Morley Rangers FC
03 Aug 2009

Morley Rangers Junior Football Club was founded in 1989 and has been running sucessfully now for many years. The club was formed by a few boys who used to enjoy playing football together at the Morley Youth centre in Plymstock. As there was only one other club in Plymstock Karl Blacker and his Dad Keith Blacker decided to form a team to enter into the Devon and Junior Minor League. The first problem was a name for the team so a family decision of Morley Rangers was made (after the area of Morley and Rangers in Scotland) and the players agreed this was the best name. Well, if some players had their way we would all be playing for Morley Monsters!

After the name was decided on, the first match took place against Saltash United when the team lost 14 - 0. This did not dishearten the boys who showed true Morley spirit as they went on to complete the season finishing mid table in the league.

More and more age groups came to follow the original team and it wasn't long before trophies began to appear after winning leagues and cups. This though, has never been and never will be Morley's number one aim. We are a family club and want to spend time developing every player no matter their ability. Morley has never been a club to scout or poach players and has always been known for its fun environment and its kindness to other clubs.

The club is now moving forward more than ever before and has its own tournament, one of the biggest and most succesful in Plymouth. We have secured the use of the excellent facilities at Plymstock School including changing rooms, wet weather surface, 3rd Generation Astro Turf and grass pitches. The major recent achievments of the club have been in gaining the F.A Charter Standard status and also the F.A. Development Club award, the first totally voluntary junior football club to do so in the whole of the city. Morley Rangers can now boast the biggest youth football club in Plymouth with players as young as 3 up to our new adults team that came into place at the start of the 06/07 season. During the 05/06 season another first for Morley was the introduction of girls football. This has taken off as the boys teams did in 1989 and girls have become an important part of the club too. Our teams have many excellent sponsors across all age groups (check these out on the sponsors page).

Under a great secretary in Joanne Hughes things are certainly looking bright for the future of Morley Rangers and players will certainly enjoy the benefits of this super club. 9th September 1989 The Name "MORLEY" The name Morley Rangers was chosen by the Blacker family in 1989 but the name MORLEY has a lot more meaning to it than you might think. In fact it has great links to the history of Plymstock and also to the Football Association. In the 1700's Saltram House in Plymstock used to house the family who became Earls of Morley, whos property was surrounded by wildlife especially stags/deers. The deer is shown on the club badge to incorporate the history of Morley and Saltram. Morley also has its name in the founder of the Football Association. Ebeneezer Cobb MORLEY was the person who decided to get the football assotiation started in England and Wales, passed with eleven votes. This is now what we see on our televisions from the Premiership down to the national conference. So although the Morley name was chosen because of the area along Billacombe to Saltram it has a much wider meaning.