 | |||
| Full name | Smethwick Rangers Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Rangers | ||
| Founded | 1977; 48 years ago (1977) | ||
| Ground | Trevor Brown Memorial Ground,Boldmere | ||
| Manager | Francino Francis | ||
| League | Midland League Division One | ||
| 2024–25 | Midland League Division One, 7th of 22 | ||
| Website | https://www.smethwickrangersfc.co.uk/default.aspx | ||
Smethwick Rangers Football Club is afootball club based inSmethwick,West Midlands,England. They are members of theMidland League Division One and play at the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground inBoldmere, groundsharing withBoldmere St Michaels.
The club first joined the West Midlands (Regional) League in 1996 under the nameSmethwick 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 formerWolverhampton Wanderers playerRobbie 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 atVilla Park in the final of theAston Villa Cup, a tournament for local teams hosted by thePremier League club. In 2005 they reverted to the name Smethwick Rangers. After dropping out of the league in 2006 they re-surfaced in theMidland 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 after beating IGFC Singh Sabha Hounslow atIbrox.[1] In the 2015–16 season Smethwick signed formerDinamo II București player Albert Alexandru, who led the club to the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division Cup, beatingWolverhampton Sporting Community 1–0 in the final at Long Lane Park. In the 2016–17 season Smethwick finished runners-up in the West Midlands Regional League Premier Division Cup as they lost to league winnersHaughmond 1–0.
For the 2017–18 season the club changed its name once more, this time toSmethwick[2] to establish themselves as the number one club from the diverse area of Smethwick. They have also added Ahmed Ali a UEFA B Qualified coach and former Manchester United and England SchoolboyStephen Cooke to the backroom staff. On 9 September 2017 Smethwick won their first ever game in the FA Vase beatingMalvern Town 4–1, Joshua Small, Nathan Stone, Beni Kiembi and Stuart Hillman scoring the goals.
In December 2018 Hayden Foote, former assistant manager atBilston Town was appointed manager alongside Darsh Ram. After a poor start to the season, Foote decided to depart and return to Bilston Town. Grant Joshua was appointed as first team manager with Chris Rabone and Ross Harris coming in as assistant managers. At the end of the2020–21 season the club were transferred to Division One of theMidland League when the Premier Division of the West Midlands (Regional) League lost its status as a step six division. In 2021, the club was once again renamed, this time toSmethwick Khalsa Football Federation with Manraj Singh Sucha appointed as manager in September, 7 games into the season and staying in charge until May 2023. The team finished the 2021–22 season in 13th position, only losing 3 games from January 2022 onwards.[3] A year later in summer 2022, the club reverted to the nameSmethwick Rangers. In 2023, after playing home games atTividale's The Beeches ground, the club announced a groundsharing agreement withBoldmere St Michaels to play home games at the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground inBoldmere.
52°30′38.380″N2°3′0.641″W / 52.51066111°N 2.05017806°W /52.51066111; -2.05017806
