BREAKING; Elliot Sandy is the new boss at AFC Rushden & Diamonds

The former Spalding United boss replaces Michael Harriman, who left the club 'by mutual consent' earlier this week.

Former Kettering Town and Raunds Town boss Jim Le Masurier will also join the Hayden Road club as assistant to Sandy, while Ryan Seaman retains his role as the head of academy and first team coach.

Sandy will be no stranger to the Diamonds supporters, having briefly played for the club at the back end of the 2015/16 season, scoring in the promotion play-off final at St Ives Town.

The 39-year-old began his playing career as trainee at his hometown club Northampton Town, before going on to enjoy a successful career in non-League football.

He played in the United Counties League Premier Division for Cogenhoe United, before moving on to Brackley Town where he stayed for eight years.

After leaving the Saints, Sandy went on to play for the likes of Leamington, Corby Town, Kettering Town and Banbury United.

His initial step into coaching saw him become assistant manager at the Steelmen, before he became player-boss at Spalding.

Initially as interim boss, he led the Tulips to a third-place finish in the Pitching-In Northern Premier League Midlands Division, before taking them to the Midlands League title and promotion in 2023/24 in his first full season in charge.

He was then somewhat bizarrely sacked by the Tulips in August, less than a month into the new season in the Southern League Premier Central, and just three matches after signing a new two-year deal as boss.

Sandy spent the remainder of last season playing in the UCL Premier Division South for Sileby Rangers, but he is now back in management at Hayden Road.

Harriman lost his job earlier this week, with Usher claiming the former Cobblers and Luton Town defender didn't have the required experience of non-League football, nor the contacts to bring in the right players, and Diamonds chair Rob Usher is in no doubt Sandy fits the bill on both counts.

“I'm absolutely delighted to welcome Elliot to the club as our new permanent first team manager," said Usher.

“As a board we decided to act swiftly and efficiently to bring in a manager that had experience of Step Four football and an established network of player contacts, and Elliot excels in both of those categories.

"He was part of the fabric of Northamptonshire football for many years before moving into a first team management role 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.”

And he added: "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.”