The Following Article was written by Paul Jarvis for our 2005 / 06 Review of the Season

All Stats are correct as of October 2006

Our friendly game against Headstone Manor last season pitted us against a few familiar faces. Three of the opposition were former players. Their captain/manager Paul Tucker, Simon Scott and Martin Saunders all played in a Rangers shirt and have swapped it for a Manor one instead.

James Hamer made his debut way back in our very first game against SFC Wealdstone and he played his final game to date against Headstone Manor in the very last game of the 2006-2007 season. Jimbob was a true Rangers hero and always played the game with a smile on his face.

Simon Reynolds like Jimbob was an original member of the Rangers and like Jimbob he finished in the same game last season. Simon was tremendous competitor, what he lacked in ability he made up with his commitment. He was crazy enough to put his head in areas where some people were scared of putting their feet! Celebrated his only goal by running the length of the pitch!

Paul Tucker  seemed by far the best footballing prospect who played for us. He won player’s player of the year in his first full season (1998-99) and seriously talked about going Semi-Pro at one stage. However, he went to Uni and a mixture of bad injuries and booze stopped that dream, but he is still a great all round player.

Simon Scott wasn’t officially signed on as a Rangers player. He did have the dubious honour of being the first player to be ‘sent off’ in the Headstone Ranger’s colours. Luckily it was a friendly on our first Tour to Amsterdam (2000) and the referee allowed a substitute to take his place, so he was sin binned instead. He only played for us in those two Tour games and next season legitimately signed for a better team, Hatch End. He played against us for Hatch End Reserves in one league game where he showed us what a good player he was. He is a tricky forward with plenty of skill, now playing left midfield.

Martin ‘Fox in the Box’ Saunders played for two seasons plus a cameo role in goal on the 2001 Tour. He maybe remembered for disappearing and taking a 6 week ‘winter break’ from Sunday football without letting anyone know. He should be remembered for arriving in the box late and scoring some vital goals for us. He was very prominent in the 5-a-side teams as well. Unfortunately he left the club at the end of the 2003-04 season for various reasons, although it was told that one reason was he wasn’t happy with the negative attitude of our team. Martin had a good football brain, a good touch, quick feet and a very cool finish. He plays for The Manor in central midfield.

In total 35 players turned out for us and do not feature in the side anymore (not including the Gaffer). Aside from Tucker and Saunders, 7 others have played more than 20 games for us.

One of the club’s first players was Stuart ‘Ginger’ Evans. A defender, he took part in 29 games without a goal. Stuart wasn’t a flashy player and would try to keep things simple. When told by The Gaffer to chase back and defend he infamously replied ‘I can’t! I’m unfit!’ He left through a mixture of working and lack of fitness, due to beer. Recently he has been playing against us for Romtronics in a 5-a-side league, last season they have joined our 11-a-side league.

Mark Morren  played the second most games, for a former player, amassing 91 for the Rangers and was part of the original club. Mozzer’s brother scored 10 goals in that time and picked up the Manager’s Most Improved Player award in 1999-00, accredited mainly to a fine man marking job against Deerfield. The following season he made the most appearances with 19, but by 2002-03 he had left the club, out of favour after berating the club’s selection policy. He was an athlete so a strong runner and plenty of stamina, although somewhat unorthodox. Now a power lifter.

James ‘Gooders’ Goodman played 73 times, also an original member. He too had an unorthodox playing style but was strong in the tackle and got up and the down the pitch effortlessly. He also popped up with a 15 goals, not bad as a majority of those games he was in defence. The joker in the pack, did a one man pitch invasion during Ranger’s first ever victory and was promptly ordered off the pitch by referee John Lewis. University and a bad injury stopped him from playing more games. Then surprisingly and somewhat disappointingly he left the club in 2002-03 to play for a team with better prospects, SFC Wealdstone (they’re crap, Ed). However, this season he has managed to play three more games for us and, in typical Gooders style, he has scrambled in 2 more goals as well! Now he lives and plays in Northern Ireland.

Tim James was the elder statesman of the team. His background was rugby but took the opportunity to play when Headstone was formed. Played 73 games for Rangers but without scoring a goal, his best chance falling to him in our first ever league game. In his 40s he was a steady defender and consistently harried the forwards, although had the bad habit of giving away a few penalties. As we progressed up the divisions he started to struggle and eventually retired before the 2002-03 to spend more time with the family. Very confident and amusing speaker, he presented the awards presentation nights at the end of each season. Last seen in the pub, a true Ranger.

Graham ‘Gray’ Clarke was a founder member and club treasurer until the end of 2002-03 season. He made 71 appearances as a player despite taking the choice not to play so much as he started to struggle with fitness. Quietly spoken Graham wasn’t the best athlete, but his anticipation to intercept passes was superb. He is remembered for his only goal for the club in our opening season, when he deflected in a cross. Sadly we only see Graham on the odd occasion when he turns up to watch. Most of us assumed he had stopped playing for stamina reasons, but he indicated later on that he wasn’t getting picked as much as he wanted. The club didn’t know anything about this. Gray helped the club a lot to start with and it is a shame he isn’t still involved.

One of the surprises of Ranger’s first season was Marc ‘Wolfman’ Pierre. Through the season his no-nonsense defending caught the eye and he deservedly won Player’s Most Improved Player award for 1997-98. Unfortunately he only played for the first season as he started working instead, so he never managed to get onto the score sheet. He is most remembered for his outrageous dancing at the end of year awards do. His younger brother started to train with us quite recently but the club didn’t require anymore players and he stopped playing.

FORMER PLAYERS STATS

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