Offical Matchday Programme @sohamtownrangers VS GRAYS ATHLETIC FC PITCHING IN ISTHMIAN LEAGUE - NORTH Saturday 24th October 2020 KO 3pm WELCOME TO JULIUS MARTIN LANE Home of Soham Town Rangers LIFE VICE PRESIDENTS FIRST TEAM MANAGER John Pendry, Paddy Kelly, Colin Murfitt, Robbie Mason Malcolm Howe and David Horne ASSISTANT MANAGER Erkan Okay CHAIRMAN Mark Goldsack MANAGER’S ASSISTANT Mick Drury VICE CHAIRMAN Karen Prewett CLUB PHYSIO Colin Mardell FOOTBALL SECRETARY Simon Cullum RESERVE TEAM MANAGERS Michael Harvey and Dan Pratt TREASURER Karen Prewett A TEAM MANAGER Shaun Firek WELFARE OFFICER Shaun Firek MEMBERS OF SOCIAL CLUB MANAGER Cambridgeshire Football Association Hal Gathercole Lam Cambridgeshire Kershaw League Isthmian Football League GROUNDSMEN Cambs Mini League Malcolm Howe and Graham Eley CONTACT ADDRESS PROGRAMME EDITOR Julius Martin Lane Denis Green Soham Cambridgeshire ADVERTISING SALES [email protected] “In accordance with The Football Association Rule 2.13 Publication of ownership in relation to Step 1 to Step 6 clubs in the Football Pyramid we hereby con rm that the legal status of Soham Town Rangers Football Club as An Unincorporated Association (Members Club)” INTRODUCING ‘PITCHING IN’ – THE NEW PARTNER OF THE ISTHMIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE GVC is delighted to announce that the new sponsor of the, Isthmian, Northern Premier and Southern Leagues - is Pitching In. Pitching In, is a new Grassroots Sports Investment Programme that has today been launched by GVC, the multi-national sports-betting and gaming group which owns Ladbrokes and Coral. The partnership covers all three leagues that make up Steps 3 & 4 of the National Leagues System, who market themselves collectively as the Trident Leagues. England footballing legend Stuart Pearce, who played for Wealdstone FC for five years at the start of his long and illustrious career, has been appointed as the official Pitching In ambassador. Stuart Pearce, ambassador for the Pitching In programme, says: “I am delighted to be taking up the role of ambassador for Pitching In, as I’m passionate about the importance of investing in grassroots sports and in developing young talent. I started out playing for Wealdstone FC before joining Coventry City so I understand how important funding is to the non-league game. Grassroots football is facing huge challenges at the moment and many clubs are struggling to stay afloat. GVC’s Pitching In investment will help make a big difference to hundreds of clubs and thousands of players across the country.” Pitching In has been set up with the objective of supporting, protecting and encouraging grassroots sports in the UK through a range of initiatives. In addition to financial support, a key focus of the partnership will be to facilitate and encourage members of the community to become volunteers, and do some pitching in of their own. A Pitching In volunteering scheme will be established to link GVC’s Ladbrokes and Coral shop colleagues with their local clubs. In the weeks ahead Pitching In and the Trident Leagues will be announcing further initiatives to provide financial support and opportunities for all the 226 clubs (rising to 240 in 2021). For more information on Pitching In please visit www.gvc-plc.com/pitchingin NOTES FROM THE CHAIRMAN Good afternoon and welcome to all from Grays Athletic. A long established and strong club I hope all from Grays enjoy the visit to Julius Martin Lane. Delighted with our last game against Heybridge Swifts. The 1-0 score line does not tell the story. After a below par performance at Cambridge City, the management team faced a dilemma. And to be fair they truly stepped up and made changes to the team, formation and result. Some of the team play and energy was fantastic and bodes well for the season ahead. We have a terrific squad, one that is right and together. That shows so much that I think in the absence of Sam Mulready the team has stepped up. Sam is awaiting results of a scan to know his full prognosis and whilst we miss him on the pitch, we also miss his infectious attitude around the club. Off the field the clubhouse is going very well. Han, Jane and Katie, ably assisted by Jonny W and committee members have coped brilliantly with all the restrictions, table service and all. By the end of October, we should be ready to announce the next stage of membership and how this may look moving forward. I am very grateful to the support of the clubhouse given by so many in these trying times. Finally for now, I’d like to voice a thanks to Graham ‘Yoggy’ Eley and Malcolm Howe, assisted by David Tweed. In nearly 59 years of watching football at the Lane I have never seen out pitch look this good. Lush, flat and full of growth what these boys have done is miraculous and we are grateful for