Full name | Deeping Rangers Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Rangers |
Founded | 1966 |
Ground |
The Haydon Whitham Stadium Towngate East, Outgang Road Market Deeping |
Capacity | 2,000 (164 seated) |
Chairman | Paul Smith |
Manager | Michael Goode |
League | United Counties League Premier Division |
2015–16 | United Counties League Premier Division, 10th |
Deeping Rangers F.C. is a football club based in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, England. They were established in 1964 and originally played at Maxey Road until 1982, but did not move to Outgang Road until 1985; the move was due to a rent dispute with the land owner. They are members of the United Counties League Premier Division.
The club was formed in 1964 and spent their first two seasons in the Peterborough Sunday League, winning the Division One title at the first attempt and then finishing third in the Premier. In 1966, they switched to Saturday football, winning the Peterborough League Division Three North at the first attempt, and also the Peterborough FA Minor Cup. In 1969 they won the Division Two title and a year later became Division One champions.
The facilities at Rangers’ Maxey Road ground were deemed inadequate for Premier Division football. As a consequence, the club found it difficult to hold on to their best players, and the division-winning side dispersed. In 1979 Rangers were relegated to Division Two but they bounced back at the first attempt. That same year saw Rangers lose the use of the Maxey Road ground; they played at the Deepings Leisure Centre until moving to their own ground in Outgang Road in 1985.
Rangers finished runners-up in the Peterborough League Division One in 1985 and were duly promoted to the Premier Division. In 1995-96 Rangers were runners-up in the Premier Division, and again in 1998-99, under the management of Mel Landin. This earned the club promotion to the United Counties League.
During these seasons, Deeping Rangers developed a reputation for finding and developing excellent young players. Their most notable alumni include Malcolm Christie (who moved to Derby County and then Middlesbrough) and Ben Wright (who later played for Viking Stavanger in the UEFA Cup and was also on the books of football league club Lincoln City).