Goodbye 2022, Hello 2023! – FC Rangers Junior Football Club

As we look to starting the second half of the season in the New Year, the club would like to say to all its Members, Committee, Coaches, Players and Parents, that we wish you the very best of luck for the new year! We have great club full of some very talented young players (and of course adults) and we would like you to know, win, lose or draw, the club is behind you regardless!

So far you have all played a tremendous part in representing the club and we would like to say thanks for all you have done! The club wouldn’t be here without you.

During 2022, the committee, teams and individuals have gone above and beyond in growing, promoting, fundraising, playing, coaching, networking, and organising activities so that the players and everyone involved can get the most out of their experience with FC Rangers and for that we are forever grateful.

As a club we would like to specially thank our Honorary Life President, Malcolm Richardson, for of course founding the club back in 1970 but also for all the support he still offers and donations he’s made. He is the reason we are all part of this fantastic community. He still checks in on us via our social media, emails, and even travels over from his home in Germany to visit us when he can.

Another thank you goes to our Club Secretary Steve Jackson, and our Chairman Karl Bambrook for keeping our club organised and running behind the scenes, ensuring that all teams are covered and are able to function to the FA’s, league’s, and club’s rules and regulations. The amount of work you both do for the club is sometimes not realised, so again a massive thank you for everything you do!

Thank you to Lead Welfare Officer Lorraine and her welfare team for ensuring everyone at the club is safe and looked after, allowing our players coaches are able to do what they love without fear or harm. You all do a great job in protecting us and deserve to be praised!

To Steph, Stuart, Deena, Simarah. Thank you for all the work you have done in securing funding, improving the changing rooms, container, and organising events and parties ensuring the club has everything it needs to bring us all together!

We also have our brilliant FC Rangers 4-4 Brew Café which is brilliantly run and maintained by Nick ensuring that everyone has food in their stomachs and keeps us all refreshed with his hot and cold drinks.

And finally, a great thank you to all of our sponsors past and present! Without your funding and support, we would not have the kits, tools and equipment to allow us to do what we do so you really are an important part of our community! In return we will always ensure you are advertised on our website for as long as you wish!

We do have so many more of you we would like to thank individually but as there are hundreds of you we would like to thank you all collectively! Thank you all!

Now we can look back and reflect on some of the highlights of 2022 at FC Rangers in the section below!

In April, thanks to the hard work of Stuart with the support of our media team, FC Rangers was able to launch its very own club App for Apple and Android phones. This links in perfectly with our website and allows everyone to keep in the loop of what’s going on at the club.
In May, both our Under 10’s and 12’s teams managed to represent the club in the Coulton Plate Finals at Highbury Stadium!
In June, we saw our Vixens grow as we affiliated 4 new girls teams to the club!
July was a great month for the club as we secured £500 from the ASDA Foundation thanks to your votes in their ballot. We also had our equipment container made over by a local graffiti artist giving it a refreshing look with our FC Rangers branding. Our founder Malcolm visited from Germany to meet the coaches and we even kitted him out with his own FC Rangers wear. The Coaches came out of retirement to play against the Under 16 Blues. The coaches won, however the U16 put up a valiant performance! We had the Coaches awards at the Boars Head where our Under 15 Blues(now U16s) won Team of The Year; Glenn Farbrother won Manager of The Year; and Simarah Dodd was presented with the Clubman award.
In September, we were awarded with a pitch maintenance grant to cover us for the next 3 years ensuring our pitches are kept to a high standard. We also had a visit from Blackpool FC Left Back, Dom Thompson as part of the Tangerine Teammates initiative set up by the Blackpool FC Community Trust. Dom was able to share his knowledge and experiences with all of our players and even left a number of our coaches starstruck!
In October, we were surprised by Tesco’s Community Grants scheme when we were awarded with a golden token, resulting in the club receiving a £10,000 grant to put towards new equipment, kits, etc.
And in November/ December we partied for Christmas, with a Christmas Party at Ascent Trampoline park and The Arcade Club for the players, a meal at Mr Basrai’s with a night out in town for the coaches.

What a year it’s been, but I’m sure there is still plenty more to come for 2023 so Happy New Year everyone!!

FC Rangers JFC