Northern Rangers
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| Northern Rangers | |||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Northern Rangers Football Club | ||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1996 By David Hughes and Brendan Lichtendonk | ||||||||||||||||
| Ground | NTCA Ground, Launceston (Capacity 10,000) |
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| Chairman | Mark Ackerly | ||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Mitchell Billing | ||||||||||||||||
| League | Northern Premier League | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | 5th | ||||||||||||||||
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Northern Rangers Football Club, is a football (soccer) club which represents Launceston in the Tasmanian Northern Premier League. The club also fields teams in all junior divisions, as well as women's teams. Northern Rangers play their home games at the NTCA Ground, in Launceston, Tasmania.
The Northern Rangers entered a junior side under the name "Northern Tasmanian Christian Soccer League Rangers" in the 1996 season. The club first entered the Northern Premier League in 1999, however with very a junior squad, they struggled in their first few seasons. They have yet to make an impact on Tasmanian football.
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[edit] Honours
- 2006 Steve Hudson Cup Winners
- 2007 Northern Reserve Grade Premiers
- 1999, 2001 Northern Tasmanian Under 17 Premiers
[edit] History
Northern Rangers formed in 1996 when a group of players playing our amateur 6 a side competition based in Riverside decided to combine their teams to form one 11 aside team and enter into the NTJSA under the banner of the Northern Tasmanian Christian Soccer League Rangers (NTCSL Rangers). For many of us this was our first dig at the world game in a 11 a side format and all under 16.
Around 18 players formed the first Northern Rangers side ever, two are still playing here today Luke Connors, and Brendan Lichtendonk. Our then club president and co founder David Hughes would still be here today I'm sure if he had not moved to the USA to further his career. The first taste of the real game was the taste of success with NRFC going threw the 96 season undefeated and not one goal conceded to win the under 16 premiership in our debut season and this was against strong opposition including Launceston City, Launceston, Northern Eagles, George Town, Riverside Olympic and a number of school sides as well.
The following years saw the rapid expansion of the club with two teams entered in 97, and Rangers taking back to back Premierships. 98 was the clubs most successful year as far as silverware goes with NRFC finishing one and two on the table and Rangers White taking the elusive MacDonalds cup. It should be noted that 98 produced one player who would become a house hold name at the NTCA in the future, Derek Schipper.
1999 and most players were now too old to play in the junior competitions so it was decided to attempt to gain a position in the Northern Premier League. This was met with stiff opposition from some clubs around the region. In the end commonsense prevailed and Northern Rangers made their debut in the northern senior competition in 1999. With a list of around 25 players at an average age of 19 and very little senior experience NRFC was bracing for a tough year, and it was! Spankings were handed out by Devonport, Launceston, Burnie and Riverside . A noticeable low point 14-2 against Launceston. But the news wasn't all bad Rangers finished with 2 wins and 2 draws in the seniors, 4 wins and 1 draw in the reserves, a solid performance on debut. The club was experiencing success at 1 level, the under 17's taking the premiership under the guidance of coach Mark Ackerly.
2000 saw Mark Ackerly take on the senior coaching role and with some key recruits in Damire Metric and his younger brother Goran both from Bosnia , Adam Whitemore, Tony Ludby and Seb Deak From George Town the side was strengthened and more consistency was experienced. The club also was able to reach the final in the statewide vase competition. A noticeable improvement and provided much encouragement to the young squad.
2003 and Mark Spicer joined the club as the first contracted coach to the Northern Rangers. Spicer helped the club to finish in fourth place on the senior table two years running and third for the Reserves for the two years also. For the first time Northern Rangers were a consistent and challenging force in the Northern Premier League. In 2006 the Northern Rangers will move in a different direction with Mitchell Billing joining the coaching staff as senior coach. The club will also enter a third division side for the first time in 2006. This will boost player numbers around the club and will mean players who can not commit full time to soccer will still be able to play and be involved with the Northern Rangers.
2007 brought the clubs first piece of senior silver ware when the Reserves took out the Northern Premier Reserve Grade Championship. A massive achievement for such a young club, and the building block to chase the clubs first top flight title in Tasmania.
[edit] Records
Record Games Holder
Brad Langerak 150+
Club Best and Fairest Winners
- 1999: Tim Armstrong
- 2000: Derek Schipper
- 2001: Derek Schipper / Tim schipper
- 2002: Tim Schipper
- 2003: Adam Whitemore
- 2004: Sam Luck
- 2005: Sam Luck
- 2006: Derek Schipper
- 2007:
Thataetsile Kakadumane
Individual Honors
- 2006: George Dale Medal Winner Derek Schipper
- 2006: Tasmanian State team selection Derek Schipper Marshall Pooley
- 2007: Tasmanian State team selection Thataetsile Kakadumane
Life Members
- 2000: David Hughes
- 2003:
James Park - 2005:
Brendan Lichtendonk
Senior Premier League Records.
- First Senior Game played - 10/04/1999, Against Launceston at Birch Avenue.
- First Senior win - 05/06/1999, Northern Rangers defeated George Town Utd. 5-2 at the NTCA.
- Greatest Winning Margin - 27/07/06 Northern Rangers defeated Launceston 6-0 at the NTCA.
- Greatest Losing Margin - 10/04/1999, Launceston defeated Northern Rangers 14-2 at Birch Ave.
- Best Fininsh to a Season - 2003, 4th Place out of 9 with 7 wins, 3 draws 6 losses, 25 goals for and 27 against.
- Worst Finish to a season - 1999, 10th place out of 11 with 2 wins, 2 draws, 16 losses, 41 goals for and 111 against
[edit] Current squad
As of June 20, 2007
Nationality given from place of birth
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[edit] External links
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Football in Australia by state and territory
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