Manning Rangers F.C.

Manning Rangers

Full name	Manning Rangers Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Mighty Maulers
Founded	1928
Ground	Chatsworth Stadium (The Den), Durban (Capacity: 35,000)
Home colours Away colours

Manning Rangers is a defunct South African football club formerly based in Durban and probably best remembered as the champions of the inaugural season of the Premier Soccer League. The club went into bankruptcy in 2006, but in 2007 the Fidentia Group bought the club for about R 2.5 million, renamed it Fidentia Rangers and relocated the team to Cape Town.

History

The club was founded in 1928 by GR Naidoo who, as well as administering the club, played as its goalkeeper and later served as a referee. In the mid-1960s the club entered the professional ranks under the auspices of the South African Soccer League. In 1985 the club moved its base from Curries Fountain to Chatsworth. The club entered the 1st Division of the NSL (National Soccer League) in 1991.

In 1996/97 the inaugural season of the Premier Soccer League, the unfancied Maulers stunned everybody with a fairy tale season and managed an impressive 23-5-6 record finishing top of the table with 74 points and becoming champions ahead bigger clubs such as the Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.

The club was unable to repeat this success however, but remained in the Premier Soccer League for several seasons. In 1998/99 the team represented South Africa in the African Champions Cup losing out to eventual winners ASEC Abidjan of Cote d'Ivoire. In 2005 the club was relegated into the Mvela Golden League and later went into bankruptcy in 2006.

The club has since been purchased and renamed as Fidentia Rangers.

An Added Note: The club has since resurfaced in Chatsworth under the name Rangers FC on a semi professional basis. The team are currently one league below the Mvela 1st Division featuring former player Clinton Larsson as coach.

Notable players

• Mark Davies Most appearances for the club.
• Simon Makhubela Most goals for the club.
• Keryn Jordan Most goals in a season for the club with 22.
• Innocent Chikoya Most games in a single season with 43
• Gilbert Mushangazhike Zimbabwean international striker.
• Bruce Grobbelaar Zimbabwean international goalkeeper, coach 2004-05.
• George Koumantarakis South African internationalist and 1995 Title winner
• Mark Tovey
• Zoran Pesic

Major Honours

• PSL Champions 1996/97
• Osman Spice Works Cup 1985
• FPL Knockout Winners 1979, 89
• Coca-Cola Shield 1977