As a teenager and until I was 22 I had followed Stoke City and travelled to away games as well as home matches at the old Victoria Ground.
However, in 1968 I became disillusioned with football because of hooliganism and decided I would no longer go to matches. I still am a Stoke fan but in 1968 I made, what turned out to be, the best decision of my life. A work colleague persuaded me to have a look at Stafford Rangers so I decided to visit Marston Road for a pre-season friendly against West Brom after they had won the FA Cup. I enjoyed the game and the atmosphere at the ground was great. I was hooked and have followed the Rangers since making me a fan for 53 years.
This season we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the club’s best ever season – 1971-72, so this article covers my experiences of the 50 year period.
I have never married but during the 50 years I have made many new friends at the club. Stafford Rangers is my family.
My favourite experience was visiting Wembley for the first time in 1972 when Rangers won the FA Trophy in front of 20,000 Rangers fans. I also visited Wembley on two further occasions in the 1970’s when we lost to Scarborough and beat Kettering. I also enjoyed spending 11 days in Italy with about 30 other Rangers fans when the club took part in the Anglo-Italian tournament. I enjoyed the experiences of a great FA Cup run when we beat Rotherham away 2-0 in a replay before losing 3-1 to Peterborough in front of 31,000 fans at Stoke’s Victoria ground.
Other great experiences include beating Droylsden in a penalty shootout to win promotion and beating Lincoln City in the FA Cup.
In conclusion, the club have experienced some difficult times in recent seasons and of course the last two years have been very difficult because of Covid which has restricted the club’s income. Nevertheless, the fans have been great along with the club’s Directors, staff and volunteers. Many shares have been purchased and along with grants, donations and various fund raising schemes, the club has coped well with the crises.
Now that our wonderful social club is getting back to normality lets all celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Rangers greatest ever season and hope for a successful 2021/22 season.
Up the boro!
Eric Robins
