Berwick Rangers F.C.
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Template:Football club infobox Berwick Rangers F.C. is a football team based in the English town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, but currently playing in the Scottish Football League. They are currently managed by John Coughlin.
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History
Formed in 1881 they had a nomadic existence before eventually settling down at Shielfield Park in 1954. Eventually they gained admittance to the Scottish Football League in 1955. Since then they have been a continuous member of the league, despite low attendances and often struggling financially.
Despite winning the second division title in 1979, their greatest success was beating Rangers 1-0 in 1967 in the Scottish Cup, a result which sent shockwaves around Scottish football. It was also their greatest attendance of 13,365.
They are one of a handful of teams in the world to be based in one country but play in another's league 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 one club (TNS) having a full-time playing staff. The exceptions are:
- The New Zealand Knights, an Auckland-based team in the Australian A-League. New Zealand has recently started up their own professional league.
- Derry City of Northern Ireland, which has played in the Football League of Ireland, the league of the Republic of Ireland, since 1985.
The reason for this unusual circumstance is that the most northern teams in the English league, Sunderland and Newcastle United, have a difficult time constantly travelling to the south and they lie far to the south of Berwick, which is located right on the Scottish border. Berwick is also a far poorer club and the constant travelling to southern England would not just be inconvenient for them but possibly also impossible due to the huge expense.
Chant
An amusing chant used by Berwick Rangers was featured in a question on a special edition They Think It's All Over, a TV quiz show. It is possible that the chant was a hoax, although footage of fans using the chant was used.
The format is such that the volume-gifted leader shouts out the line, and the group repeats his words, with a variation in the initial line.
Go left go right go pick sticks, Go left go right go leh-eft
- (Repeat)
I wanna be a Berwick Ranger
- (Repeat)
Only live for sex and danger
- (Repeat)
One team was asked to guess what that final line was. One suggestion was a mild slur on Berwick's admittedly small stadium "Your main stand's two cowsheds and a manger". While incorrect, the show's host Nick Hancock congratulated the team on using the word manger in a non-biblical context.
Perhaps slightly out of line, Hancock concluded the question by saying that you can have both sex and danger at the same time in Berwick, as "some of the sheep up there have herpes".
Honours
Second Division:(1) 1978/79
Club Records
Biggest league win: 8-1 .v. Forfar Athletic F.C.(1965)Vale of Leithen F.C.(1966)
Biggest league loss: 1-9 .v. Hamilton F.C. in 1980
Biggest home attendance: 13,365 .v. Rangers F.C., 1967
Most goals in a season: 38 by Ken Bowran 1963/64
External link
- Berwick Rangers Online (http://www.berwickrangers.co.uk/)
- Berwick Rangers Supporters Trust (http://www.berwicktrust.co.uk/)