The Guardian:
Max Griggs, the Dr Martens tycoon, has handed over Rushden & Diamonds to a newly formed supporters' trust.
The former owner-chairman has been attempting to sell the club for the past 18 months but after receiving no workable bids he contacted influential supporters to offer them control on condition that they launched the trust. They took formal charge at Nene Park yesterday.
Griggs, who has relinquished his shares and ensured the club is debt free, has also pledged £500,000 this year and £250,000 for next in an attempt to keep the club in the black. As a supporters' collective, the club's new owners are not permitted to take on debt.
Rushden has thus become the 11th club to be owned or managed by their supporters, with Stockport County soon to join the list. "This is very much an altruistic gesture from Max Griggs," said Helen Thompson, now the Rushden & Diamonds managing director.
"We needed a body to take control and so the trust was set up at the end of March. Between then and now we have been negotiating with the Griggs Group, the club's holding company, about how to take on the shares."
There is optimism at Rushden that off-the-field activities will help generate sufficient income for the club to thrive. The new board, which is unpaid, brings expertise from the world of commerce, and the chairman Richard Palmer is a director at a merchant bank in the City.