AFC Rushden & Diamonds are delighted to announce the appointment of Elliot Sandy as the Club’s First Team Manager.
Elliot will of course be no stranger to Diamonds supporters. As a player, Elliot began his career with Cogenhoe United before moving on to Brackley Town, where he enjoyed a very successful spell across 8 years. Subsequently, Elliot moved on to Leamington and latterly Corby Town and Kettering Town, before joining the Diamonds for a short period of time at the tail-end of the 2015/16 season, scoring in the play-off final at St. Ives Town. Following this, successful playing spells followed at the likes of Banbury United and Corby Town before moving into off-field roles firstly at Corby Town as Assistant Manager, but most notably at Spalding United.
Elliot joined Spalding United initially as interim manager, leading the Tulips to a third place finish in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division and ultimately defeat in the play-offs. The following season, Elliot and Spalding made amends by winning the league in 2023/24, before departing the Club.
Watch the reaction from Elliot on his appointment via AFCRDTV.
Elliot will be joined in the dugout by Jim Le Masurier, who will take up the position of Assistant Manager. Jim is a very well-known and well-respected local coach. He has held managerial roles at Rushden & Higham United, Raunds Town and Desborough Town, before he joined Kettering Town as Assistant Manager in October 2023. A managerial restructure shortly after Jim joined Kettering led to him being First Team Manager there between November 2023 – February 2024, before he departed the Poppies that summer.
Joining Elliot and Jim will once again be Ryan Seaman, who will retain his role as both Head of Academy and First Team Coach, providing continuity whilst ensuring that a clear pathway into the AFC Rushden & Diamonds first team remains in place for those in the Academy, something which Elliot is fully on board with.
Chairman Rob Usher had this to say: “I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Elliot to the Club as our new permanent First Team Manager.”
“As a Board we decided to act swiftly and efficiently to bring in a Manager that had experience of Step 4 football and an established network of player contacts and Elliot excels in both of those categories, having been a part of the fabric of Northamptonshire Football for many years before moving into a First Team Management that saw him win this league just two seasons ago. Through conversations over the past couple of days we were also impressed by his commitment to work with parts of the infrastructure of the Club that we value, namely the continuation of the Head of Academy’s continued involvement in the First Team set up that brought us a realisation of our pathway so successfully last year.”
“I have been impressed with Elliott’s ambition to win and the ideas he has around building a structure to ensure this. A management team of Elliot, Jim and Ryan will be a huge catalyst in realising our Club’s ambition to push forward and I am confident that the dynamic of the relationship between the Board and the First Team Management will inspire both parties to keep making significant improvement on our shared targets and ambitions.”
After the events of the past week, the Club have decided to extend the Early Bird Season Ticket deadline by another week, until Sunday 8th June. Supporters are able to purchase their Season Tickets, at a reduced rate from last season, here: https://www.afcdiamonds-shop.com/collections/season-tickets-bundles
As it stands, Elliot’s first game in charge will be at Ashby Ivanhoe on Saturday 5th July, with his first competitive game in charge against Northampton ON Chenecks in the Hillier Senior Cup on Thursday 17th July.
