DEEPING RANGERS FC

THE EARLY YEARS

The Club was formed in 1966 (1964 as a Sunday League team) and tasted glory in their first season. Based at Maxey Road, the Club won both the Peterborough and District League Division Three (North) title as well as the PFA Minor Cup in their opening campaign. The first team were crowned champions of Peterborough and District League Division Two in 1968/69 and followed this success with the Division One title the year after. In 1995/96Deeping Rangers were runners-up in the Peterborough and District Premier Division, and again in 1998/99, under the management of Mel Landin, to earn their historic promotion to the United Counties League Division One (UCL).

Maxey Road was our home until 1982 when we moved to the Deepings Leisure Centre. Since 1985 the Club has been based at Outgang Road.

UCL

 1999/2000 The first season in UCL under Mel Landin saw an exciting year in Division One finishing third and missing out on promotion in the final game of the Season at Daventry Town.

2000/01 Chris Beckett took over as manager and guided Rangers one place higher as we finished as UCL Division 1 runners up – losing out on goal difference to Daventry Town but winning promotion to the Premier Division. This season also saw major fund raising which led to the installation of floodlights at Outgang Road.

2001/02 The first season in the Premier Division Rangers finished a creditable 10^thand saw Deeping’s first entry into the FA Vase which ended with a 2-3 defeat at Gedling.

2002/3 AndRangers played our first ever FA Cup match, losing 0-1 at Kings Lynn in the final minute. The season also saw a first FA Vase success as we beat County rivals Boston Town 2-1. The team finished that season in 5th place in the League but also saw Chris Beckett and Dave Simpson step down at the end of the season.

2003/04 Paul Kirk and Pat O’Keefe took over the managerial reigns. Another away draw in the FA Cup took us on a visit to Unibond League team Eastwood Town where we earned a 2-2 draw and gave us our first ever home FA Cup match on 3 September 2003 which we sadly lost 2-1. We finished the season in 17th place after Paul Kirk stepped down before the seasons end and Vince Adams took charge.

2004/05 The season started well with the clubs first winning game in the FA Cup against Glapwell when a visit from the trophy itself also saw the opening of the newly installed Wembley turnstiles. The season was plagued with injuries, and we eventually finished 12th.

2005/6 Started badly with only 14 points from 20 games but we did manage to reach the first-round proper of the FA Vase for the first time after wins against Staplehill and Rainworth Miners Welfare before losing at home against Buxton. Relegation was only just avoided, and Vince Adams resigned before the end of the season.

2006/7 Former player, Tuncay Korkmaz was appointed as our new Manager and was joined by Dave Simpson who re-joined the Club. The new faces worked wonders as our first 29 league games were played without defeat – a then League record and a first title looked highly likely. In the FA Cup, a win at FA Vase holders Nantwich proved to be Rangers best win in any competition to date. On Tuesday, 17 April 2007 Deeping were crowned UCL Premier Division champions for the first time after a comfortable 2-0 win at Northampton Spencer. The League campaign took its toll however, and saw defeats in two finals, the County Cup and Hinchingbrooke Cup.2007/08 A disappointing defence of our League title ended with us finishing7th in the league but the Hinchingbrooke Cup found its way to Outgang Road for the first time, as Rangers defeated Blackstones in the first all Lincolnshire Final.

2007/08 A disappointing defence of our League title ended with us finishing7th in the league but the Hinchingbrooke Cup found its way to Outgang Road for the first time, as Rangers defeated Blackstones in the first all Lincolnshire Final.

2008/09 Rangers were top for many weeks but eventually claimed fifth spot. Tuncay stepped down as Manager at the end of the season with three top 7 finishes in three years, including our historic first UCL Premier League title, to his name.

2009/10 Saw Paddy Rayment take over, assisted by Danny Hussey. With a changed squad a poor start saw early cup exits but a mid season unbeaten run of games resulted in an excellent fourth place finish.

 2010/11 Wholesale changes were made at the Club, but a poor start saw players come and go with the seasons highlight being a 2-1 defeat of Kings Lynn in front of a then record crowd of 307. Poor results saw Rayment and Hussey leave and Tuncay Korkmaz return as caretaker manager where he helped the club stabilise and results improved greatly for an eventual 14^thplace League finish.

