Ulverston Rangers - Glaxo Sports & Social Club

Ulverston Rangers

Glaxo Sports & Social Club

North Lonsdale Road

Ulverston

Cumbria

LA12 9DR

West Lancs Page

Twitter

Ground Number: 1462

Saturday 23rd August 2025

Ulverston Rangers 2-1 Slyne With Hest
West Lancashire League D1

ULVERSTON RANGERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Ulverston Rangers were established around 1945, growing out of a youth side that had been playing in the Barrow & District U18 League. Following the end of the war, they joined the Ulverston & District League. They went on to become the works team of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a pharmaceutical company with a rich history who were based in the area. They played under the name Glaxo until 2000, Glaxo Ulverston Rangers from 2000 until 2003, GSK Ulverston Rangers until 2018 and then Ulverston Rangers, which remains their name today. They joined the West Lancashire League in 1988, starting in Division 2. A 3rd place finish in 1992 saw them go up to Division 1 for a couple of seasons before relegation. A couple of disappointing seasons came to a head around the turn of the millennium as the club resigned from the league halfway through the season. However, they carried on where they left off the following season. By 2014, results had improved enough for them to finish as runners-up to Askam United, and with it, promotion back to Division 1. They've been there ever since, finishing a best-ever 4th last season.

Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria. Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few miles south of the Lake District National Park and just north-west of Morecambe Bay, within the Furness Peninsula. Lancaster is 39 miles to the east, Barrow-in-Furness 10 miles to the south-west and Kendal 25 miles to the north-east. The population is just under 12,000. Famous people born here include actor Stan Laurel, with there being a Laurel & Hardy museum in the town. The name Ulverston, first noted as Ulurestun in the Domesday Book of 1086, consists of an Old Norse personal name, Úlfarr, or the Old English Wulfhere, with the Old English tūn, meaning farmstead or village.[3] The personal names Úlfarr and Wulfhere both imply "wolf warrior" or "wolf army", which explains the presence of a wolf on the town's coat of arms. The loss of the initial W in Wulfhere can be linked to Scandinavian influence in the region. On 28 April 2009, Ulverston was near the epicentre of an earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter magnitude scale. Tremors were felt across south Cumbria and parts of north Lancashire at 11.22, but virtually no damage was caused. A spokesman for the British Geological Survey stated that earthquakes of such magnitude occur roughly once a year in Britain. Regionally, it was the strongest seismic event since a magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck Lancaster in 1835.

MY VISIT

From our game at Dalton, it was 15 minutes to Ulverston, with us heavily delayed by an elderly gentleman in an orange Ford who insisted on selfishly driving at half the speed limit for the entire journey. Wycombe had already conspired to be 1-0 up when the game finished, but 2-1 down to Reading by the time we got back to the car. We parked in the factory car park, then it was a five-minute walk to the ground. The bar was nothing special, with only cans, and the food was from an external caterer, but I decided to have some pasta. This was pretty decent, and I watched Wycombe equalise against Reading to make it 2-2, which is how it ended, not the worst result.

Ulverston Rangers were 2nd in the league and had won four, drawn one and lost one of their games so far. In their last game, they'd drawn 2-2 at Kendal United. Slyne-With Hest had travelled from Lancaster, around 33 miles away. They'd won one, drawn one and lost three of their games so far. They'd drawn 3-3 at Askam United in their last game and beaten Holker Old Boys Reserves 4-1 before that. A spot on the grass bank was perfect for the game. Slyne with Hest took the lead after ten minutes, a good through ball found Hollings who slotted a low shot past the keeper from the edge of the area. It was all square on 20 minutes in an even game, this time a bullet header from a cross by Harrison. A great free kick and header by Lawlor livened up a dull second half to give Ulverston the lead on 64 minutes.

THE GROUND

GSK SPORTS CLUB is a huge facility with plenty of parking and is attached to the factory of the same firm. The pitch itself has a roped surround and grass banking on three sides. The food and drink facilities are quite basic, given the size of the place.