Rangers AFC was one of the oldest football teams in New Zealand and was located in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
, New Zealand. In 2007 they merged with
New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.:
Australia
* New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores
Canada
* New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood
* New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...
to form
Coastal Spirit
History
Rangers AFC was founded in 1910 by a group of dedicated players who were denied the opportunity to play on Saturday owing to the nature of their employment. All were employed in the retail trade, which in 1910 opened all day Saturday for business and closed on a Thursday afternoon and games were arranged against teams which could play them that particular day.
The club was officially constituted under the Canterbury Football Association in 1913 when the half-day closing on Saturday was adopted for all retail merchants.
The years 1916 to 1923 were very strong ones for the club. They won their first championship in 1916, the English Cup in 1917 and 1918, the English Cup again in 1921. The Hurley Shield in 1922, the English Cup in 1923.
The highlight of the club's administration came in 1962, when they purchased the of land in McGregors Road, which was named Rangers Park (now Eric Adam Park).
The first year of the Southern League in 1968 saw the appointment of Terry Haydon as the club's first professional coach, and he soon produced a team that was rated second in the top ten in NZ and narrowly lost the first Southern League competition on goal average. During this period of the late 60's Rangers played a part in the formation of
Christchurch United
Christchurch United is an amateur association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in various Mainland Football competitions at Junior and Senior level. The club has won six National League titles and six Chatham Cup trophi ...
AFC for the proposed forthcoming National League to start in 1970. Rangers provided a quarter of the A class shares in Christchurch United and also several prominent players, including Terry Haydon and
Victor Pollard, who were both selected for New Zealand teams while playing for Rangers. Rangers still hold twenty five percent of the A class shares but do not exercise their right to have a director on United's board.
Determined to make National League status on their own, and in their own way, Rangers concentrated again on overcoming the loss of their best players to United and after a slow start, the 70's were the most successful period in the club's history up to that time, culminating in a place in the National League for 1980. The team won the Southern League in 1973, the Northern Division in 1974, the full Southern League again in 1975, runners up in 1976, third in 1977, runners up in 1978 and won it in 1979. In the years 1973 and 1975 they took part in the play-offs for a place in the National League but were unsuccessful.
Rangers eventually won automatic promotion to National League for the 1980 season and finished ninth in the League. At the end of 1981 Rangers were relegated. In 1984 they were second in the Southern League and challenged unsuccessfully for a National League place in the play-off series. As winners of the Southern League in 1985 they again challenged unsuccessfully for a place in the National League. With the introduction of the Winfield Superclub competition in 1993 came an influx of ex Christchurch United players. They finished runners-up in the Southern section and qualified for the national top eight competition and also the Chatham Cup Final, going down 6–0 to Napier City Rovers.
In 2007 they merged with
New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.:
Australia
* New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores
Canada
* New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood
* New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...
to form
Coastal Spirit.
Colours and badge
Rangers AFC's colours were white shirts, black shorts and black socks. The colours were based on Derby County Colours, and were finalised in the early 1970s by the club secretary Bert Koppes. The change colours were all sky blue.
The club's 'stylised lion' crest was designed in 1972 by Yaap Koster. It is based on the lion found on the crest of the famous Scottish club,
Rangers FC
Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fo ...
, and chosen because of the similarity in club names.
Stadium
Rangers AFC use to play their home matches on Eric Adam Park (formerly known as Rangers Park) in Christchurch. There secondary ground was Cuthberts Green.
Noted players
:''Listed according to when they debuted for Rangers AFC first team (year in parentheses), women in quotes:''
*1910s–1920s: Alex Bisset (1919),
Len Barwell
*1950s: Ron Moore (1958)
*1960s:
Terry Haydon (1968),
Victor Pollard (1968),
Ken Olley (1962), Dick Durant (1962), Derek Torkington (1968), Alex Inglis (1960), Malcolm Parker (1969)
*1970s:
Derek Phillips (1970),
Richard Hadlee
Sir Richard John Hadlee (born 3 July 1951) is a New Zealand former cricketer. Hadlee is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history, and amongst the very finest fast bowlers.
Hadlee was appointed an MBE in the 19 ...
(1971), Neil Francis (1971), Gordon Faichnie (1972),
Geoff Taylor (1974), Steve Welford ( 1975)
Owen Nuttridge
Owen Nuttridge is a former association football goalkeeper who represented New Zealand at international level.
Having already represented New Zealand at U-23 level, Nuttridge played two official A-international matches for the New Zealand, mak ...
(1976), John Souter (1976), Mike Fulham (1977), Paul Welford (1977), Luke Campfens (1977), Scott Dewar (1977), Jeff Blackburn (1978), Grant Hughes (1978), "
Ingrid Hall", "
Tina Faichnie"
*1980s: Ian Cowan (1980),
Bobby Almond
Robert "Bobby" Ronald Almond (born 16 April 1951 in England) was a footballer who represented New Zealand and was part of the first New Zealand side to contest a FIFA World Cup in 1982.
Career
Almond was a part of the Leyton Orient and Tottenh ...
(1983), "
Rowena Fulham
Rowena Fulham (née Nutira) (born 18 May 1960) is a former association football player who represented New Zealand at international level and went on to become a renowned coach. Fulham was named coach of the year 3 years running in Canterbury, w ...