2011/12 Tuncay remained in the managerial hot seat and agood run in the FA Cup saw Rangers beat 2 higher level sides, Belper and New Mills to reach the 2^ndqualifying round for the first time in their history before losing 2 –0 to Leek Town. History was again made in the FA Vase, with Rangers reaching the 3^rdRound Proper for the first time, losing 3-1 at Newcastle Benfield. A fine 4^thplace in the league saw Tuncay maintain his excellent record

2012/13 Another good campaign under Tuncay Korkmaz saw Rangers again finish in fifth place – a very good finish with the limited resources available. The Cup competitions were not so kind although the semi-final of the Hinchingbrooke Cup was reached where we were defeated 1-0 by Yaxley.

 2013/14 Yet again a fine 4^thplace finish Tuncay maintaining his excellent record. Once again, we suffered early exits from the FA Cup and FA Vase, but Rangers did reach the UCL League Cup Final for the first time, agonisingly losing 5-4 in extra time against Huntingdon Town.

 2014/15During the close season Rangers were rocked by the sad deaths of President Norman Fowler and Secretary Haydon Whitham within the space of 2 weeks. The season started with the first UCL Groundhopper weekend and saw a crowd of 307 watch Rangers beat Harborough Town on a Friday night. A quick exit was made in the FA Cup as Rangers lost at eventual Eastern Counties Champions Norwich United but better luck was had in the FA Vase as wins against Wivenhoe and Oxhey Jets saw us reach the 3^rdRound for only the second time losing out against Heanor Town 2-1 after extra time. A fine 9^thplace finish in the UCL but Tuncay decided to step down at the end of the season with his swansong being a 2-1 defeat by Peterborough Northern Star in the Hinchingbrooke Cup Final. In 7 seasons as a manager, ‘Tunch’ never finished outside the top 10 – a fantastic achievement at any level of football. The seasons highlights saw some excellent football played with a much younger squad that pushed hard all season but faded towards the end. A new Club record attendance of 310 was reached for the League visit of AFC Rushden and Diamonds. During the season the Club renamed our ground The Haydon Whitham Stadium which also incorporated the Norman Fowler Stand, both as marks of respect to the highly respected and much-loved Club stalwarts.

2015/16 The season started with a new Manager for Rangers but a familiar face as Michael Goode made a welcome return to Outgang Road as First Team manager. ‘Goodey’ was previously a player at Junior and Senior level for the club and he was also manager of our Midweek U18 team that saw success with many of his side progress into Senior Football. Despite a bright start to the UCL League campaign, the team struggled after Christmas winning just two more League games that season to end up 10^thin the League. A mixed bag in the Cup competitions saw us knocked out of the Lincs Senior Trophy at the quarter final stage and in the semifinal of the Hinchingbrooke Cup. An exciting FA Cup run saw us reach the second qualifying round for the first time and included a 4-2 extra time win in a replay against higher league Leek Town, this after being 2-0 down at half time in the original tie. Our reward for the Leek win was a home tie against AFC Rushden & Diamonds. Despite a new record crowd at The Haydon Whitham Stadium of 635 (over double that of the previous record), we sadly bowed out of the FA Cup with a 3-0 defeat.

2016/17Was a year of ‘what might have been’ as Rangers finished runners up in three competitions. Despite only winning two of our opening six League games and exiting the FA Cup and FA Vase during those six League games, Rangers then embarked on a remarkable 21 game unbeaten run in the League to ensure our highest UCL Premier League finish since winning the League back in 2007. Runaway League winners, Peterborough Sports, proved to be our nemesis in the Hinchingbrooke Cup as they won a highly entertaining Final 2-1, played at Yaxley FC. Our third heartbreak of the year came at Lincoln City’s Sincil Bank stadium at the hands of Cleethorpes Town in the Lincs Senior Trophy. A solitary goal gave our opponents the trophy and saw us finish the season empty handed despite winning lots of friends for our fantastic, flowing football that season.

