Triple Signings

Triple Signings

Oct 7, 2024 | Club News

Squad Strengthened

Kaiman AndersonStafford Rangers FC are pleased to announce that Kaiman Anderson has agreed to rejoin us from Walsall Wood FC. He will be no stranger to the Boro, after serving several seasons with us and being our top scorer last season.

Another player rejoining us is Jon Atherton from Chasetown. The pacy winger made several appearances for the Boro during the 2022/23 season, but suffered with an injury that made his appearances rather limited.

Also joining us is Reinaldo Forbes from Studley Town, the forward has previously been with Hednesford Town, Bedworth United and Newcastle Town.

All have joined the Boro and should be available for selection tomorrow night against Kidsgrove Athletic, subject to all paperwork being completed.

Welcome Kaiman, Jon and Reinaldo to the Boro.

Stafford Rangers FC

 

 

 

 

Roger Jones RIP

Roger Jones RIP

Oct 7, 2024 | Club News

Legend will be missed

Roger JonesIt is with great sadness that we report the death of former Stafford Rangers forward Roger Jones on 2 October.

Jones, a Stafford man, made 300 appearances for Rangers. His 105 goals helped the club to some of its most notable achievements.

He was a member of the side that reached the 4th Round of the FA Cup in 1974/75 and the FA Trophy final in 1976 and 1979. Although Rangers were beaten 3-2 by Scarborough in the dramatic 1976 final, it was Jones who got both of the Stafford goals.

He was on Walsall’s books as a youth during which time he was in the England Youth squad. He initially joined Rangers at the age of 19 from local Amateur League club Kingston in the summer of 1968 and made his debut at Ashton United on 10th August 1968 in Rangers’ 5-0 away victory on the opening day of the Cheshire League season.

He scored his first goal for the club two days later at Marston Road against Winsford United and was the regular centre forward that season and scored 28 goals as Rangers finished second to secure ‘promotion’ to the Northern Premier League.

Roger played in the opening NPL game against Fleetwood but after playing just a handful of games and scoring one goal he joined Rhyl in October 1969.

Later, he moved to Oswestry and it was while he was with the Shropshire side that he made a guest appearance for the Rangers at Chelmsford City in the Non League Champions Trophy at the end of the 1972 season as Ray Williams was unavailable.

Despite an impressive performance on his return to the black and white stripes, he remained with Oswestry for another season before Roy Chapman brought him back to Marston Road as a replacement for Brian Fidler.

His second spell at Marston Road was to last three years during which time Roger played a part in the memorable F.A. Cup run to the Fourth Round in 1974/75, scoring a hat-trick at Kings Lynn. Injury rules him out of the tie v Stockport County but he was back for the subsequent rounds which saw victories over Halifax Town and Rotherham United before the epic run came to an end against Peterborough United in front of 31,160 at Stoke City’s Victoria Ground.

In the following season he was a member of the team which narrowly missed out on a repeat of the treble success achieved by the club in 1972 as Rangers finished runners up in the Northern Premier League, FA Trophy and Staffs Senior Cup.

In that FA Trophy final defeat at Wembley that day he produced a superb performance and became only the second player to score twice in the Final. At the end of the season, Roger travelled to Italy with Rangers and scored against both Udinese and Monza in the Anglo Italian Tournament.

He left Stafford that summer for Nuneaton Borough but after 14 months at Manor Park, he returned to Marston Road in September 1977 for a third spell with the club. It was money well spent for Rangers as Jones netted 23 goals in his first season back. At the end of it Rangers won the Staffs Senior Cup with Roger scoring twice at Kidderminster in the first leg of the Final.

Season 1978/79 was to be his last with Stafford. For most of it, he led the attack but when Alf Wood fully recovered from his broken leg, Roger found himself third choice striker behind Wood and Mick Cullerton. He returned to Wembley in May 1979 for the victorious FA Trophy Final victory over Kettering but had to be content with the substitute’s shirt.

