Elswick Rangers F.C. was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

club based in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the la ...

History

The club's foundation date is unclear, but its first recorded match was in September 1886, a 3–1 win at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington under ...

. The club was however obviously ambitious, having recruited a number of Scots players, such as Tait from

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scotti ...

, Melville and Beattie from

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been mem ...

, and Baxter from

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

. One of the early victims of Rangers was

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

, who would merge into

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

within a few years. The reason the club could afford such players was that the club's patron was the industrialist Lord Armstrong, who could arrange jobs as the Sir William Armstrong, Mitchell and Co. Ltd works at Elswick for decent players. Towards the end of the 1886–87 season, the club went on tour to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, but made the mistake of going by boat; the resulting mal-de-mer affected the team to the extent that it lost three of the four matches, but drew with

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

. the club finished the season as runners-up in the

Northumberland Football Association The Northumberland Football Association is a governing body in the historic county of Northumberland, England. The association was formed in 1883. It is responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county. ...

Charity Shield, losing 2–0 to Shankhouse in the final. The club entered the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

in 1887–88. The club drew 3–3 at home to Bishop Auckland Church Institute in the first round, and won the replay 2–0, plus having two further goals disallowed. In the second round, at Darlington, the Rangers went 3–0 up inside the first quarter of an hour, but lost 4–3 after extra time. The club was too small to be invited into the early national leagues, but was a founder member of the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

in 1889–90. The club only gained two wins, finished bottom, and was not re-elected. The club stepped down to the lower level

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...

(the re-named North-Eastern League) for 1890–91 but finished fifth out of the seven teams, while struggling to get a team together, regular goalkeeper Matthieson having to play outfield on occasion. The club's ultimate humiliation was in the 1890–91

Northumberland Senior Cup The Northumberland Senior Cup, officially named the Techflow Marine Senior Cup, is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Northumberland Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup fo ...

, losing 10–2 to

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

; made all the worse because, due to of a clash of fixtures, East End only sent a reserve side. The last record of the club is its attendance at the Northumberland FA annual general meeting in May 1891. It does not seem to have survived to the 1891–92 season.

Colours

The club wore light blue jerseys.

Ground

The club's ground was Mill Lane.

References

{{reflist Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in the 19th century Defunct football clubs in Northumberland Association football clubs disestablished in 1891 1891 disestablishments in England