Offical Matchday Programme @sohamtownrangers VS AFC SUDBURY PITCHING IN ISTHMIAN LEAGUE - NORTH Tuesday 27th October 2020 KO 7:45pm 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)” NOTES FROM THE DUGOUT Good evening everyone. A warm welcome to AFC Sudbury who have travelled down this evening and wish them a safe journey home. We have a great relationship with Mark Morsley and long may that continue. We come off the back of a very positive week for the club for various reasons but a big well done to the Mark Goldsack and the volunteers at the club for stepping in and providing much needed food for kids during this half term. It’s been well documented that the government decided against providing food during half term for children but as a nation we are going through some hard challenging times and if we can support the local community in any way possible then we will help out and we have had fantastic support to provide a hot meal at the club from 12-2pm this half term for children and some of the squad will be taking part also and offering a helping hand. All this togetherness will get us through these tough times so again a fantastic well done to everyone. There is also a Just Giving Page if you would like to donate towards this initiative. On the pitch front we beat a Grays Athletic side on Saturday by a Cameron Watson goal, to be fair it wasn’t the most free flowing game and it was a bit scrappy but a clean sheet and 3 points mean we were extremely happy. It is still early days and it has been a decent start, but it is really important we don’t get ahead of ourselves. Still great to enjoy a fantastic win against a club who would like to be pushing come end of the season. It will be another tough game this evening against a Sudbury side that have always been a good footballing side and this will hopefully be a decent game to watch tonight. On the injury and suspension front Sam Mulready is still out with his shoulder, Sam Kelly with his foot, myself with a slight calf problem and Jake Andrews serving his second game of suspension. Hope you all enjoy the game and please follow the club’s guidelines when visiting the club. Stay safe and take care, Erks NOTES FROM THE CHAIRMAN Good evening and welcome to Sudbury this evening for what has always been a big game. They have a long and rich history of success, but we managed to win home and away last season including a hat trick from Lloyd Groves. Well one was an own goal but the other two won the game! On Saturday we continued our good form defeating highly fancied Grays Athletic 1-0. A strong team performance from our young squad saw us collect a thoroughly deserved 3 points. It felt good to win as it always does but the club was buzzing. A good atmosphere, a decent crowd, a bar stretched but coping with great support from our committee. I thank you all for a great club effort. On the subject of great club efforts, we have undertaken a huge task but offering a free hot meal to children from in and around Soham is the right thing to do. We will have an army of volunteers and donations of food from many amazing people. In support of this we had a request for donations so set up a Just Giving page. This has been smashed with donations reaching nearly £1000. Then a collection at the game on Saturday raised another £270 and then donations from our A Team mean we have smashed our targets. Feeding the Children is all about community support and that is what we hope for from these children. We hope they grow strong and healthy and learn to enjoy our team and club. To enjoy the highs and the lows but to basically feel the belonging and family that our community club brings. Should anyone wish to help then we are asking for volunteers to attend the club at 1130am each day and simply muck in with the team. Failing that the Just Giving page remains open. It just may be that we can extend this into the Christmas break too but let’s see what the political world brings. So, a big week for our club, on and off the field, but games like tonight are what we all look forward to viewing. Good luck to both teams tonight and safe journeys to all. Let’s enjoy the game and hope the weather gods smile on us all. Come on you Greens, Mark G 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. The club joined the Eastern Counties League in 1963 and remained there until 2008. During this time, considerable ground development has taken place - The social club was built in 1968, new dressing rooms and showers were erected in 1979, along with a grandstand extension. In 1981, a lounge bar extension was added to the social club. Floodlights were erected in 1983 and were inaugurated by the visit of an Arsenal XI in front of 1200 spectators. A new grandstand eventually replaced the original wooden structure at the beginning of the 1990’s, whilst various other developments have taken place in order to qualify the club to compete at step four in the non-league pyramid. Soham enjoyed considerable success in the Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup during the 1990’s, winning it on three separate occasions, including for the first time in their history in 1991 defeating March Town United, before repeating the feat again in 1998 and 1999 against Wisbech Town and Newmarket Town respectively. The Greens were also the first winners of the Eastern Counties Millennium League Cup, when they defeated Diss Town on penalties in the final in 2001. The 2007-08 season was to be the clubs most successful season to date winning the Eastern Counties Premier Division for the first time, beating nearest challengers Needham Market 4-0 on the final day of the season to clinch the title in front of 680 spectators at the Lane, and with it promotion to the Southern League for the first time in their history. In the first three seasons in the Southern League, Soham recorded finishes of 15th, 11th and 17th. At the end of the 2010-11 campaign, Ian Benjamin, who had been at the club for six seasons and was in charge of the 2008 title winning side, stepped down from his position as 1st Team Manager. Soham transferred to the Isthmian League Division One North for the 2011/12 season with former striker Andrew Furnell returning to take over as Player/Manager. However with the Greens languishing near the foot of the table, Furnell was replaced by former Histon Managers Steve Fallon and Ian Hart in March, with the club finishing the season fourth from bottom. It was a successful campaign for the club’s other sides though, with the Reserves returning to the Kershaw Premier Division after finishing as runners-up in Cambs Senior A, whilst the Under 18s progressed to the 1st round of the FA Youth Cup, where they were beaten by Charlton Athletic in front of a crowd of over 500 people at the Lane.