He left Marston Road for the Bucks Head Ground, playing in 12 league games for Telford and scoring a late equaliser in their 2-2 with draw with Stafford. Later in 1979/80 he joined Worcester and made two league appearances for them that season and completed his career with spells at Cheltenham Town, Hednesford Town and Walsall Borough.

After his playing days were over, he became a frequent visitor to Marston Road with good friends Stuart Chapman and Ben Seddon, watching the current players of the club that he helped to make so well known throughout the country.

Stafford Rangers FC.

 

 

Triple Signings

New Signing

Oct 4, 2024 | Club News

Veteran joins the Boro

Mike McGrathWe can confirm the signing of vastly experienced central defender Michael McGrath, ahead of tomorrow’s visit to Bootle FC. Michael signs on dual registration from Stratford Town FC and we would like to thank Paul Davies for his support with this move. Having been dual registered with Rugby Town FC we would like to thank them for cancelling his registration at Rugby.

Michael, during the course of his career, has represented Alvechurch, Bromsgrove,Halesowen, Hednesford, Hereford, Kettering & Kidderminster Harriers.

Welcome to the Boro Michael.

 

Club Statement

Club Statement

Oct 3, 2024 | Club News

A New Dawn

We would like to place on record our appreciation and respect for Dave Cooke, following his resignation as First Team Manager last Saturday. He worked tirelessly to improve performances on the pitch, but with a hefty injury list hampering team selection, results have not gone our way. Dave leaves willingly to allow time for the club to recover and move up the table. We thank Dave sincerely and he will always be welcomed back at our club.

Dale Belford has now been appointed First Team Manager. Since Sunday he has been in conversations with prospective backroom staff and players, he would like to bring to the club to bolster and improve the squad.

At the most recent training session, all existing players were in attendance with a couple of fresh faces. Prior to training the players were introduced to the new backroom team. Joining Dale as Assistant Manager is Graham Deakin. As a player Graham began his career with Walsall, before spells with Tamworth, Rushall and Sutton Coldfield. He has had two spells with Hednesford as Assistant Manager and Director of Football, and more recently as assistant Manager with Shifnal Town. His knowledge of the midlands football scene will be an asset to Dale. We welcome Graham to the club.

Rejoining the club as a coach is John Psaras, who has worked at the club under Alex Meecham and Matt Hill. John will bring an unbridled level of enthusiasm to the team. Andy Burns will continue in his new role of player-coach, complementing the backroom staff.

We wish them all well and ask for your unwavering support behind the team and its management, starting this Saturday away at Bootle FC.

With the backroom staff in place, new players will be added, and we can announce the first two players to come on board.

We have signed 25-year-old central defender Scott Wara, following his departure from Prescot Cables FC. Stoke based Scott started his career with Stoke City before signing for Leek Town, with whom he made over 60 appearances. A short spell with Finn Harps in Ireland was followed by a move to Stalybridge Celtic last season, before joining Prescot Cables FC this summer. With travelling an issue Scott has signed for the Boro and his experience at this level and above, will be invaluable.

We can also confirm the signing of 20-year-old midfielder Ashley Fallon from Darlaston Town FC. Previously at Shifnal Town, Ashley is a tenacious, industrious player. Ashley is well known to Graham Deakin and will come straight into contention for a place in the squad this coming Saturday. Welcome to the Boro Ashley.

It is hoped that further announcements will be made ahead of the weekend as Dale looks to refresh and improve the current squad.

Stafford Rangers FC

 
Club Statement

Question & Answer Evening

Sep 30, 2024 | Club News

Let’s Talk

The Board of Directors at Stafford Rangers FC are pleased to confirm that we will be holding a Question and Answer evening on Wednesday the 16th October 2024 at 7pm in the Chairmans Suite.

