Thursday 21 October 2021

Winterton Rangers - West Street


Winterton Rangers FC
54 West Street
Winterton
Scunthorpe
North Lincolnshire
DN15 9QF

01724 732628







Ground Number: 1014
Wednesday 20th October 2021
Winterton Rangers 2-0 Hemsworth Miners Welfare
NCEL Premier








WINTERTON RANGERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1934. They were originally an intermediate side before becoming members of the Scunthorpe & District League in 1935. From 1965 until 1970, they played in the Lincolnshire League before joining the Yorkshire League. They won what was the forerunner to the Northern Counties East League three times and were runner up once before it merged with the Midland League in 1982. Winterton Rangers played in the Premier Division for two years, but from 1984 until 1986, the club disbanded for a couple of years due to financial issues. When they returned, they were placed in the NCEL D2. They were champions in 1990 and bypassed Division 1 to return to the Premier Division but after four tricky years, they were relegated to Division 1 following a bottom-placed finish. They would remain here until 2007 when they were promoted back to the Premier Division following a runners-up spot behind Parkgate. The following year. Winterton Rangers were champions, the highest finish in the club's history. The good finishes continued for a decent number of years but in 2014, a poor season saw them relegated back to Division 1. The last couple of seasons have been abandoned due to Covid but the team did enough over those two seasons to be awarded promotion back to the Premier Division for this season. They currently sit in 14th place in the table.

Winterton Rangers have reached the 4th Qualifying Round twice, losing 3-0 to Boston United in 1971 and 3-2 at Drouldsen in a 1976 replay following a 3-3 draw in the original game. The club spent the first half of the '70s in the FA Trophy without much success. Their debut season of 1976-77 saw their best-ever run. They won 4-2 at Lincoln United, beat North Ferriby 4-2, won 2-1 at Leeds Ashley Road following a 2-2 draw and beat Blue Star 2-1 before a 1-0 defeat at eventual winners Billericay Town in the Quarter Final. In terms of local cups, the club won the Lincolnshire Senior B Cup in 1970, the Lincolnshire Senior Trophy in 2010 & 2016, the Lincolnshire Junior Cup in 1948 & 1962, the Yorkshire League Cup in 1981 the NCEL League Cup in 2008 and the NCEL President's Cup in 2010. The record attendance of 1,200 was against Sheffield United for the official floodlight opening in October 1978. Winterton is located in North Lincolnshire, five miles from Scunthorpe. It has a population of just under 5,000 and is twinned with Saffre in France.


MY VISIT

For the last game of my time off work, it would be a long trip to North Lincolnshire to see Winterton Rangers v Hemsworth Miners Welfare. It was a good day to do it with me not having to get up early on the day of the game. The Northern Counties East League is also a favourite of mine, in terms of clubs to visit. This was arranged with fellow hopper Chris, who I hadn't done a game with in ages, on Monday. Just in case of bad weather, we had a backup planned at Handsworth, but it didn't look likely, despite plenty of rain elsewhere. I'd had a late night the night before and didn't wake up until 9. I had quite a bit to do and so, didn't bother with my usual daily walk I researched Winterton Rangers FC, planned tonight and also looked at future plans. I left at 2.40 and was with Chris just over an hour later. It was a good journey up and we were at the New Winner in Winterton by 6.30. I had my usual salt and chilli chips, along with chicken in Malaysian spicy sauce. We drove back to the ground and eat it there. Mine was decent but not exceptional. We went in at 7, paying £6 entry and £1.50 for a programme. The welcome was friendly as ever in non-league, with one of the people at the club a keen groundhopper. It was nice to have a bit of time to relax before the game.
 
Winterton Rangers were in mixed form, having beaten Selby Town 2-0 and Sherwood Colliery in their last five games. On the flip side, they had lost 4-0 at Grimsby Borough, 4-2 at Staveley Miners Welfare and 2-1 to Garforth Town. Despite their lowly league position, Hemsworth Miners Welfare were in reasonable form. They'd drawn 1-1 against AFC Mansfield in their last game, had won against 6-1 Hepworth United (Sheffield Senior Cup) and also 4-1 at Athersley Recreation. However, they had lost 6-0 against Eccleshill United and 5-3 at Handsworth. Winterton had a shot saved on the line by the visiting keeper early on and it was really all one-way traffic in the first half, although both sides hit the post. Winterton took the lead on 10 minutes, Josh Walker finishing off a well-worked move from just inside the area. The hosts were awarded a penalty on 38 minutes but it was well saved by the visiting keeper. The second half was more even but it was 2-0 on 66 minutes. Jack Varley, who had recently returned to the club from Barton Town Old Boys netted from a left-sided pass from around 15 yards.


It had been a deserved win for Winterton Rangers, much to the delight of most of the 155 crowd. That was the largest attendance of the four competitive games in the NCEL's two divisions tonight. The hosts were excellently supported by a group of local youngsters who backed their team all night. We left around 9.45 although the journey home was blighted by torrential rain and plenty of surface water on the roads. I dropped Chris off at 12.15 and had a journey home through even worse roads. I eventually got home an hour later. With me up at 6.50 the next morning for work, it wasn't ideal but I felt just about OK the next morning. I completed the blog the following afternoon, though there was little time to rest with a potential trip to Cotgrave on Friday.


THE GROUND

WEST STREET or the MKM STADIUM as it is currently known for sponsorship purposes is a smart and modern venue. There are two stands, one seating and one standing with the rest of the ground being open hard standing. There are a few nice touches too, to make it unique. The food and drink facilities are decent, plus there are plenty of takeaways within 10 minutes walk. The car park at the ground is not the biggest and some streets have restricted parking so it might be worth looking on Google Street Maps if it's going to be a big game.

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