their continued efforts. Keep it up guys. Great to see the reserves start their season off with a win against Milton last Saturday. Michael and Dan have a strong squad and it’s only time before they climb their league. So, we are doing well on and off the pitch but there is still much to do. By the time you read this we may have a solution to the fourth side of the ground meaning we can have spectators on the far side. In a Covid period the more space we have the better. So please enjoy your day and the game. Stay socially distanced where you can and wear a mask in entering the club. Treat others as if you have the infection and do all you can to avoid sharing. That way we hope to continue to have games such as this to show you all. Come on you Greens Mark --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Simon Dobbin Following the sad news that Simon Dobbin sadly passed away at home earlier this week, the thoughts and deepest sympathies of everybody at Soham Town Rangers Football Club are with Simon's wife Nicole, daughter Emily, and his closest family and friends. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES FROM THE DUGOUT Good afternoon everyone, Welcome to everyone associated with Grays Athletic Football Club. A club with a great history, we are looking forward to today’s encounter, I hope everyone enjoys the game and abides by the social distancing rules put in place by our great team of volunteers. When we last got together, we enjoyed a very good afternoon down at JML, winning 1-0 against a good Heybridge Swifts side, a team who have consistently pushed and competed around the top 6 over the past few seasons. The scoreline probably flatters the opposition and the boys put in a performance that I’d like to think you would of all enjoyed! With some key changes made from the Cambridge City game, not only personnel but a change in shape, allowed our players to express themselves. We have a very technically/gifted bunch and we want to be a side that enjoys having the ball, whilst rolling our sleeves up and grafting for one another off the ball. This game had everything from back to front. With Popey making two vital saves too Toby notching another winner to give us a well-earned three points, but collectively we couldn’t fault the boys and were delighted that their efforts got the just reward. With Saturday gone being scheduled for those teams still in the FA Cup, this gave us as Management & the squad a chance to get to work on the training pitch. With the reserves playing their 1st game at home, this meant we could get some much-needed minutes into legs. We are working very closely with Harvs & Pratty who manage the reserves and we were delighted to be able support them towards their first three points of the season. For those not involved for the reserves, meant they had the opportunity to apply their best aftershave and head out for a socially distanced Shandy. No midweek game this week ahead of today’s fixture against Grays, so two touch points with the players and the chance to get on the grass to work hard ahead of another very tough fixture. We are pleased with the two sessions gone by and looking forward to 3pm. I hope you all enjoy today’s game and pick up some points today for you all. Stay safe and take care Grovesy First Team Shirt Sponsor SPONSORSHIP AND ADVERTISING MATCHDAY SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE FOR £80 PACKAGE INCLUDES: ENTRY FOR 4 PEOPLE 4 x DRINKS VOUCHERS MAN of the MATCH PRESENTATION ON THE PITCH FULL PAGE ADVERT IN MATCH PROGRAMME TANNOY ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE PLAYER SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE FOR £60 (last few remaining) ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR SOHAM TOWN RANGERS PITCHSIDE ADVERTISING BOARD £200 per SEASON FULL PAGE ADVERT IN MATCHDAY PROGRAMME £150 per SEASON FOR ALL SPONSORSHIP AND ADVERTISING QUERIES CONTACT VINCE MALLETT SOHAM TOWN RANGERS A brief history Soham Town Rangers were formed in 1947 as a result of a merger between Soham Rangers (Formed 1919) and Soham Town (Formed 1920). The Julius Martin Lane ground, which at the time was the home of Soham Town, is still the home of the club today, after it was purchased in 1952. The new club started life in the Cambs League, also running a Reserve team. In 1956, they joined the Peterborough League where they were to remain until 1963. During their time there, they won the league and the league cup on three separate occasions. A measure of the level of support enjoyed by non-league clubs in those days was the fact that on their first home game of the season, on August 22nd 1956, a local derby against near neighbours Ely City, over 500 match day programmes were sold - Unfortunately, the 6-2 drubbing for the hosts took the shine off the day.