| Club History | Abbey Rangers Football Club was formed in 1976 initially to promote and provide football for young boys between the ages of 7 through to 16, naming itself after the historic Chertsey Abbey. The club has had several homes throughout Chertsey and Addlestone and played its football wherever a pitch was available. Over the years Abbey Rangers FC has grown enormously and needed to plant it’s roots in one place, the club was fortunate in finding it’s new home and finally established itself in it’s current location at the old Meads School playing fields, Addlestone Moor, Chertsey, Surrey. Our facilities comprise of 3 main soccer pitches, 4 mini league pitches and a flood lit training area. We have a relatively new clubhouse that we own freehold. The build was jointly funded by the Football Foundation and ourselves. On the 3rd June 2008 Sir Trevor Brooking officially opened the building which has recently been valued at circa £800,000.00p. During the current 2013 / 14 season the club has had approximately 650 playing members comprising of 38 teams ranging from our new introductory level under 6’s through to the men’s veterans team. The girls section at the club from small beginnings has expanded to 8 teams with further teams planned for the coming season. Abbey Rangers Football Club takes great pride in providing the community with a safe sporting environment for it’s young boys & girls. We have recently obtained the FA Standard Charter Community status which sets out the standards to which we follow, all managers must be go through an induction which includes DBS vetting and are encouraged to obtain their FA coaching badges within 3 months of stepping up to manage / coach teams. Our future looks bright we retain a 19 year lease at our grounds. The club is run entirely on a voluntary basis with all proceeds from functions and food and drink sales being returned to the club to improve the facility for so many of our local community members. We also run many fund-raising events to boost our finances, all sections of the club are happily involved in this process. We have a Committee made up of 15 people, collectively the current Committee have given in excess of 135 years of service to Abbey Rangers Football Club. Our next main goal is to secure funding, obtain an extension to our lease and gain planning permission to construct a 3G AstroTurf playing area at the club. This will allow our teams to train at our facility in all weathers. Our most recent improvements to the club include new floodlights, a brick built equipment shed and the purchase of a tractor, some grass cutting equipment and some additional grounds maintenance machinery. We have attracted a main sponsor, who have invested heavily into our grounds in the past few years, they specialise in maintaining and improving sports surfaces, their input has been invaluable to our progression |
