London Rangers

[Rhodes]

I see that London Rangers, formerly Ruislip Manor and Tokyngton Manor, will continue to compete in the Combined Counties League Division Two this coming 2025/26 season. The West London based Club, founded in 1938, are currently on a trajectory to reach the same heady heights of where they were previously and competing in the FA Cup, FA Trophy and FA Vase, indeed in 1990/91 the Club (Ruislip Manor) reached the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup narrowly missing out on a home First Round proper tie against Tranmere Rovers. As Tokyngton Manor, following the sad demise of Ruislip Manor in 2008, the Club's achievements, in their short existence at senior level, were modest however they did compete in the FA Cup and FA Vase in both the 2008/09 and 2009/10 campaigns. In 2017 the Club embarked on a high profile partnership with Glasgow Rangers which, unfortunately, has 'gone cold' of late as the Scottish Club queried the connection, under the Tokyngton Manor banner there was a hugely successful partnership with Queens Park Rangers whereby the 'Super Hoops' couldn't do enough for the Club with the majority of players from their West London catchment area:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Rangers_F.C.

https://www.londonrangers.org.uk/history/

Edited July 1 by Rhodes

[Rhodes]

A groundhopper from another Forum was at London Rangers pre-season friendly fixture on Saturday (5 July) against a decent Combined Counties League Division One Spartans Youth side at Carville Hall Park North in Hounslow:

Pre-Season Friendly
Spartans Youth 1-1 London Rangers (at Carville Hall Park North)
Admission: Free 
A more entertaining pre-season contest than the scoreline would suggest, with plenty of endeavour if not quality from both sides. Spartans edged a tight and goalless first half, but neither keeper was particularly tested. London Rangers took the lead ten minutes into the second half with an effort from the edge of the box and had a good spell for the next ten minutes, before Spartans grew back into the game. The home side were twice denied by the woodwork during the second half and were also denied from a free-kick by an excellent save from the second-half Rangers keeper, but they eventually got the equaliser their performance merited in stoppage time through an own goal.
Even in pre-season, it seems Isthmian Mean Time applies as this one kicked off about ten minutes late, with none of the players arriving at the ground until around 20 minutes before the stated 2pm kick-off time. The timekeeping remained erratic thereafter as the referee blew for half-time after 43 minutes, then somehow added on around seven minutes of stoppage time in the second half for some reason.
Carville Hall Park North is Spartans Youth's traditional home base and, as far as I'm aware, is not used for Saturday senior football during the season as their first team groundshare elsewhere and I'm not aware of them having additional men's teams beyond that. This means their pre-season friendlies are the only real opportunity to tick the ground off, so getting it done this pre-season made perfect sense.
And it's a surprisingly decent ground for one in London below Step 6. The pitch is fully railed, there's a Clubhouse and also plenty other Club signage around to make the ground feel like home. The dugouts are oddly small, such that it's necessary to have additional seats next to them to accommodate all the substitutes and coaching staff, but have the club's badge on them. There is also some seating for spectators with a few random chairs and tables dotted around near the Clubhouse.
The Club have recently been granted a new ten-year lease on the ground and they state they have plans to enhance the facilities, but I'd be surprised if that was with the intent of making the ground Step 6 compliant. I think it's potentially possible in the confines of the site they have, but I can't imagine planning permission being granted for the necessary upgrades. The ground's location more or less just across the road from Brentford FC would probably be a hindrance in that regard as well.
Regardless, while many of us (myself included) have spoken negatively of groundsharing clubs, it is clear to me that Spartans Youth are doing a lot for their local community and not just throwing money at a playing squad with no foundations, so more power to them and I wish them well for the future wherever it is they play on a season-to-season basis.
There are two different options for reaching Carville Hall Park North on public transport: you've either got a ten-minute walk from Kew Bridge railway station, or a twenty-minute walk from Gunnersbury Overground station. The latter was a fair bit cheaper for me from Peterborough, so I went with that and had no issues at all throughout the day even with it being very busy throughout central London (I think it was the Pride parade in London today, which would probably be why). The delayed kick-off did mean I got home later than planned though, but only by around 20 minutes and still comfortably before 7pm.
And up next: Slovakia for a few days, with three matches and culminating in my first European Club competition tie next Thursday. That's going to be quite the contrast to this in all sorts of ways.