", "
Michelle Hudson", "
Kelly Jarden"
* 1990s: John Campbell (1990),
Nathan Astle
Nathan John Astle (born 15 September 1971) is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played all formats of the game. A right-handed batsman who played as an opener in One Day Internationals (ODI), while batting in the middle order in Test matches ...
(1990), Mike Harvey (1991), Alan Carville (1993), Mike Fullen (1993),
Garry Lund
Garry Lund is an association football player who represented New Zealand.
Lund made his full All Whites debut in a 2–1 win over Fiji on 19 September 1986 and ended his international playing career with 15 A-international caps and 1 goal to ...
(1993),
Alan Stroud (1993), Laurence Fitzpatrick (1993), Neil Hinton (1994), Deane Hutchinson (1995), Jason Stapley (1995), Nic Longley (1995),
Paul Hughes (1997),
Richard Wilson (1999)
*2000s: Chris Peck (2000), "
Sara Clapham", Jacabo Egues (2002),
Nathan Knox (2003), "Ingrid Bain" (2004),
Vitalijs Teplovs (2006)
Noted coaches
:''Listed according to when they became coaches for Rangers AFC (year in parentheses):''
*1970s:
Bob Carter (1972),
Ian Marshall (1973),
Ken France (1977)
*1990s:
Fred Simpson (1999)
Achievements
*
Mainland Premier League
The Mainland Premier League is a league competition run by Mainland Football for association football clubs located in the northern half of the South Island, New Zealand. It is currently regarded by the New Zealand footballing community as the s ...
:
** Runners-up (1): 2001
*
Chatham Cup
The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auckland City, who defeated East ...
:
** Runners-up (1): 1993
*
English Cup:
** Winners (7): 1917, 1918, 1921, 1923, 1979, 1994, 1995
** Runners-up (4): 1964, 1989, 1992, 1993
*
Rangers Pre-Season Tournament
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
:
** Winners (5): 1976, 1987, 1992, 1993, 2002
** Runners-up (9): 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1995, 2003, 2006
*
Canterbury Premier League
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
:
** Runners-up (1): 1998
*
Superclub South:
** Runners-up (1): 1993
*
Superclub South Plate
A superclub is a very large or superior nightclub, often with several rooms with different themes. The term was first coined in Mixmag, the British electronic dance and clubbing magazine, in 1995, referring to the new wave of clubs such as Mi ...
:
** Winners (1): 1994
*
Southern League:
**Winners (6): 1973, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1985
** Runners-up (5): 1968, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1987
*
Southern League (North) Southern League may refer to:
Professional baseball leagues in the United States
* Southern League (1964–present), active since 1964
* Southern Association, known as the "Southern League", active from 1901 to 1919
*Southern League (1885–1899), ...
:
** Winners (4): 1974, 1982, 1983, 1985
** Runners-up (1): 1984
*
Hurley Shield (Canterbury Championship):
** Winners (3): 1916, 1922, 1931 (shared)
*
Division 1 Cup
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
* Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
:
** Winners (2): 1963, 1964
** Runners-up (2): 1968, 1969
*
Canterbury Division 2
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of the ...
:
** Winners (2): 1927, 1957
** Runners-up (1): 1963
*
Division 2 Cup:
** Winners (1): 1927
** Runners-up (1): 1957
*
Hurley Shield (Canterbury Pre-Season)
Hurley may refer to:
Places
;In the United Kingdom:
* Hurley, Berkshire
* Hurley, Warwickshire
* Hurley Common, Warwickshire
;In the United States:
* Hurley, Alabama
* Hurley, Mississippi
* Hurley, Missouri
* Hurley, New Mexico
* Hurley, Ne ...
:
** Winners (1): 1991
** Runners-up (2): 1988, 1993
*
Junior National Cup:
** Winners (2): 1976, 1977
*
Canterbury Womens League
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of the ...
:
** Winners (6): 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982
Records
* League victory: 9–1 v
Shamrock AFC
A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive o ...
, 20 July 1968; 9–0 (Div 2) v
Christchurch City AFC Reserves, 13 July 1957; 10–2 (Div 2) v
Wigram
Wigram is a suburb in the southwest of Christchurch, New Zealand. The suburb lies close to the industrial estates of Sockburn and the satellite retail and residential zone of Hornby, and has undergone significant growth in recent years due to ...
, 11 May 1963, 9–1 (Div 2) v
Hornby, 10 June 1963
* National League placing: 9th, 1980; 8th place in National round of Superclub 1993
* Men's First Team Appearances as at end of 2006: 357, Mike Harvey (1991–2006)
* Men's First Team Goals as at end of 2006: 159, Malcolm Parker (1969–1986), 303 games
References
* Clayton, P. (22 May 2003)
“Rangers AFC” FootballCrests.com. Retrieved 24 January 2006.
* Hawkey, J. (2005). "Rangers AFC Yearbook and Statistics 2005". Christchurch, New Zealand: Rangers AFC.
* Millmow, J. (28 July 1997). Rangers hold leader to draw. “The Press”, Christchurch, New Zealand, p. 32.
External links
Rangers AFC– clubs old site
– page on official Federation site
{{Clubs based in Canterbury
Association football clubs established in 1913
Association football clubs in Christchurch
1913 establishments in New Zealand