Clissold Rangers – London in their hands!
The Clissold Rangers team with their winners’ cups
The London Cup, North London regional Norseman Cup and the Waltham Forest League and Cup double… Clissold Rangers under 10s swept all before them in the 2007/2008 season.
With an integrated production-line system that starts with an inclusive, open-to-all, turn up and play weekend football programme to the Rangers’ teams that are grown from those altruistic fruits, the club provides a footballing infrastructure and organisation for children of all backgrounds and abilities.
As under-nine’s coach and Chair Nicholas Franchini explains, “A group of parents created a football club, made up of a series of teams (under 8s to under 12s). The basis of the club is the drop-in service that’s been running for about 20 years now, run by Danny Brade, a youth team coach from Leyton Orient FC’s Community Development Programme. We create our teams from the players that he highlights or recommends to us.
“Absolutely anyone can turn up, and if they’re good enough then they’ll be in the team. Parents love bringing their kids along for a number of reasons, but I think one of the main ones is that Rangers has a discipline to it that parents want for their kids, and which they’re not really getting from anywhere else. We expect high standards of our kids in terms of effort, and we expect them to listen to instructions, and we expect them to try their hardest and put the effort in.”
So successful has Clissold Rangers been, in fact, several boys from the club are now training with professional teams, including Charlie Owens at the Spurs academy, and Leonardo Franchini, Jay Downing and Flint Drummond trialling with Leyton Orient.
“The great thing about the teams is that the kids actually produce football like what you see on TV.
“We emphasise attractive football, fair play and attacking and defending as a team.
“Our main interest is the general development of the kids, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be hard on them when we don’t think they’re pulling their weight. I suppose we’re a bit old fashioned in that.”
With new season sponsorship secured with local web development company Unit 9 and national health website NHS Choices, and new players arriving over the summer and throughout the season, Clissold Rangers FC is in rude health.
And if last season has set the new standard for Rangers, London youth football won’t have seen anything yet.
The drop-in centre takes place each Saturday between 10am and 11.30am virtually all year round. All are welcome to just turn up and play. Exceptional players are invited to play competitive football (Under 8s to Under 11s). This involves extra training between 11.45 and 12.30pm and matches in local Sunday leagues and one-day tournaments. Training takes place by Clissold Park’s North West Gate on Green Lanes.