Full name | Nottingham Rangers Football Club | |
---|---|---|
Founded | 1868 | |
Dissolved | 1890 | |
Ground | the Meadows | |
Notts Rangers Football Club was an English football club, founded in 1868 under the name Nottingham St James. They became Nottingham Rangers in 1880 [1] and by 1886 were habitually referred to as Notts Rangers.
A founder member of the Midland Football League, Notts Rangers participated in the FA Cup in 1885–86 to 1889–90. [2] The club's first FA Cup campaign ended in acrimony, with the Rangers' half-back Knight suspended for the season for insulting the umpire after the loss to Notts County. [3]
The club's best run in the Cup was in 1887–88, which also saw the club's best FA Cup win, 10-1 over Jardines before a crowd of 2,000. [4] The club had previously recorded a 14–0 win over Castle Rovers in the fourth round of the Notts Cup in 1885–86. [5]
The club was a founder member of the Combination, and completed its required 16 games with a record of 11 wins, 1 draw, and 2 defeats, with a goal record of 47 for and 28 against; this was especially strong given the club only played 6 games at its Meadow Lane home. Of the clubs that played the full complement of 16 games, the Rangers had the best record, although Newton Heath had 1 point fewer from 14 games. The biggest win was a 7–2 home victory over Long Eaton Rangers. [6] The club also won the Nottingham Senior Cup twice, although after the introduction of professionalism this was not a competition of great prestige (the runners-up both times were the obscure Ruddington side). [7]
There were however ominous signs as the club was struggling to attract decent crowds (even the 1887–88 Notts Cup semi-final with Mellors had a mere 600 in attendance) [8] and, with two bigger, older, and more prestigious clubs in the town, the Rangers did not apply to join the new Football Alliance, [9] instead joining the Midland League for 1889–90. As Notts County was playing in the League and Nottingham Forest in the Alliance, the Midland League was a definite third choice; the Rangers lost a number of players (plus secretary Shelton), [10] and the support, never high, dwindled to almost nothing. [11] The club won once in 15 matches, lost 7–2 at home to Lincoln City in an FA Cup qualifying round match, and was unable to complete the season, its last match being a 1–0 home defeat to Rotherham Town. [12] By 31 May 1890, the club had ceased to exist. [13]
A new club started with the same name soon afterwards, but played junior football at a low level. The second club's final season was 1913–14, in which the club finished 11th out of 14 in the Nottinghamshire Football Alliance, two places above Notts Olympic. [14]
The club originally played in white, changing to pale blue and cardinal by 1884. [15] In 1886 the club changed to black and white stripes. [16] [17]
Nottinghamshire Senior Cup: [20]
Derby County Charity Cup:
The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92.
Birmingham St. George's F.C. was a football club based in Smethwick, England. The club started as St George's FC in Aston, before moving to the Cape Hill brewery in 1886 under the name Mitchell St George's.
Long Eaton Rangers Football Club was a football club based in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, England, which, for a brief period in the 1880s, had a legitimate claim to being one of the best teams in the country. They were founding members of the second ever league, The Combination, in 1888, and when that folded, the Football Alliance in 1889.
The following are events in the 1860s decade which are relevant to the development of association football. Included are events in closely related codes, such as the Sheffield Rules. All events happened in English football unless specified otherwise.
Old Westminsters F.C. is an association football club composed of former pupils of Westminster School, London, England. They play in the Arthurian League.
Derby Junction Football Club were an amateur football club in Derby, England. They were active in the 1880s and 1890s, notably being founder members of the Midland League in 1890 and FA Cup semi-finalists in 1888. They played at Derby Arboretum.
Witton Football Club was a football club from Blackburn in Lancashire.
Lockwood Brothers F.C. was an English association football club based in Sheffield, Yorkshire.
Birmingham Excelsior Football Club was an English football club with a claimed foundation date of 1874.
Staveley F.C. was a football club in Staveley, a village in Derbyshire, England.
Halliwell F.C. was an English association football club based in Halliwell, in north-west Bolton.
Brentwood Football Club was an English football club based in Brentwood, Essex, playing at the County Cricket Ground at Shenfield Road. From 1886 the club was known as Crusaders F.C.
Newark F.C. was a football club from the town of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire. It was one of the first clubs to play association football.
Notts Olympic Football Club was an English football club from the Radford district of Nottingham.
Nottingham Wanderers F.C. was an English association football club from Nottinghamshire.
Nottingham Swifts Football Club, usually referred to as Notts Swifts, was an English football club, founded in or before 1876 under the name Mansfield Road. They became Nottingham Swifts in 1880.
Mellors Limited Football Club, also variously given as Mellors' or Mellor's Limited, was an English football club from Nottingham.
Basford Rovers Football Club was an English football club from Nottingham.
Jardines F.C. was an English association football club from Nottingham, England.
Aston Shakespeare Football Club was an English football club from Aston, then in Staffordshire, England.