PRESS RELEASE
Clifton Rangers Celebrates it’s 30th birthday in style
Throughout 2011 Clifton Rangers has been celebrating the clubs 30th birthday with many events organised to celebrate the success throughout this period. Clifton Rangers is the longest standing and most successful club in the local area and has a lot of people to thank for the past 30yrs, one person in particular was the clubs founder, Charlie Ingle. Charlie (now 92 yrs old) set-up the club to ensure that the children of Clifton and Brighouse were able to enjoy playing football and making lifetime friends, but also when combined with the high standard of training offered from hundreds of coaches over the past 30yrs the club has won hundreds of trophies during this period.
The club wanted reward Charlie for all his efforts over the past 30 yrs and show him how big the club has now become. During August a club BBQ was held at the clubs newly acquired Bailiff Bridge junior football base, where all players, parents and coaches attended. The event was a fantastic day and many activities were put on for the kids whilst the coaches played matches against the U17 and U15 age groups. To mark the event Charlie and John Horsely(one of the first football coaches at Clifton Rangers) were presented with a signed football shirt and a glass trophy to say thank you. John Horsely also presented the club with some historical memorabilia from the 30 yrs of
the clubs history.
Andy Sykes at the back, John Horsely left and Charlie Ingle right
Andy Sykes a club trustee and previous Chairman said “The event was a huge success for the club, it was fantastic to see all of our players together enjoying themselves. Also, it was great to see Charlie receive the acknowledgement he deserves, he set-up a fantastic football club and the success over the past 30 yrs has been remarkable and I know this is something we wish to continue over the next 30 yrs!”
To commemorate the clubs 30th birthday a new kit was issued to all the clubs 300 players at the start of the 2011/12 season. The kit comprises of the clubs traditional black and red colours with gold numbers both on the tops and shorts. Chris Smith the club chairman said “It was important to make sure we celebrate the success of our club and its fantastic history, whenever I speak to anyone in football, either at amateur or professional level in the local area, they always seem to have either played or coached at Clifton Rangers, we wanted to make sure our kit was easily identified again and consistent throughout our age groups from 6 yrs up to 17 yrs old players, this was a challenge as it cost over £8,000, however it was money well spent.”
Additionally during 2011 Clifton Rangers has become a partner with Huddersfield Town, working closely with the professional team and the academy, one of the advantages was that all of our players were invited to the Galpharm stadium to have a group photo in their new kit and enjoy the experience of touring the stadium. Also, the under 7 team were given the exciting opportunity of attending the Huddersfield V Walsall match, where they were involved with the half time entertainment, a memory that will stay with them forever.
A further event organised this year was the 17th Annual tournament during the summer, again to celebrate the clubs birthday the entry fee was reduced by 30% and the tournament was changed to offer an 11-a-side tournament for teams of Under 11 and up, this is the only 11-a-side tournament in West Yorkshire and was a huge success with many academy teams and clubs from outside Yorkshire attending, this is definitely a format to stay moving forward.
The 3rd annual bonfire was held on Saturday 5th November with a fantastic turn out from both players and local residents of Clifton. Ken Gray Vice Chairman said “It is very important that our club engages with local residents and creates events where our players and families can socialise with each other, we have been successful in this over the past 30yrs and we want to ensure we continue to organise big community events. The bonfire was a great success and demonstrates the values of our football club.”
The club hasn’t just organised social events to celebrate its 30th birthday, a lot of work has been undertaken to develop the football aspects of the club further, and during 2011 we have launched numerous initiatives to support our aim of becoming the only FA Community Charter Standard club in the local area. Chris Reid Football Development Officer said “The club is in a fantastic position currently, last year we won 3 league titles and many tournament trophies, however we can’t stop developing, therefore we have really ambitious plans. This year we have introduced a Development Centre for players from 5 yrs to 10 yrs to support their development at a very important time for a young footballer and I am happy to say we have acquired some great coaches to run this programme, also positional training has been recently launched aimed at players of 9yrs to 12yrs to give them the support they need when moving to 11-a-side football. Additional all goalkeepers within the club are now receiving bespoke coaching by goalkeeper qualified coaches. Our club already has FA qualified coaches within every age group and meets the West Riding FA requirement, however this year the clubs committee has agreed to release a significant amount of funds to supports coaches on professional training courses, this is exciting times and the future definitely looks successful and we are building a strong foundation to ensure we continue to win league and cup titles.”
Clifton Rangers isn’t just a local club, this year we have played matches against academy teams from both Norway and New Zealand, these international friendlies offered our players the opportunity to get some new experience and meet players from different countries and cultures. The matches were played at Bailiff Bridge and following the games both
teams went to the Bailiff Bridge community centre to exchange stories whilst having some food and drinks.
All the events organised during 2011 have been organised by volunteers and managers/coaches for which every player and parent is grateful. The club is stronger than it ever has been, with a great development plan and over 300 players. This was all created by Charlie Ingle and everyone at Clifton Rangers would like to say thank you for the great memories and future planned success.
If your son or daughter is interested in joining Clifton Rangers please get in touch to see if we have places available. The club has teams in nearly all age groups and always welcomes new players.