Steve Winterburn has resigned from the Board of Directors at Stafford Rangers Football Club with immediate effect. We would like to wish Steve well for the future.

Losing the Ashton fixture means that we follow on from our win against then 5th placed Radcliffe with a home fixture with 2nd placed Lancaster City. We need to get revenge against the Dolly Blues following their opening day victory at Giant Axe. Prior to that game you would have expected a Rangers win starting our run towards the title or at least the playoffs, while Lancaster would be in the lower reaches of the league. How a season can turn on game one, with Rangers now languishing in a relegation battle and Lancaster riding high in the table. But, as Radcliffe found, the higher you are the harder you fall, and revenge for that opening day fixture will be sweet with a Rangers win.

Lancaster arrive at Marston Road with a very good away record, winning 5, drawing 2 and losing 4. In that sequence they managed an amazing away win at South Shields and a well-earned point at Warrington. However away games with other potential promotion / playoff contenders saw them lose at Basford and Nantwich. With South Shields in FA Trophy action on the 14th, Lancaster missed the opportunity to top the table, but they played out a goalless draw with Stalybridge in front of 208 fans. While lying second to South Shields on goal difference, Lancaster need to be aware that the North East side have games in hand, as do several of the clubs chasing them. Therefore, a victory to Rangers could see a dramatic slide in the league table for the side from the North West.

I am fully aware that the last Saturday before Christmas is a date where traditionally gates fall, but having had a couple of free Saturdays recently, you should have already done your Christmas shopping and bought the tree, so get down to Marston Road and see if we can build on the Radcliffe fixture. You could be one of the first fans to park on the new car park surface on a matchday.

Games played on December 21st this century

2002 Weymouth H 0-0 Southern League
2013 Whitby H 0-2 Northern Premier League
2016 Barwell A 1-2 Northern Premier League

Following on from our victory over Radcliffe, we now set up a vital “6 pointer” away at Ashton United. There have been a few changes over the last few weeks at Ashton following the departure of manager Jody Banim. He was quickly replaced by the Atherton Collieries manager, Michael Clegg who quickly bought in two players from Atherton, in Michael Brewster and Ben Hardcastle. The Hardcastle transfer broke the record figure paid for a player but is quoted as an undisclosed fee.

Ashton currently lie 19th with 14 points, two more than Rangers in 21st place. Therefore, a Rangers win will take us above Ashton. Both teams have no midweek fixtures so have time to prepare, giving the new Ashton manager time to put forward his new plans for the team. They started well under his control with a narrow 3-2 defeat away at Basford, so we need to put on another Radcliffe performance to secure the points.

Their home record is like our away record as we have both won one and drawn 2. At home Ashton have beaten Gainsborough 3-1 and drawn with Atherton 2-2 and Matlock 1-1. Their 4 defeats have come against Nantwich 0-4, Radcliffe 0-3, Stalybridge 0-2 and Whitby 0-1. Note if Ashton fail to score at home they lose. Let’s hope for a clean sheet but note that their only win was against the current bottom club.

Ashton came into non-league hierarchy in 1992 with promotion from the North West Counties to the Northern Premier League 1, gaining promotion to the Northern Premier League in 2002. 2004 saw promotion to Conference North, but that lasted only for one season, and became the clubs first ever relegation in their history. Last season saw their second season in Conference North, but they returned to the Northern Premier league with another relegation. They were tipped for a quick return but find themselves, like us, deep in a relegation battle.

In recent years Hurst Cross has not been a happy hunting ground for us, with defeats, 0-4 in 2013/14, 1-2 in 2016/17 and 0-1 in 2017/18. However, our first three visits saw us gain points, 2-1 in 2004/05, 5-1 in 2011/12 and a 0-0 draw 2012/13. Let’s us hope we can reverse the current trend.

Those travelling by car you need sat nav of OL6 8DY to find Hurst Cross, Surrey Street, Ashton Under Lyne. Please note that there is limited street parking around the ground. Railway travellers can enjoy a tram ride from Manchester Piccadilly, but you will have a good 30-minute walk from the terminus at Ashton.

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Results on December 14th this century

2002 Crawley A 4-2 Southern League
2004 Stalybridge H 3-2 Conference North
2013 Barwell A 0-2 Northern Premier League