St Albans Rangers football club was founded in 1985. Over these years more than 500 boys and 20 girls have enjoyed playing football for the club. In 2001, the club gained the FA Charter Standard Development Club Award, one of the first in the country to achieve this.
Last year represented another enjoyable and successful season for St Albans Rangers. Our small-sided section continues to grow and our 11-a-side teams are a continuing credit to the club in the way they play the game. In May 2006 our U12s – U14s teams visited our twinned club FC Zelos in The Netherlands, participating in tournaments and challenge matches there for what was a fantastic experience. Also, our U18s represented England in a Youth World Cup tournament in Worms, Germany just before the real event!
Our Community Football Programme was launched four years ago for U6s and U7s, and these players have gone on to form the nucleus for this season’s U10s and U11s teams. The club is also actively building a girls/young ladies section, ready to play U12s league football this season. We have also been promoting girls (primary school) football in the run up to the World Cup and throughout the summer, with a view to having a Girls U10s team for this season.
St Albans Rangers FC has a club ethos of player and team development and, as such, does not participate in league football until U9s. It is vital that our young players have all the fundamental skills required to play all sports, and St Albans Rangers FC supports the concept of LTAD (Long Term Athlete Development) where the focus is on training rather than playing competitive matches at an early age. It is this approach that fosters a good relationship between the players and coach, and is probably the underlying reason why more of our players stay with the club up to U18s, and beyond into Senior football.