Grantham Rangers F.C. is a football club based in Grantham, England. They were established in 1949 as Harrowby United until changing to their current name in 2009.
Harrowby United were formed in 1949 using a lock up garage as changing rooms at the Harrowby Fields ground. After success galore in the Grantham League they moved on to the Lincoln League in 1966 winning the league and cup double at the first attempt. The cup final against Rosemary OB was played at Sincil Bank, the Arrows winning 2-1. Moves followed into the Central Alliance and East Midlands Regional League, but apart from a cup final appearance in the EMRL success proved elusive.
The league was renamed the Midlands Regional Alliance in the mid 80s and the arrival of one time Grantham boss Barry Shaw as manager saw Harrowby emerge as a force. After finishing runners-up in 1989 the Arrows won league and cup a year later. In the league they were unbeaten winning 25 of their 26 league games.
A move to the UCL followed and after a third placed finish in their debut campaign the Division One crown was won on goal difference in 1992. There were back to back successes in the Lincolnshire Senior Cup B too, but a lack of floodlighting prevented Harrowby from stepping up to the top flight and the championship team assembled by Alan O'Meara soon broke up.
The remainder of the nineties proved a struggle but better times were just around the corner. Nicky Anderson's side finished third in the millennium season and a year later they reached the first of three successive Lincolnshire Senior Cup B finals, all of which ended in defeat. Graham Drury took the reins after Andersen left for Spalding and steered the side to promotion in 2003, after the now floodlit Arrows finished runners-up to Sileby. The club's Premier debut campaign proved a great success with third place sealed on the final day of the season. The 2004-05 season saw Harrowby awarded the Lincolnshire Senior Cup A after Winterton, who won the final on a penalty shootout, fielded ineligible players in the match. After three seasons in the UCL Premier Division, they left the league to revert to local football in the Grantham League.
In 2007-08: they began to rise back up the football pyramid by joining the Lincolnshire League, but finished bottom of the 16 competing teams. With the reorganisation of football in the area after the formation of the East Midlands Counties League, Harrowby moved on again, joining the Central Midlands League Supreme Division for 2008-09.
2008-2009: Under player manager Jim Neil Harrowby finished the season in 17th place out of 18 teams picking up 21 points from 34 games. Due to work commitments Jim Neil then resigned at the end of the season with his number 2 Martin Proctor taking the reins for preparation for the start of the 2009-2010 season.
The Forming of Grantham Rangers
2009-2010: Maintained Central Midlands Supreme Division status due to ground sharing with Grantham Town FC at the South Kesteven Sports Stadium and re-forming under the name of Grantham Rangers. After a disappointing start to the season, Martin Proctor's Manger position became vacant due to mutual agreement from both parties. The search was on to appoint somebody that could potentially turn their fortunes around and more importantly had player contacts enabling the club to add some much needed quality and strength.
Barry Baker Takes The Reins
Barry Baker was then appointed as Proctor successor bringing with him no less than fourteen 16 year old players from Grantham Town's Youth team with limited experience at a senior level. This was due to a mass walk out of all the current squad with the exception of Jack Whlyey - due to Proctors departure. Bakers first appointment was Mike Steel as his assistant - a highly regarded youth coach and with very little experience left in the squad, Baker then appointed former ex youth pro Daryl Chappell as a player/ coach who's more recent experience at Stamford AFC and Lincoln Utd would help progress the youth players on the field.
Within a short period of time Baker and Chappell added numerous new faces and results began to improve. The club then faced another dilemma; for the second time in 1 season Baker was faced with another walk out of players - with 5 of the 6 new and experienced players that were added choosing to leave within a matter of weeks after being tempted away by clubs that were paying players with the exception of club captain and former Hucknall Town player Billy Jo Warner who was committed until the end of the season.
With only the youth players and two experienced heads in Warner and Chappell left, Rangers finished the season as basement boys but provided some battling performances with some results flattering their opponents and not being a true reflection of the games they were involved in.
The future looks very bright for this young Rangers team with half a season's experience under their belts and more importantly under the leadership of Barry Baker as the club look to build and prepare for the 2010-2011 season again competing in the Central Midlands Supreme Division.