Club History

Moorside Rangers Junior Football Club was founded in 1976 at a meeting at 28 Claude Avenue, Swinton (off Moorside Road). In the last twenty four years the club has experienced a number of highs and lows with tremendous success in the early eighties to almost extinction in the mid eighties and a revival since 1988.

By the late seventies the club was established in the Timperley and District junior football league, fielding teams at all age groups from under 11’s to under 15’s. Prior to 1979 the club won two league championships and reached four cup finals, winning two. In 1979 the club launched an ambitious project to raise the money to build its own headquarters and after two years and at a cost of £22,000 the clubhouse was officially opened on January 3rd, 1982.
In the early eighties the club went from strength to strength winning four league championships, twice finishing runners-up and reaching an incredible thirteen cup finals.

Following this successful period, the club ran into financial difficulties mainly as a result of break-ins at the clubhouse and by 1986/87 the club were fielding only three teams and the clubhouse was abandoned.

For the next two years the club struggled on without a headquarters until November 1988 when a new management committee came together determined to rebuild the club. Money was raised and the clubhouse was completely renovated. New security measures were introduced and once again the club had a headquarters to be proud of.

The committee then turned their attention to the provision of a training area for use throughout the winter months and in 1991 the clubs floodlit training area was ready for use.

During the last few years the club has continued to prosper until at the present time there are 26 teams. With the proven commitment of the established managers and the tremendous enthusiasm of the latest recruits, the club is undoubtedly in a better position than at any time in its history and looks set for a very successful future.

In order to maintain this success, the club runs weekly training sessions for six to seven year olds concentrating on teaching basic skills, team work and sportsmanship. Our eight to ten year olds play 7-a-side 'mini soccer' in local leagues.

Work has now been completed providing disabled access and toilets in the clubhouse. We are now very pleased that people with disabilities will have the opportunity to watch our teams in action and make full use of our facilities.

A favourite with players and parents alike has been our close season tours which have included trips to Holland, Isle of Man, Great Yarmouth, Wales and for the last few years Blackpool.

In 1998 our under 16’s represented Salford in an International competition in Clermont-Ferrand, France competing against teams from Spain, Scotland, Germany, Russia and of course France. Links have now been established with Germany and it is hoped that there will be an annual trip to Stuttgart for one of our teams.

Club publications this year included a ‘parents leaflet’ with details of the clubhouse, team managers, training sessions, past honours and future plans. There was also a club directory with details of the volunteers, financial policy, club rules, the role of the manager and the club policy for dealing with scouts. Updated versions of these will be produced for the start of the new season including our newly adopted child protection policy.

Thanks to grants from the local authority & the football foundation a floodlit all-weather facility has been installed at a cost of £60,000.

The club was voted 'National Charter Mark Club Of The Year' in 2002.
This year (2006) the club gained the FA Community Charter Standard Award  this is the highest accolade the club can gain.

We continue to monitor our ex-players now with professional clubs. These include Nathan Lowndes (Watford), Matt Cross (Barnsley), John Borg (Doncaster), Stephen Hitchin and Anthony Whealing (ex- Blackburn), Paul Lyons (ex- Manchester United).

With the continued support of so many hard working committed volunteers, I am looking forward to the future of Moorside Rangers Junior Football Club with a great deal of optimism.

Brian Elsey (Founder/Chairman)