Berwick Rangers F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Berwick Rangers F.C.

fullname = Berwick Rangers Football Club
nickname = "The Borderers", "The Wee Gers", "The Dream Team"
founded = 1881
ground = Shielfield Park,
Berwick-upon-Tweed
capacity = 4,131
chairman = Robert Wilson
manager = flagicon|Scotland Alan McGonigal
league = Scottish Third Division
season = 2007-08
position = Scottish Second Division, 10th (relegated)
pattern_la1=_borderonblack|pattern_b1=_blackstripes|pattern_ra1=_borderonblack| leftarm1=FF8000|body1=FF8000|rightarm1=FF8000|shorts1=000000|socks1=FF8000| pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=ea0b0b|body2=ea0b0b|rightarm2=ea0b0b|shorts2=ea0b0b|socks2=ea0b0b

Berwick Rangers Football Club are a football team based in the English Border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, who play in the Scottish Football League. They are managed by Alan McGonigal.

History

Officially formed in 1881, though recent research indicates that 1884 is a more likely date of formation. [ [http://www.berwickforums.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=245 Berwick Forums discussion on history] ] , the club had a nomadic existence before eventually settling down at Shielfield Park in 1954. Having initially gained admittance to the Scottish Border League in 1905, they were finally elected member of the Scottish Football League in 1955, where they have played ever since, despite low attendances and frequent financial problems. A notable early success was a 3-0 win over Dundee F.C. in the Scottish Cup in 1954 in a run which saw them reach the quarter-final, only to lose to Rangers 4-0. Ten years later they reached the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup losing to Rangers 3-1.

Arguably their greatest success came in 1967, when they beat Rangers 1-0 in the Scottish Cup under the management of player manager Jock Wallace. It was the highlight of a memorable cup run, which had seen them break a club record in beating Vale of Leithen 8-1 in the first round. The result sent shockwaves around Scottish football and led to a number of the Rangers players leaving Ibrox; it was also the club's greatest home attendance of 13,365. They were paired with Hibernian in the following round but lost 1-0 in front of a crowd of nearly 30,000.

The following years saw little progress until the late 1970s, when under the management of Dave Smith they won the Second Division title in 1979. Despite that success they were unable to build and suffered a slow decline through the 1980s. The nadir came in season 1988-89 when they were nearly bankrupted and the club were locked out of Shielfield, having to play their games elsewhere. In 1988 Jim Jefferies took over as manager and led the team to a club record unbeaten 21 game run.

The club weathered this and other crises in the early 1990s, narrowly avoiding going into administration in 1994. Later in the decade Berwick enjoyed a bit more in the way of success only missing out on promotion to Scottish League Division One due to league reorganisation in 1994. They were relegated to the Third Division in 1997 but under the management of Paul Smith regained promotion in 2000. Under Smith's stewardship they took both Rangers and Heart of Midlothian to replays in the Scottish Cup.

They were relegated again to the Third Division in 2005, and narrowly missed out on an instant return to the Second Division the following season, this time losing to Alloa Athletic in the league promotion play-offs. Despite losing a good deal of the squad to other clubs in the close season, manager John Coughlin exceeded expectations by rebuilding the team and guiding them to the Third Division championship in 2007, their first title in 28 years, in a season which also saw a new record for consecutive league wins.

John Coughlin resigned as Berwick Rangers manager after a 3-0 home loss to Alloa Athletic on 6 October 2007. He left with Berwick at the foot of the table with only 5 points after 9 games. Cowdenbeath coach Michael Renwick was appointed new manager on October 25, 2007. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/berwick_rangers/7044295.stm Berwick turn to Renwick as boss] BBC Sport, retrieved 2007-25-10] However after a dismal season which saw Berwick finish bottom and ship 101 goals, including a 9-2 defeat to Peterhead, Renwick was relieved of his duties on April 19 2008. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/berwick_rangers/7359841.stm|title=Berwick part company with Renwick|publisher=BBC.co.uk|accessdate=22 April|accessyear=2008] The official website reported on 12 May, 2008 that Camelon F.C. manager Alan McGonigal would take over as manager.

tatus

They are one of a handful of teams in the world to play in a national football league other than their own country's, where both countries have their own fully professional competitions. Although three Welsh clubs (Cardiff City, Wrexham, Swansea City) play in the English Football League, the League of Wales is mainly a semi-professional competition with only two fully professional sides—one of which, The New Saints, moved its home ground from Wales to England in 2007. The ALeague WP, based in Wellington, are the only New Zealand professional team in the Australian A-League, but the recently-founded New Zealand Football Championship is semi-professional. A similar situation pertains with Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps who all participate in the American Soccer Pyramid in the United States, while the Canadian Soccer League is semi-professional. The only other team that meets these criteria is Derry City of Northern Ireland, which played in the Football League of Ireland, the former league of the Republic of Ireland, from 1985 to 2006, and in the Republic's new FAI National League from 2007.

