No game this Saturday so I advise fans to do their Christmas shopping as we have some important league games coming up in December. So, with no game our next fixture is next Wednesday (yes note, a Wednesday fixture) away at Stone Old Alleynians in the Staffs Senior Cup.

I am sure Chris Elseley will put us right, but I do not think we have ever played Stone Old Alleynians in a competitive match. I am aware of two visits to Yarnfield, but these may have been pre-season games and might also have been the other Stone team, Stone Dominoes.

The club’s name derives from its foundation in 1962 with a team of former pupils, with some teachers and current pupils, of Alleyne’s Grammar. They entered the Stafford Amateur League division 4 [later to become the Mid Staffs League] and moved up the divisions leading to 1965/66 by becoming champions of Division II. 1971/72 saw them become division 1 champions, a feat repeated 3 times more that decade. A brief flirtation with the North Staffs Alliance saw them enter division 2 of the West Midlands League in 2007 and promotion secured to Division 1 in 2010. In the season 2014/15 they were runners up in WMRL Division 1 and promoted to the Premier Division.

Stone Old Alleynians were moved to the NWCFL for the 2018-19 season as part of the FA’s reorganisation of non-league football. This inaugural season in the league saw the Old Boys competing throughout the season towards the top of the league, eventually finishing in third place and just missing out on promotion. In the Staffs Senior Cup, the team progressed through to a quarter-final tie against Stoke City U23 in front of a record crowd of 280, unluckily losing 1-0 to an Oliver Shenton goal.

Stone Old Alleynians currently lie third in the division (step 6) having won 5of their 10 home games this season. They are managed by Wayne Brotherton who recently replace Jamie Cullerton (son of Rangers legend Mick Cullerton). In their squad they include former Rangers left sided player Oliver Davies and I believe there may be a link with their keeper Adam Alcock. Stone’s highest home gate this season is 78, so let’s hope we can give them a big gate and try to beat their club record of 280.

For those travelling, the post code for Wellbeing Park, Yarnfield Lane is ST15 0NF. See you there.

Please remember that our next home game is Radcliffe on December 7th

Games played on 4th December this century
2004 Southport H 1-1 Conference North
2012 Buxton H 2-2 Northern Premier League
2018 Marine H 1-1 Northern Premier League Cup round 3 (won 4-2 on penalties)

This Tuesday we return to cup action with the Walsall Senior Cup. Our opponents are a bit of an unknown quantity as they do not play league games, but we obviously expect them to be good in the air, attack down the wings and bomb forward.

The RAF Senior Representative Team (SRT) are the men’s senior team for the RAF. They play the Inter-Services against the Army and RN every year in March/April. To prepare the players for the Inter-Services it was decided to try and get competitive football matches, instead of just friendlies. We play in the Walsall and Birmingham Senior Cups. Our home ground is RAF Cosford but we also use Shrewsbury Town FC for the home Inter-Services match. Our players and management team are all serving members of the RAF. Most play for other teams on a weekly basis with teams like Spalding Town, Thetford Town and Nantwich all benefiting from RAF commitment. Flight Sergeant Kev Barry who has had experience with Halesowen Town and Bromsgrove Sporting is the current SRT Manager and is supported by a full staff that are based all over the UK. This is the second time the RAF have competed in the Walsall Senior Cup. Last year they beat Walsall Wood in the first round and then lost to Lye Town in round 2.

As a representative side we can assume that they should be the elite of footballers within the RAF. It may be National, or it may be local as I am aware of a forces West Midlands League which includes Beacon Barracks Stafford and some RAF bases like Cosford. We almost played them in last season’s Walsall Senior Cup as they lost 2-1 away to Lye, the team who put paid to our Walsall Senior Cup run last season.

In any event we expect a tough game, but Rangers need to gain some confidence from hopefully a cup run, and with a Staffs Senior Cup game next week before our next league fixture, a win is paramount. Your support is appreciated to help the side win.

Games played 26th November this century

2005 Leigh RMI A 4-1 FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying round
2011 Rushall A 1-2 Northern Premier League
2013 Sutton Coldfield A 0-3 Walsall Senior Cup