Full name | Smethwick Rangers Football Club |
---|---|
Founded | 2008 |
Ground | Hillcrest Avenue, Brierley Hill, Birmingham, West Midlands DY5 3QJ (Groundshare at Dudley Sports F.C.) |
Capacity | 2,000 |
Manager | Amo Sandur |
League |
West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division |
2015–16 |
West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division, 11th |
Smethwick Rangers Football Club is a football club based in Smethwick, West Midlands, England. They joined the West Midlands (Regional) League Division One South in 1996. In the 2005–06 season, they were members of the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division, however they resigned from this league at the end of the season and folded their adult men's team, but later rejoined the league under a new name.
The club first joined the West Midlands (Regional) League in 1996 under the name Smethwick Rangers, initially playing in Division One South. In their second season in the division they were champions and were promoted to the Premier Division, where they remained until 2006.
In 2000 the club changed its name to Warley Rangers after signing a sponsorship deal with Warley Accident Repair Centre. In the same season former Wolverhampton Wanderers player Robbie Dennison served as their player-coach.
In 2001 they reverted to their former name, but a year later they changed their name again, this time to Smethwick Sikh Temple. As a predominantly Asian team, they have competed in the UK Asian Football Championships, and in 1994 they played at Villa Park in the final of the Aston Villa Cup, a tournament for local teams hosted by the Premier League club. In 2005 they reverted to the name Smethwick Rangers. After dropping out of the league in 2006 they re-surfaced in the Midland Football Combination in 2008 under the name Smethwick Town, and were subsequently known as AFC Internazionale and AFC Smethwick before reverting to their present name in 2013. In 2010 they switched back to the West Midlands (Regional) League and won promotion twice in three seasons to return to the Premier Division. In 2015 Smethwick Rangers were crowned UK Asian Champions 2015 after beating IGFC Singh Sabha Hounslow at Ibrox. In the 2015–16 season Smethwick signed former Dinamo II București player Albert Alexandru, who led the club to the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division Cup, beating Wolverhampton Sporting Community 1–0 in the final at Long Lane Park.