We fully appreciate that this Q&A session is long overdue and therefore we would love to see as many of you there as possible. Because of the sensitivity of some of the information that the Board of Directors are willing to disclose at the Q&A, the event will not be recorded. We appreciate that this will be disappointing to some, but we hope you can understand the reason why. We encourage as many of you to attend as possible, whether you are a fan, a shareholder or both. We are happy to receive questions on any aspect of the club be it business or football related, but the team manager will not be at this event. All directors will be present.

We would be extremely grateful if people could email their questions to Mark Evans in advance of the meeting because we want to be able to fully answer all of your questions. Can you please submit all questions before the close of business on Friday 11th October.

Notwithstanding the above, there will be an opportunity for additional questions to be asked at the Q&A.

We look forward to seeing you all then.

Stafford Rangers FC

 
Triple Signings

Player & Injury Update

Sep 27, 2024 | Club News

Where we are

It’s been an eventful week on the player front and we can now confirm the following players have left the club.

Narel Phillips

Despite signing for the club on non-contract terms ahead of the game last Saturday with Mossley, the player’s agent informed our management team late on Friday evening that he had instructed Narel to play in a triallist game at Peterborough on Saturday. Additional conversations were had, all to no avail, and with no clarity as to the player’s future commitments, he has been de-registered. We can assure all fans that the relevant paperwork was completed correctly and approved by the NPL and we believe the player was keen to play. The situation could change and we will keep you informed accordingly.

Tomi Montefiori

Unfortunately Tomi will not be able to attain a necessary work permit for this season and will be returning to Brazil. Paperwork for his signing was all approved by the FA, NPL and international clearance received, subject to the Home Office granting the necessary work permit. We would like to wish Tomi good luck with a future application.

Mitch Candlin

Following seven days’ notice of approach from Bedworth United FC we have cancelled his registration allowing Mitch the opportunity to secure regular football and would like to thank Mitch for his second but short stint at the Boro.

Ethan O’Sullivan

Stafford born Ethan, who featured during pre-season and against Congleton FC has returned to Australia and has now been de-registered. We would like to thank Ethan for his efforts and wish him well down under.

Jack Sandel

Having recently returned from a dual registration period with Gresley Rovers, Jack has now signed dual registration at Lutterworth Town FC. This is another opportunity for Jack to test himself in adult football and will continue his development, which we will closely monitor.

 

The current injury situation is as follows:

Oliver Jepson

Following injury at Long Eaton United the initial prognosis was that of a jarred knee but with no immediate improvement a subsequent scan revealed a hairline fracture of the tibia just below the knee. It is hoped that Olly will return to light training over the next week or so and we will keep you updated with any progress.

Jimmy O’Neill

Jimmy suffered a pulled hamstring at Walsall Wood and is now well on the road to recovery and has been running and undertaking light training. We hope that Jimmy will be back on the pitch in the very near future.

Aaron Opoku

Aaron pulled his groin after 30 minutes of the game at Stalybridge and according to Aaron it’s the most serious injury he has had. Recovery has been slow and despite his best efforts he failed another fitness test prior to the game at Mossley. Hopefully, Aaron is not too far away from selection.

AJ Leitch-Smith

AJ has suffered with a niggling foot injury incurred at the first session of pre-season training and although recently back in the squad, he suffered a recurrence of the problem in the pre-match warm up at Mossley, resulting in Jack Sandel coming onto the bench as a last minute replacement.

 

Our newly appointed Sports Therapist Eddie Downes, certainly has plenty on his plate at the moment. For those that are not familiar with Eddie, he spent the majority of last season with us as a student intern, shadowing Stacey Barley and latterly Matt Wilson. Matt Wilson has just left the club to take up a full-time role at Kidderminster Harriers FC and we would like to thank Matt for all his hard work during his time at the Boro.

Finally, the management team is continually trying to bring additional players in to cover for injury and improve the team. It is by no means a simple task and we have been let down by three central defenders over the last two weeks, where agreements had been in place but matters outside of our control have prohibited the actual signings!

Stafford Rangers FC