2nd March
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This work is almost complete - with some final painting etc. due to be done this Friday, ahead of the match on 2nd March v Alvechurch. The walls were moved about 30cm in each changing room to make the required 18 meters squared - Home now being 18.4 and away 18.1 - am sure the players will notice the extra space (not). This meant we lost the existing Officials Room, which has now reverted to its original role (from 1922) as a corridor into the stand. The Officials now move to 2 new cabins at the back of the stand - 1 primary cabin, and 1 supplementary and for Female Officials as required. The players will also now enter through the original players/directors entrance which is just to the left of the main existing turnstile.

The Changing Room floors will be redone probably after this weekend to allow plenty of time to dry out (at this time of year the floor paint takes a little longer to go off) - this will be an Anti-Slip Grey, as previously and will freshen up the changing rooms.

[Note: This was mostly previously put on the members forum]

Changing Room Update - increase in size and reinstatement of the original Players Entrance.

B A C K G R O U N D

As you are probably aware, the existing changing rooms - that have been in use since the 1922 Stand opening, in a few configurations (but same size) with doors in one other location, were just under the new FA limit of 18 square meters for the level that we are now at.

The existing changing rooms are about 17.0-17.2 metres squared, so just over 0.8 square meters too small.

Per FA Grade C Guidelines
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3. DRESSING ROOM FACILITIES
3.1 Players
Separate dressing rooms must be provided for both teams within the enclosed area of the ground. The dressing rooms must be of sound construction and be of a permanent nature. Existing dressing room dimensions will be acceptable provided they are a minimum of 12 square metres, excluding shower and toilet areas. Where clubs are planning to build new dressing rooms these must be a minimum size of 18 square metres, excluding shower and toilet areas.

NB Clubs need to be aware of the increase to a minimum size of 18 square metres, excluding shower and toilet areas, as from 31st March 2019.
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Related Stories
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46061226

Pre-Works

The final game in the existing configuration was R&HUFC v Bugbrooke on Wednesday night (20th Feb).

Home changing room (post cleaning, before final match).
Ref's Room post match - this will become a corridor in the new layout - linking to the original Door/Players entrance.
NEW LAYOUT

In order to increase the size of the changing rooms, we needed to take some space from the Referee's Changing Room, which then made that too small to use - so the officials changing room(s) have now been relocated to Portacabins in the area to the left of the new players entry behind the Main Stand. Officials access the tunnel from the main doorway to reach the pitch. See another thread to follow about the Officials Portacabins - these are just about commisioned - Electrics/Water done, just some final pipework and cleaning - they will be used by Officials for 2nd March Match.

Each changing room expanded in length by about 30-40cm each, and this then left the newly formed tunnel (4) from new entrance to pitch/tunnel access.

See this diagram below - note - dimensions very slightly changed from this earlier draft.
The HOME changing room (3) on the left, is now 18.4m2 and Away (5) on the right, 18.1m2.

DAY 1 (Demolition of original 1922 Changing Room Walls) - Thursday Feb 21st.

First up - the Officials Room (which contained Shower/Toilets/Sink etc..) was emptied, and all plumbing capped off for now (pipework for home showers - hot/cold supply will be re-routed after main build done).

Benches removed from the walls that are being removed.

Then the builders opened up the easier bricks first, that were in the original doorways into the changing rooms from the original tunnel area. It is thought this was changed in the early 70's, possibly around the same time as the clubhouse was built, but if anyone knows, then please comment.
Walls opened up between 2 changing rooms, across the old Ref's room.
Walls down - looking down what will be the new corridor, and out of the players exit to pitch.
Across both changing rooms - a view last seen 1922 I guess when the stand was built.
Looking toward where the Players Entry door will be reinstated.
Also retained the original Referee's Sign (which we had repainted as part of the works last year to restore it a bit), for use on new Primary Officials Changing Room.

DAY 2 (Replacement of Walls - 30cm outwards) - Friday Feb 22nd

Nice misty morning to start the walls going up...and opening up the original Player entry door to fit new one. Setting out positions on corridor walls - and double checking we'll end up with a room > 18 metre squared. First wall going up on Away changing room side. Doorway opened up and new Frame/Window/Door fitted. Walls rising both side... The new entry door (this will be painted Black as per all other external doors). An old sign uncovered when taking down some signage on outside wall (kept to one side for now). Corridor view out to the pitch Home changing room View down the corridor Closer view of doorway and skylight. This concluded the main works that week.

Re-checked the measurements again...

First the AWAY - 18.1 OK! And HOME - 18.4 OK! (Am sure the players will notice the difference.)
We then had some volunteers in over the weekend, on Sunday morning once the walls had gone off to start to give it an initial coat of Masonry Paint/Sealer etc.. before the builders finished off the rest of the walls - this was just to give us a head start for later in the week to get as much finish done before match.

