Hastmead Diamante

Hastmead Diamante Community Football Club (also known as Hastmead Diamante, The Diamonds) is a professional Osarian football club based in Carbonia, Fourge, who play in the Rabastor Premier League, the highest level of the Osarian football league pyramid. Formerly, they competed in LigAnaia, and were one of the most successful teams in the multi-associational league before it's dissolution, winning the very last COCANEFA championship. Originally founded in 2118 as Hastmead Calcio Diamanti by diamond miners in the Carbos mountains, Hastmead Diamante were a founding member of the Football League of Osarius in 2137, though did not become established as a top-flight team in Osarius until late in the 2100s. They have played at their current home ground, Black Patch Park, since the club was founded.

Under Amandeep Sahota, Hastmead began heavily investing in the development of their already impressive youth academy. As a result, Hastmead have consistently been ranked among the nation's best sides at all youth levels since the 2170s. The youth academy has produced several highly rated Osarian internationals such as Benedict Watson, Rene Wilson-Ouaddou and Ezio Grassi. Hastmead have a fierce rivalry with fellow Fourgian club Firewood City, and fellow youth development experts Utica United. Outside Osarius, the fans consider Audioslavian club 1830 Cathair to be their main rivals. The club's traditional kit colours are orange and black.

History
In 2114, the ownership at Carbonia-based mining company Gabelli Minatori – then-owners of multiple mining sites across the Hastmead district – approved the creation of several works teams to maintain standards of mental and physical health among the large workforce in their mines. Originally, the company entered one such team – each given the name Gabelli Calcio, with a different identifier; for example, the Monobury-based Gabelli Calcio Angeli d'Oro – in each of the various different leagues across the Hastmead district, making a total of twelve clubs. The success of one of these clubs, Gabelli Calcio Diamanti, playing in the Central Carbonia Recreational League (CCRL) garnered significant press coverage, followed by a spike in applications to work for Gabelli. In response, additional funding was given to Gabelli teams who performed well, with the players earning various perks from the company.

When Gabelli Calcio Diamanti won their third consecutive CCRL championship and an invite to the regional qualifier for the Osarian Football Combination, Gabelli Minatori CEO Umberto Gabelli realised the potential for a corporate football team as a recruitment and public relations engine. Given the nation's shifting attitude toward mining companies at the time, and concerns over employee welfare, the board at Gabelli quickly approved plans to establish a team in the newly established Fourge Football Combination, which served as a feeder league to the Fourgian Regional Championship. The new team was named Hastmead Calcio Diamanti, and consisted of the best players across all existing Gabelli Calcio teams. To promote a new image of Gabelli Minatori, the players were given reduced work hours – though they were required to spend these "free" hours training for the football team – but still received the same pay as regular workers.

An agreement with the Carbonia City Council was made to allow the team to host their matches at Black Patch Park for the next ninety-nine years, if Gabelli would cover the cost of constructing the required facilities. Plans for a 200 capacity stand and a small pavilion for changing rooms were hastily approved, only to be stalled by a lack of funding. In the summer of 2118, the team name Hastmead Calcio Diamanti was registered with the Osarian Football Association and the Fourgian Football Combination.

Success did not come quickly for Hastmead, and the team struggled against the stronger opposition in the Fourgian Football Combination for several years. Umberto Gabelli twice signed off on financial assistance to the struggling team in the late 2120s, before a brief run of successes in the early 2130s – largely on the backs of the talented teenagers, Luigi Pupino and Valentino Bottini; both of whom would go on to win multiple national championships with Firewood City – saw the team break into the Fourgian Regional Championship. They would remain at this level for decades, establishing fiercely contested rivalries with Monobury Town and Grafite Union.

When the first Osarian professional league was founded in 2137, Hastmead were a mid-tier side in Fourge, with minimal silverware, but one of few teams with the financial means to enter a national league.

( more to come ... )

Colours and badge
Hastmead's first kit was an old Utica United issue, donated by Hector Cerrada, a Utica University alumnus hired to handle accounting for Gabelli Minatori. The kits were plain orange shirts, which were later modified by Cerrada's sister to include a simple diamond motif in black thread on the breast. This diamond motif would feature on every incarnation of the club's kit and would later be worked into the club logo. The orange used in the club's original kits was a lighter shade, closer to that used by Utica United at the time, but was later changed to a deeper orange, so as to better stand out in the often inclement Fourgian weather.

The club has consistently used orange as the main colour in their kits, in recognition of the originals. The black is said to represent the mines from which the club was born. These two colours have made up the majority of every home and away kit design Hastmead have had throughout their existence. Third kits are seldom designed and released, but when they are, they typically feature orange and black in a more subtle capacity, alongside some other, more prominent colour.

For much of their existence, Diamante have used the original diamond motif or the Hastmead district coat of arms inside a diamond-shaped border as their logo. It was not until the 2200s that a club logo was established, after a vote by club members. The winning design was created by an Audioslavian fan of the club, which some rival fans within Osarius ridiculed. However, a Hastmead Diamante spokesman insisted that the choice of winning design was "a testament to the global appeal of the club" and that it "shows how far the club has come; from humble origin, to now claiming devoted fans overseas".

Kit sponsorship
Arguably, Hastmead could be said to be the first football club in Osarius to have a corporate sponsor, having been almost entirely funded by Gabelli Minatori in the early days of their existence, as Hastmead Calcio Diamanti. The club bore the logo of the mining company on their shirts until 2148, when the board noted that the club could make more money allowing other companies to sponsor their shirts. Several local companies would sponsor Hastmead Diamante in the following years, until Ikonik Telecommunications became the club's primary sponsors in 2171. In 2175 Ikonik Telecommunications began buying shares in Hastmead Diamante, eventually acquiring 40% in 2179. The company have maintained a close relationship with the club, appearing as kit sponsor every year since.

