Ellesmere Rangers F.C.
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| Full name | Ellesmere Rangers Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Meresiders, The Rangers |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Ground | Beech Grove Ellesmere Shropshire |
| Capacity | 1,250 |
| Chairman | Neil Williams |
| Manager | Dan Stevens |
| League | West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division |
| 2015–16 | West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division, 10th |
Ellesmere Rangers Football Club are an English football club based in the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire. They are members of the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division.
The club in its present form was founded in 1969, although there had been football teams in the town since the early 1900s. These early teams played their games on the Wharf Meadow, which at that time was within the grounds of the local dairy. The Railway pub in the town was the venue for the first meeting of the club, which was dubbed Railway Rangers. A rummage sale was held and the sum of £125 was raised to purchase a kit and all the other equipment necessary to get started. A field just outside the town at Newton was donated by president Mike Edwards. The players set to and did the necessary work to turn it into a pitch which enabled them to enter the Oswestry and District League for their first season. That year the team was managed by a committee, and the season also marked the debut for the club and what has turned out to be unbroken service of future chairman Neil Williams. His father Bert Williams was also heavily involved and was the first club chairman.
The club moved its headquarters to the Market Hotel in 1974 and the club name was changed to Ellesmere Rangers. They remained in the Oswestry & District League until the following season when they gained promotion into the Shrewsbury and West Shropshire League. During the 1979 season a goalscoring record was established by Alan Millard who scored 52 goals in the season, but this record was surpassed by Danny Barton during the promotion year of 2009–10. The Rangers' first major honour was in 1981 when, managed by John Edge, the club lifted the Shropshire Junior Cup at Gay Meadow, home of Shrewsbury Town after beating Weston United 2–1.
Rangers continued to progress and by 1988–89 were in the Shropshire County League. Mike Coulson was appointed manager in 1992 taking the club to a 4th place finish and five cup finals in the one season, winning the Powell Cup for the first time against Wem Town. In July 2000 former League of Wales manager Geoff Graham came to the club. In the 2004–05 the club was promoted from the Shropshire County League to the West Midlands (Regional) League Second Division where back to back promotions were achieved, with 2005–06 being celebrated as Rangers secured the First Division championship at the first attempt. Rangers quickly adapted to life in the Premier Division and recorded a mid-table finish in their first season at level six of the National League System.
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