The materials... First coat... DAY 3 (Builders Complete Walls) - Monday Feb 25th

Walls infil completed, and additional supports added in ceiling above. Fire protected ceiling cover DAY 4 (Benches going back in) - Tuesday Feb 26th

Benches put back with some adjustments - and basic cleaning done. Main Build work complete - some plumbing reinstatement work and corridor ceiling platering to follow.
Nearing the final stretch - some more painting to be done (probably some on Friday), though full final finish may be after this first game - but all facilities back in rooms - sockets/heaters restored as well, which was the key thing with the tight timescales in which to get this work done.

Away changing room heater put back (Home is the same). Away changing room sockets (for tunes)/usb points (for phones), for player phone charging - and a shelf for phones also...yes we provide them in home as well. This was to prevent players always coming into the stand office to ask for charging points - we've had these since last season. [We do NOT provide USB cables.]
(Note - feel free to swivel your head for this one....)

New sensor/lighting fitted in corridor - no switch, will come on as needed.
Lights, Action! The Officials Bells reinstated in each changing room, with the buttons in the Officials Room (just relocated the existing simple wireless doorbells we use for that). Most teams ignore them anway and await the officials banging on the door for the proper signal.

And bar some extra painting (Extra Masonry coats, Main Door inside/outside, Redo Anti-Slip on Changing Room floors/corridor), some cleaning, and a few minor bits (door stops/bolts etc..) and pieces that concludes the work to rejig the changing room to be compliant for the FA.

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2/ A crane will be at Hayden Road on Monday 25th February to reconfigure the Peter Debanke end.
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This was moved to Wednesday 27th February in the end, due to a scheduling change - but we had a nice clear/windless day for this work to be done, which moved Dale's Bar and the Club Shop to a central position behind the current concrete pad on some newly prepared pads.

These will sit in an area (a bit like Dale's Bar before) set back and between the new 150 seater stand (where old Stand and Dale's Bar were), and the Peter DeBanke Stand - which is moving 11 meters to the right - closer to the gate.

Note: The move/skate of Dale's Bar is to happen in a week or so's time - around 9th March with the current schedule.

Top End Rejig/Move Preparation

This pre-work included much clearing of the ground behind the DeBanke to allow the relocation of Dale's Bar and the Shop - including removing rubble from the previous years Main Stand demolition works (the old steps etc..), moving soil to form a new banked area along the fence boundary in the left hand back corner area, and forming the area for the pads for the moved units. In addition due to other logistics with building the new stand, and the equipment needed for that (Telehandler etc..) we wanted to maintain 3 meters access behind the stands/shop etc.. This also makes available some space for potential future use - though access is the main key.

As part of that prep - the Emergency Pitch Access gate was moved to nearer the corner, so straight on from the main gate, and the gates now lift out for ease of access too if required. (This was work we had planned to do last summer but ran out of time.)

Most of this pre-work happened in early February.

GATE Rejig - Gate moved from opposite Club Shop to corner.
RUBBLE Clearance - Got a skip loaned and rubble went away to be crushed/used.

As available... All in the skip

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3/ On Saturday 9th March, the Peter Debanke Stand will be moved to the right by 11 metres (when looking from the pitch) to accommodate the new 150 seat stand, which will replace the current Mick George stand.
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With the move of the other units onsite - the prep work for this move is almost complete. Datona (who put the stand up) will be onsite after Saturday's match to unbolt this stand from the pad, so it can be moved across 11m. This will then expose the new locations of the Shop/Dale's Bar.

The area in front of the new shop/bar location will be stoned, and then concreted. We could potentially also look in time at having some sort of covered area between DeBanke and new stand for that area too.

Note: Dale's Bar and the Club shop will NOT be open for the game on Saturday 2nd March. We have some work to prep the access, and also to restore power/data/comms to the units - which should be open for the Saturday 16th March game all being well with the prep. Also note - the press guys will have no power sockets available in Chris Ruff stand just for this Saturday only.

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4/ During March, Stadium Solutions will start to install the new stand.
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You can follow these guys - currently installing at another ground before they get to us. Our stand is in Manufacturing at present.
The stand is assembled on site and is totally removable as required, just like the turnstiles, DeBanke etc...

Stadium Solutions

The new 150 seater stand will be located at the left-hand side in the area previously covered by the Mick George Stand, and Dale's Bar - it's about 17m wide. There will then be a gap to the DeBanke and in that gap - set back from the existing concrete pad by about a meter (to be infilled soon), you will access Dale's Bar and The Club shop (the stands will overlap these slightly at each side from a front view).

We may (at some point) look at covering part of the area between the 2 stands and Dale's Bar/Shop as well.

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NOTE: Further updates/pics to go on during the day in the sections above.

It always amazes me how we manage to achieve upgrades like this - and this time it is even more impressive as the work is having to be done mid season. I'm sure the FA don't lose a moments sleep considering all the effort clubs have to go to in order to meet ground grading, alongside them squandering so much money building the new Wembley.

Thanks Dazzler. Nice to be able to see what's going on. Thanks also to the volunteers doing their bit to ensure we remain at this level of football.

I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone giving their time to this - volunteering to do this kind of thing is very rewarding, you get a real buzz from being involved.

I’m gutted I can’t give the time at the moment to help, but my job and family commitments just won’t allow it at the moment - but to all those who can and are!! Can’t wait to see the fruits of your labour !!