The town of Berwick-upon-Tweed is near to the Scottish border and is closer to Edinburgh than to Newcastle upon Tyne. The old town is on the Scottish side of the traditional border, the River Tweed, and Berwick has formerly been part of Scotland. The time (and expense) involved in travelling to away matches against English opposition would be greater than it is to travel to matches in Scotland. The club also formerly played in the East of Scotland League, which contains other nearby Borders teams, prior to joining the Scottish League; for season 2007-08, the club's reserve side have rejoined this competition. There is also some controversy over Berwick's identity [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/3727046.stm BBC News article on Berwick's identity] ] . Entry into the English Football League would result in a round-trip of almost 1,000 miles should Berwick be faced with playing potential rivals Plymouth Argyle, England's southernmost and westernmost league team.

Honours

*Second Division: Champions (1978-1979)
*Third Division: Champions (2006-2007)

Club records

*Record league win: 8-1 .v. Forfar Athletic F.C., Division II December 25 1965
*Record cup win: 8-1 .v. Vale of Leithen F.C., Scottish Cup First Round December 1966
*Record league loss: 1-9 .v. Hamilton F.C. Scottish First Division August 9 1980, 9-2 .v. Peterhead F.C. January 19 2008 Scottish Second Division
*Record home attendance: 13,365 .v. Rangers F.C. Scottish Cup Third Round, January 28 1967
*Most goals in a season: 38 by Ken Bowran 1963/64
*Most goals: 115 by Eric Tait 1969-88
*Consecutive league wins: 8, Scottish Third Division Season 2006-2007.
*Longest unbeaten league run: 21, Scottish Second Division Season 1988-89.
*Most appearances: 435, Eric Tait 1969-88

Current squad

"As of 28 July 2008"

Managers

*flagicon|Scotland Bobby Ancell (Dec 1950-Apr 1952)
*John Thompson (Aug 1952-Jan 1953)
*flagicon|Scotland Jerry Kerr (Apr 1953-Nov 1954)
*flagicon|ScotlandDanny McLennan (Nov 1957-Jan 1960)
*Jim McIntosh (Apr 1960- Feb 1963)
*Ian Spence (Aug 1963-Oct 1966)
*flagicon|Scotland Jock Wallace (Nov 1966-Jan 1969)
*flagicon|Scotland Harry Melrose (Mar 1969-Sep 1975)
*Walter Galbraith (Oct 1975-Dec 1975)
*Gordon Haig (Jan 1976-Sep 1976)
*flagicon|Scotland Dave Smith (Oct 1976-Oct 1980)
*flagicon|Scotland Frank Connor (Nov 1980-May 1982)
*flagicon|Scotland Jim McSherry (Aug 1982-Feb 1983)
*flagicon|England Christopher Hamlyn (Feb 1983-Oct 1985)
*flagicon|Scotland Jim Thomson (Nov 1987-Sep 1988)
*flagicon|Scotland Jim Jefferies (Sep 1988-May 1990)
*flagicon|Scotland Ralph Callachan (Aug 1990-May 1992)
*flagicon|Scotland Jimmy Crease (Aug 1992-Jan 1994)
*flagicon|Scotland Tom Hendrie (Jan 1994-Feb 1996)
*flagicon|Scotland Ian Ross (Mar 1996-Oct 1996)
*flagicon|Scotland Jim Thomson (Nov 1996-Aug 1997)
*flagicon|Scotland Paul Smith (Sep 1997-Oct 2004)
*flagicon|Scotland Sandy Clark (Oct 2004-May 2005)
*flagicon|Scotland John Coughlin (Jul 2005-Oct 2007)
*flagicon|Scotland Michael Renwick (Oct 2007-Apr 2008)
*flagicon|Scotland Jimmy Crease (Apr 2008-May 2008) (caretaker manager)
*flagicon|Scotland Alan McGonigal (May 2008-)

References

External links

* [http://www.berwickrangers.net/ Official Club Site]
* [http://www.berwicktrust.co.uk/ Berwick Rangers Supporters Trust]
* [http://www.brfc-supportersclub.com/ Berwick Rangers Supporters Club]