The club has also, over the years, had other, minor sponsors place their logo on the shirt. Most notably, during Hastmead's first season of UICA competition, Fourgian automotive company Vopara paid a sizeable sum to feature their company logo on the sleeves of the Diamante shirt. In recent years, the lower part of the back of Hastmead's shirts – space that might normally be devoted to a secondary sponsor – has typically featured the word "Diamonds", with the club's diamond emblem forming the "D". Chairman Shaun Walker has backed this move repeatedly, pointing out that he does not want to see the club "become an advertising whore".

Stadium

 * Main article: Black Patch Park

Ownership

 * See also: Hastmead Diamante Community ownership model

Since being founded in 2118, Hastmead has maintained a community-owned existence, starting with the original entity. Though the original team, Hastmead Calcio Diamanti, was a corporately funded entity, it was run entirely by existing staff at Gabelli Minatori. Umberto Gabelli, whose statue greets visitors to the Diamond End at Black Patch Park, signed over all rights to ownership of the club when it was established, insisting that the club's success was entirely dependent on the local community.

When the club went professional in 2137, it also became a limited company, establishing a club charter and renaming to renamed to Hastmead Diamante Community Football Club, reflecting the change in how the club would be run from that point forward. The charter, now an integral part of the club's structure, states that at least fifty percent of the club's shares must be owned by Hastmead-based individuals. For the purposes of this rule, the charter counts any person who pays at least 50% of their Osarian residency tax contributions to the Hastmead district council as a Hastmead-based individual. Umberto Gabelli bought a large number of shares at the time, only to redistribute them to long-time employees of Gabelli Minatori and former players at the club, as thanks for their service. In response, the club's members elected him chairman, a position he held until his resignation in 2144.

The club's executive decisions are made by an elected board of officials, selected by "community members" – those owning shares in the club, and local residents of the Hastmead district who have opted to pay for "community membership" – with votes weighted based on share ownership. Custom is to elect personnel to the chairman role and six C-level roles every two years. The remaining eighteen board members are elected annually.

As of 2186, forty percent of the club has been owned by Ikonik Telecommunications Ltd, with the remaining sixty owned by local individuals. The largest individual shareholder as of 2300 is Elaine Delacour, who owns eleven percent of all shares in the club.

Supporters and rivalries

 * See also: Northern Fourge rivalry and Orange Academy rivalry

Hastmead's fanbase has traditionally been made up of large numbers of industrial workers from Carbonia and nearby towns in the Hastmead district, and military personnel involved in border patrols. Some have suggested that this combination of personnel has contributed to the club's unusually strong historic focus on tactical development. Several prominent Osarian pundits – across a multitude of sports – are known to have been born or raised in Carbonia.

In the club's earlier years, their primary rivals were – as with most Osarian teams at the time &ndash other local clubs, with whom they regularly contested regional league matches. Over the years, Hastmead's ascent up the Osarian football league pyramid has put too much distance between them and their historic rivals – primarily fellow Carbonia-based team Grafite Union; and the district's other major club in the early 2100s, Monobury Town – to consider them legitimate rivals anymore.

As the club's stature grew, they became one of the few viable career options for aspiring footballers in northern Fourge, which is believed to be the original source of their rivalry with Firewood City. The rivalry with Firewood cooled considerably in the mid-2100s, and sparked back into life in the latter part of the century, when an Amandeep Sahota led Hastmead side emerged as legitimate championship contenders.

The rivalry with Utica United can be traced similarly. The two originally had a friendly relationship, with the newly formed Hastmead using an old Utica United kit, and the well-established Tubrissian champion Utica United side traveling north to play in a friendly, ceremonial "first game" against Hastmead which doubled as the first match at Black Patch Park. As Utica's affiliate, Utica University, developed a reputation for its collegiate athletic programs, the Tubrissian school began poaching athletes from youth academies in the north – particularly those of lesser financial means, where a scholarship was a major opportunity. In 2149, Utica University, working in partnership with Utica United, enticed promising Hastmead academy midfielder John Freeman to the south-east. Hastmead took the matter to a tribunal, where the OFA determined that they were entitled to compensation. The case set a precedent which would later form the foundation for future league rules regarding young players.

First-team squad
(club captain)

Notable players

 * See also: List of Hastmead Diamante players


 * Hugh Collingwood


 * Francesco Villa
 * D'Antoni Williams
 * Habib Kouli
 * Benedict Watson
 * Rene Wilson-Ouaddou
 * Jordan Simpson


 * Hope Peranio
 * Cassandra Palacios
 * Cristina Palacios


 * Hamzah Ibrahim
 * Nicholas Armstrong
 * Bethany Martin
 * Niek van der Smeejin
 * Pablo Sirici
 * Aaron Cole


 * India Turner
 * Nicola Costello
 * Fabio Mancini
 * Ezio Grassi


 * Andrea Cawdor
 * Jorit van Kruistum
 * Tanya Bottlegreen


 * Julian Collingwood
 * Yasmin Velasquez


 * Marcelo Alonso


 * Giorgia Caruso
 * Graziana Vastano
 * Emmeline Mariconda
 * Melinda Rubio

Notable managers
The following managers have all won at least one trophy when in charge or have been notable for Hastmead in the context of the League.