Soham Town Rangers Football Club is an
English football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club based in
Soham
Soham ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 road, A142 between Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely and Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket. Its population ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
. The club are currently members of the and play at Julius Martin Lane.
History
The club was established in 1947 by a merger of Soham Town and Soham Rangers.
[Blakeman, M (2010) ''The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935-2010, Volume II'' ] Town were formed in 1920, won the Cambridgeshire Junior Cup in 1932–33, and played in the
Cambridgeshire League during the 1930s, earning promotion to the Premier Division in 1938. Rangers were formed in 1919 and reached the top division of the Cambridgeshire League in 1926, the same year in which they won the Junior Cup. They went on to win the Cambridgeshire Challenge Cup in 1929–30 and 1934–35.
The merged club started in the Premier Division of the Cambridgeshire League. In 1956 they switched to the
Peterborough & District League and two years later won the Challenge Cup. They retained it in 1958–59 and also applied to join the
Eastern Counties League
The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suffolk ...
, but were unsuccessful. In 1959–60 they won the league for the first time, repeating the feat in 1961–62. In 1963 they applied to join the Eastern Counties League again, and this time were accepted. Discussions were held regarding a merger with local rivals Soham United, but nothing came of the talks.
[
After the ECL added a second division in 1988, Soham were relegated at the end of the 1988–89 season. In 1990–91 they won the ]Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup
The Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup is the senior county cup competition of the Cambridgeshire County Football Association. Established in 1950,Blakeman, M (2010) ''The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume I ...
for the first time with a 4–1 win over March Town United. In 1992–93 they finished second in Division One and were promoted back to the Premier Division.Needham Market
Needham Market is a small town in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, set in the Gipping Valley. Nearby villages include Barking, Suffolk, Barking, Darmsden, Badley and Creeting St Mary. The town is located just east of the A14 road ( ...
4–0 in a title decider on the last day of the season. Following their victory they were promoted to the Midland Division of the Southern League. At the end of the 2010–11 season they were transferred to Division One North of the Isthmian League
The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...
. Following the 2020–21 season the club were transferred to Division One Midlands of the Northern Premier League. They finished second-from-bottom of the division in 2021–22 and were relegated back to the Premier Division of the Eastern Counties League.
Ground
The merged club played at Town's Julius Martin Lane, as the Rangers ground was taken over for agriculture.[ The ground had been home to Soham Town since 1921. The record attendance of 3,000 was set on 18 October 1958 for a Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup match against ]Pegasus
Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...
.
Honours
*Eastern Counties League
**Champions 2007–08
**Millennium Trophy winners 2000–01
*Peterborough & District League
**Champions 1959–60, 1961–62
*Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup
**Winners 1990–91, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2005–06
*Cambridgeshire Challenge Cup
**Winners 1957–58
Records
*Best FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
performance: Third qualifying round, 1970–71
*Best FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...
performance: Second Qualifying Round, 2012–13, 2013–14
*Best FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...
performance: Fifth Round, 2004–05
References
External links
Club website
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Football clubs in England
Football clubs in Cambridgeshire
Association football clubs established in 1947
1947 establishments in England
Soham
Peterborough and District Football League
Eastern Counties Football League
Southern Football League clubs
Isthmian League clubs
Northern Premier League clubs