2017/18It was always going to be difficult to top the previous seasons efforts, and so it proved as Rangers finished fifth in a competitive UCL Premier League that ebbed and flowed throughout the season. Once again, a run of adverse results saw us fade away from the lead pack despite being in and amongst them for most of the season. The FA competitions saw some highs and lows and brought another first for the Club when our FA Cup 2^ndQualifying Round tie at home to National League North outfit Kidderminster Harriers was chosen by the BBC to be streamed live on their website. A memorable day also saw the FA Cup trophy make a visit to The Haydon Whitham Stadium and to top it all, a new record crowd of 696 graced the ground as Kidderminster ran out 4-2 winners. We equaled our furthest run in the FA Vase when we reached the 3^rdRound. The previous round was a 7-goal thriller away to Godmanchester Rovers as we turned around a 3-1 half time deficit to claim a 4-3 win, with the winner coming in the 4^thminute of injury time. With our sights set firmly on a good Vase run, we were brought back down to earth with a 3-1 defeat away to AFC Hinckley and so end our Wembley dreams for another year. Progress was made off the pitch with the completion and official opening of our new hospitality suite, The Clarets Lounge, which has given the Club a new dimension for visiting officials and sponsors and cements our place as one of the more progressive and forward-thinking Clubs at our level.

2018/19 Was a season when Rangers played some scintillating football, travelled many miles in pursuit of FA Vase glory and finally broke our silverware drought. Another UCL Premier League runner up position was achieved for the second time in three seasons, this time we finished behind runaway winners Daventry Town. Rangers also excelled in Cup competitions – despite an early exit from the Hinchingbrooke Cup at Potton United. We should have played in the UCL KO Cup Final after a memorable 6-2 win over Daventry in the semifinal. However, due to a well-documented administrative error over an ineligible player, we were denied the chance of facing local rivals Holbeach in the Final. Our exploits in the FA Vase will live long in the memory as Rangers reached the last 16 of the competition (5^th Round) for the first time in our history. Home wins vs Blackstones, Eastwood Community and FC Clacton coupled with away day successes at Walsham le Willows, Newmarket Town and Wantage Town eventually led us to a snowbound Devon early in February to tackle Willand Rovers. Despite our best efforts and leading twice in the game, Rangers agonisingly succumbed 3-2 in front of a crowed of over 900. Despite this setback, Rangers galvanized themselves and continued their excellent League form and, on a wet and windy night in Lincoln, we won the Lincolnshire Senior Trophy beating Grimsby Borough 4-3 on penalties following an entertaining but goalless 90 minutes.

After many years of our Reserves playing in the PDFL, the Club took the decision to compete in the UCL Reserves Division from the start of this current season.

Admission Prices: 

General Admission to League/Cup/County games £9; OAP/Concessions £7; U12-U17.£2

General Admission for FA Competition games may differ

Programme: Available via a QR code at the ground and on the club’s twitter page

Refreshments: Sports & Social Club just outside of ground, open for all games. Tea bar inside ground serving hot/cold food and drinks. No alcohol served from tea bar.

Directions:

From south of Market Deeping, follow the A15 Deeping by-pass, go over the roundabout (Stamford to the left) and on to the A1175 dual carriageway. At the next roundabout take the 3^rd exit onto Northfields Road and follow the road through the industrial estate. At the T-Junction, turn left onto Towngate East and the football ground is approx. a quarter of a mile on the left-hand side.

The A15 from Lincoln and the A1175 from Spalding both converge at the same roundabout which leads to the Northfields Road Industrial Estate.

Postcode for Sat Nav is PE6 8LQ

Parking: Plenty of free parking on site.

Nearest Train Station: Peterborough & Stamford are almost equidistant from our ground.

Deeping Rangers FC Honours

2006/07

• United Counties Premier League Winners;
• Lincs Senior Trophy Finalists;
• Hinchingbrooke Cup Finalists

2007/08

• Hinchingbrooke Cup Winners

2013/14

• United Counties League Knockout Cup Finalists

2014/15

• Hinchingbrooke Cup Finalists

2016/17

• United Counties Premier League Runners Up;
• Lincs Senior Trophy Finalists;
• Hinchingbrooke Cup Finalists

2019/20

• UCL Premier League Runners up
• Lincolnshire Senior Trophy Winners

2022/23

• Sports Ground Development League Knockout Cup Runners up
• Lincolnshire Senior Trophy Runners up

2024/25

• Hinchingbrooke Cup Winners