Everything about Berwick Rangers F C totally explained
Alan McGonigal |
league =
Scottish Second 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., 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've 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
Glasgow Rangers 4-0. Ten years later they reached the semi-final of the
Scottish League Cup losing to Glasgow Rangers 3-1.
Arguably their greatest success came in 1967, when they beat Glasgow 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
Hibs 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
Hearts 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 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. 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. The official website reported on
12 May, 2008 that
Camelon F.C. manager
Alan McGonigal would take over as manager.
Status
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, 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, which participates in
Major League Soccer in the USA, 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 prohibitive for the club. 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 . 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
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 21 May 2008Managers
Bobby Ancell (Dec 1950-Apr 1952)
John Thompson (Aug 1952-Jan 1953)
Jerry Kerr (Apr 1953-Nov 1954)
Danny McLennan (Nov 1957-Jan 1960)
Jim McIntosh (Apr 1960- Feb 1963)
Ian Spence (Aug 1963-Oct 1966)
Jock Wallace (Nov 1966-Jan 1969)
Harry Melrose (Mar 1969-Sep 1975)
Walter Galbraith (Oct 1975-Dec 1975)
Gordon Haig (Jan 1976-Sep 1976)
Dave Smith (Oct 1976-Oct 1980)
Frank Connor (Nov 1980-May 1982)
Jim McSherry (Aug 1982-Feb 1983)
Christopher Hamlyn (Feb 1983-Oct 1985)
Jim Thomson (Nov 1987-Sep 1988)
Jim Jefferies (Sep 1988-May 1990)
Ralph Callachan (Aug 1990-May 1992)
Jimmy Crease (Aug 1992-Jan 1994)
Tom Hendrie (Jan 1994-Feb 1996)
Ian Ross (Mar 1996-Oct 1996)
Jim Thomson (Nov 1996-Aug 1997)
Paul Smith (Sep 1997-Oct 2004)
Sandy Clark (Oct 2004-May 2005)
John Coughlin (Jul 2005-Oct 2007)
Michael Renwick (Oct 2007-Apr 2008)
Jimmy Crease (Apr 2008-May 2008) (caretaker manager)
Alan McGonigal (May 2008-)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Berwick Rangers F C'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://berwick_rangers_f_c.totallyexplained.com">Berwick Rangers F.C. Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
