Kintbury Rangers F.C. are a football club based in the village of Kintbury, West Berkshire.
![]() | This article uses bare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot. (September 2022) |
Full name | Kintbury Rangers Football Club | |
---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Gers | |
Founded | 1890 | |
Ground | The Recreation Ground, Kintbury | |
Chairman | Jason McBride | |
League | Hellenic League Division Two South | |
2021–22 | Hellenic League Division Two South, 2nd of 14 | |
Website | Club website | |
| ||
The first team play in the Hellenic League Division Two South, whilst the reserve side compete in Division Two.
The club re-joined the North Berks Football League from the Hellenic Football League Division One East in the 2010–11 season. Their nickname is the 'Gers'[1]
The club is classed as a Chartered Club as per the FA Charter Status.
The club was formed in 1890.[2] After the Second World War, Rangers joined the Newbury & District League, going on to win the league in the 1958–59 campaign.[2] The club joined the North Berks Football League Premier Division in the 1967–68 season,[3] staying in the Premier Division for three seasons before suffering relegation at the end of the 1969–70 season, and a subsequent relegation the following season to Division Two.[4][5]
It took Kintbury another five seasons to get back to the top division of the North Berks League, doing so by winning Division Two title in the 1975–76 season.[6] Over the next seven seasons the club won the league twice, in the 1977–78 season and the 1981–82 season.[7][8] In their last season in the North Berks League, the club almost won the league again after finishing level on points with Berinsfield, though they lost out after a 5–4 defeat in a play-off for the title.[9]
In 1983–84, Rangers joined the Hellenic Football League Division One, gaining promotion to the Premier Division in the 1987–88 season and staying there until 1999, when they left to re-join the North Berks Football League. During this stint in the North Berks League, the club lifted the league title three times in a row from the 2001–02 season and achieved the treble of the league, North Berks Cup & North Berks Charity Shield in the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons.[10]
They then rejoined the Hellenic Football League in the 2004–05 season, finishing runners-up in Division One East in their first season back.[11] They stayed in the division until the 2010/11 season, before leaving again to re-join the North Berks League.[12]
Rangers claimed the first silverware since their return to the North Berks Football League in April 2014, defeating Ardington & Lockinge 5-3 in extra-time to lift the North Berks Charity Shield for the third time.[13] The season was rounded off when they defeated Saxton Rovers 3-1 in the final game of the season at the Recreation Ground to secure the North Berks Football League Division One title, losing just once throughout the campaign.[14]
Rangers redemption after losing their crown to Berinsfield in a fiercely contended battle in 2014-15 came on 7 May 2016, as they regained the North Berks Football League Division One title. Kintbury did their part, beating Long Wittenham Athletic 2-1 at the Recreation Ground, before local rivals and fellow title hopefuls Lambourn Sports F.C. were dismantled 4-1 by Saxton Rovers to hand Rangers their seventh NBFL Division One success.[15]
The first team's title win was accompanied by a historic season from the Reserves side as they completed a cup treble, winning the North Berks Football League AG Kingham Cup & Nairne Paul Trophy and the Berks & Bucks Football Association County Junior Cup for the first time, as well as finishing as runners-up in the North Berks Division Two.
Kintbury Rangers play at the Recreation Ground on Inkpen Road in Kintbury. The ground features a clubhouse with a licensed bar, Sky TV and free Wi-Fi.
The football club is located adjacent to the Kintbury Tennis Club and the Kintbury Bowls Club, as well as the indoor sports facility, the Jubilee Centre.
A list of players that have played for the club at one stage and meet one of the following criteria;