Concord Rangers

Concord Rangers Football Club is a football club based in Canvey Island in Essex, England. The club currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Thames Road.

History

Concord Rangers F.C. was officially formed in 1967 by Albert Lant, and originated from a team of boys (including Albert's son Steve) that played friendly matches during 1966 on a pitch along the Canvey Island seafront close to the Concord Beach, hence the name Concord Rangers. They are therefore quite possibly the only English football team to be specifically named after a beach. The club initially joined the Thundermite Boys' Football League in 1967, with Albert Lant as manager, before progressing into the Vange and District League in 1973, where the club won several league and cup honours in a six-year period before joining the Mid-Essex League for the 1979–80 season – the club's first foray into Saturday football. At that time fixtures were played at Waterside Farm, on Canvey Island. The 1978–79 season saw Concord Rangers become the inaugural winners of the Essex Sunday Junior Trophy, defeating Bishop's Park 4–0 in a game played at Tiptree United. It was not until 1985 that the club secured land in Thames Road, to initially develop the clubhouse and stadium.

In 1988, the club joined the Essex Intermediate League Division Two, where they stayed for three seasons, winning the title in 1990–91 on goal difference and gaining promotion to the Essex Senior League. Concord spent 17 seasons in the Senior League, winning the title three times in that period (1997–98, 2003–04, 2007–08), with the 2007–08 championship win under the joint-management team of Danny Cowley and Danny Scopes seeing the club gaining promotion to the Isthmian League. The 2007–08 Essex Senior League winning season was the club's 40th anniversary year, and also saw the team win the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy, reach the final of the Essex Senior League Cup, and also reach the quarter finals of