Minmi Rangers FC

Minmi Rangers Football Club was an Australian football club that was a foundation member of the Northern District British Football Association. It was the most successful club in the competition in the 1880s and 1890s.

Minmi Rangers FC was formed on 9 September 1884. Members of the inaugural team were expatriate Scottish coal miners who had settled in Minmi. By 1886 the Rangers had won their first Newcastle & District premiership. They proceeded to win the premierships of 1887, 1888, 1889, 1891, 1892 and 1893. During the same period, they won the knockout Ellis Cup competition in 1886, 1887, 1888, 1890, 1892, 1893, 1895 and 1898.

Minmi's biggest triumph came in 1892, when it claimed the Gardiner Cup. The Gardiner Cup was, from 1885 to 1928, the biggest prize in New South Wales football. Minmi 3-0 triumphed in the final against Sydney namesakes, Pyrmont Rangers.

The fortunes of Minmi Rangers FC had dwindled by the turn of the century. No further success would come after 1898. A downturn in the local coal industry saw players depart Minmi, and by 1911 the club had lost its senior competition status.

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