Season One

Westside Rangers were formed in the Winter of 2002.

The founder members of the club were:-

o Paul Masterman (Max)
o James Pearson (Charlie)
o Andy Sharp (Binosh)

The club was started with the aim of being a mate’s team and the initial team was built around a group of 6 friends. This left a large shortfall of Players. So began the Recruitment Drive! Mates of mates, people we met in the pub & just generally anyone we could get to sign for us, were all recruited to cause.

Pre Season Training began in The Summer of 2002 and everything looked very promising. A bond between the players began to grow. Expectations for the coming Season were high, & confidence was raised – when the club took part in it’s first ever match. A Friendly versus a Boston College side saw Rangers romp to a 4 – 0 victory. At this point the Team didn’t even own a kit so the Players had to turn out in their own Shirts & Shorts!

Just before the Season Started, Rangers secured a Sponsorship deal from Winyard Engineering. This saw the team supplied with a Brand New Home & Away Strip. The Clubs now infamous Yellow & Blue colours where born.

With a new Strip, New Sponsor & confidence sky high, Rangers where brought tumbling down to earth. The First ever official friendly for the Club against 2nd Division Seas End Rangers finished with Rangers being Thumped 13 – 2!

And so The League season Began……

Rangers travelled to former Premier Division outfit & eventual champions Wainfleet Utd.

The Starting Eleven was : 1)Trevor Byng, 2) Andy Sharp, 3)Andy Marston 4), Paul Masterman 5) Terry MacDonald, 6)Jon Spittle, 7) James Pearson, 8)Martyn Pick, 9)Neil Sinha, 10) Mark Baker, 11) Tom Eyre, Subs: Dave Burt, Gary Atkin.

Despite battling bravely against their experienced opponents, Rangers eventually went down to a 10 – 2 defeat. It wasn’t the last time that we got thrashed. But it was the only double figure defeat & there were also some high points. Our first ever victory – a 3 –2 win over Spilsby Town & two draws versus Friskney & Spilsby Town.

Despite it being a very tough season, we always got 11 players every week & over the season improved greatly. It was a character building experience. Many players who came through it said it has driven them on to train harder to achieve success.

The bond between the Players has grown & the original group of six Mates has swelled to a group of around 20 mates! The original idea of the Club was to create a team that was well run, successful & a place where people could enjoy their Football. This has been achieved & carried forward more than any of us could have expected.

Season Two

Having had a successful first Season off the field & really establishing the Club, it was decided it was time to focus on improving the Clubs fortunes on the Football field. It was decided that a coach was required & this began Kevin Mannings association with the Club. Joining at the close of the 2002/2003 Season, Manning was recruited as both a Player & a Coach. Rangers also decide that although there was a resonably strong nucleus, the squad needed some strenghthening. This saw several players leave. These players were replaced with Mark Boswell, a right winger who had been playing for Spilsby Town in the First Division & had previously been at Wrangle in the Premier.Matt Lee, a Left Back with great pace & an awesome throw-in. He had also played in the Premier for both Wyberton & Swineshead. John Shaw, a combative Glaswegan Central Midfielder. Finally they brought in Stephen Coomber, a flamboyant Left Winger. Rangers trained incredibly hard over the Summer, two sessions a week & a feeling began to develop that this Season would be much different to the last. Players had a greater no-how & a huge desire to show that they were not a bottom of the League Club. It was felt a Title challenge could be made & the new signings also brought in added extra experience & confidence. This was all backed by the charismatic new Coach Kevin Mannig. Manning, who had played at youth level for Luton & Peterborough & also in the UCL, gave Rangers structured training sessions & a belief that a Title Challenge was not a distant Dream. Pre-Season Results were excellent. It began with a 6-1 thrashing of new boy's Lake Ross, followed by a 3-1 win over Second Division Park Utd & a 3-3 Draw with Peterborough side Crowland Town. Rangers finnished their Pre-Season with a 4-1 pounding of the other newcomers & future Rivals Spalding Harriers.

So with hopes sky high, Rangers made the trip to Croft Cobras looking to start the Season with a bang. It seemed maybe Rangers went into the match a little too confident as they came up against an impressive Croft. Rangers new player/coach Kevin Manning cracked home a superb hattrick, but could not prevent his side's 4-3 defeat, despite a second half onslaugt. In fact, Rangers fell to defeat in 4of their first 5 League matches, the only win being a 2-1 success at Park Utd. Rangers looked absolutly dismal at times & confidence was at an all time low. It was decided that what the Club required was a Dedicated Manager. An advert was put in the Local Paper & two weeks later, Dicky Dawson was appointed. He took charge for the Home visit of Friskney. This game also saw the Debut of new signing James Oliver. Rangers went on to record what remains to this day, one of the most important Results in their History. Friskney were flying high at the time, but Rangers performance on that day saw the boy's become men as the Team came of age. A fantastic performance saw Rangers record a comfortable 3-1 win, with goals from Daven Naghen, Neil Sinha & a late header from Sub & debutant James Oliver. Rangers went on to lose 4-3 at Lake Ross, beat then Leaders Holbeach St Marks 2-1, draw 2-2 with West Pinchbeck, courtesy of a last minute Simon Webster wonder goal, Lose 3-0 to Black Bull & win 1-0 against high flying Great Northern. Rangers looked much improved & had started to show some of their pre-season promise. They had lifted themselves into mid table. However, all was not peaceful on the good ship Westside. Players had not taken well to the new Manager Dick Dawson. The situation reached crisis point & a players vote was taken at a Training session. The power of democracy saw The Manager ousted after just 6 games & a total of 43 days! In retrospect however, Dawson has been widely acknowledged as setting the wheels in motion & begining the Rangers Revolution. It is still accepted though that he was not the right man for the job, he will always hold a place in the Clubs heart & remain an important part of their History.

So a new Manager was required & on man stood above all others. Kevin Manning. He was appointed with immediate effect & took charge for the first time as Rangers visited Friskney. In a bizzare twist of fate, ousted Manager Dick Dawson refereed the game. Rangers were unfazed & recorded their biggest ever League win with a 4-0 romp. The goals were supplied with two quality strikes from the new Player/Manager Manning, Neil Sinha & James Pearson. Rangers then beat Mareham 4-0 away, Croft 1-0 at home & Shodfriars 2-1 away. This meant that Rangers had won their last 5 games scoring 12 goals & conceding just once. This run elevated Rangers into the promotion mix in fifth place. However, Rangers suffered several vital losses, which ended any real chance of promotion. This didn't stop Rangers recording some very impressive Results, including beating both the sides that were eventually promoted - Shodfriars 2-1 & Black Bull 3-1. Rangers also signed Mark Haynes, a tricky winger with a great turn of pace, just after Christmas from rivals Friskney. In the end, Rangers finnished 7th, partly due to 6 points being deducted due to the withdrawel of Great Northern. In all under Kevin Manning's stewardship, Rangers won 10 games, drew 1 & lost 4. Rangers though had established themselves as a large threat in the League, leaving nobody in doubt that a Title push would come the following Season.