Northern Rangers Football Club is a soccer club which represents Launceston in the Northern Championship. They previously competed in the second-tier NPL Tasmania, but decided to drop back to the third tier after the 2018 season. They continued to play in the third-tier Northern Championship, where their B team previously played.
The club also fields teams in all junior divisions, as well as women's teams. Northern Rangers play their home games at the NTCA Ground in Launceston, Tasmania.
The Northern Rangers entered a junior side under the name "Northern Tasmanian Christian Soccer League Rangers" in the 1996 season. The club first entered the Northern Premier League in 1999. The club finally arrived on 15 August 2009 when it won its first Northern Premier League title and repeated as champions in 2010 and 2012. It participated in the inaugural season of the National Premier Leagues Tasmania in 2013, having previously competed in the Northern Premier League
History Northern Rangers formed in 1996 when a group of players playing amateur six-a-side competitions in Riverside decided to combine their teams to form one 11-a-side team and enter the NTJSA under the banner of the Northern Tasmanian Christian Soccer League Rangers (NTCSL Rangers). The players were all under 16.
Around 18 players formed the first Northern Rangers side. The team went through the 1996 season undefeated to win the under-16 premiership in its debut season against strong opposition.
The following years saw the rapid expansion of the club with two teams entered in 1997. In 1998 NRFC finished one in rankings but lost the McDonalds Cup to Launceston City FC in a dramatic penalty shoot out. 1998 produced one player who would become a household name at the NTCA in the future, Derek Schipper.
In 1999, most of the players were too old to play in the junior competitions, so it was decided to try to gain a position in the Northern Premier League, and the Northern Rangers were officially founded as a senior side. Rangers finished with 2 wins and 2 draws in the seniors, 4 wins and 1 draw in the reserves. The under-17s took the premiership under the guidance of coach Mark Ackerly.
In 2000, Mark Ackerly took on the senior coaching role and with some key recruits in Damire Metric and his younger brother Goran both from Bosnia, Adam Whitemore, Tony Ludby and Seb Deak From George Town the side was strengthened and more consistency was achieved. The club also was able to reach the final in the statewide vase competition.
In 2003 Mark Spicer joined the club as the first contracted coach to the Northern Rangers. He helped the club finish in fourth place on the senior table two years running and third for the Reserves for the two years also. For the first time Northern Rangers were a consistent and challenging force in the Northern Premier League.
In 2007 the club's Reserves took the Northern Premier Reserve Grade Champions.
The club won its first Northern Premier League title on 15 August 2009 with a last minute winner against Devonport. The club secured its second consecutive Northern Premier League on August the 7th 2010 with a 3-nil victory over Somerset at Cardigan Street with a week to spare.
The club secured its third title in four seasons on 18 August 2012, with a 4–1 home victory against Somerset. In the same year the club was accepted into the inaugural Statewide Victory League.
They dropped down to the third tier Northern Championship following the 2018 season.
Seasons
SeasonLeagueStatewide CupName (national level)PositionTasmanian FinalsNPL Finals2009Northern Premier League (2)161231562432391st Runners-upDid not existFirst round2010Northern Premier League (2)161231562432391st Runners-upDid not existFirst round2011Northern Premier League (2)161312441727402nd Runners-upDid not existFirst round2012Northern Premier League (2)161303572136391st Runners-upDid not existFirst round2013Victory League (2)21768563917275thDNQDNQFirst round2014Victory League (2)211137513813364thFinalDNQ2015Victory League (2)21876633429314thQuarter-finalDNQ2016NPL Tasmania (2)2113172075−5568thDNQDNQ2017NPL Tasmania (2)2155112751−24205thSemi-finalDNQ2018NPL Tasmania (2)2162133968−29206thNot heldDNQ2019Northern Championship (3)211641691653521stNot heldNot eligible2020Northern Championship (3)14824452322262ndNot heldNot held2021Northern Championship (3)2164114044(4)226thNot heldNot held2022Northern Championship (3)211614702248491st|2023Northern Championship (3)211515842460462nd2024Northern Championship (3)201631991881511st|2025Northern Championship (3)211722712249531st|
Honours Northern Championship Champions: 2009; 2010; 2012; 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025 Northern Championship Women's Premiers: 2017; 2018 Northern Championship 1 Premiers: 2007; 2008; 2012; 2015, 2023 Northern Championship Under 18 Premiers: 2016; 2020 Northern Championship Under 17 Premiers: 1999; 2001 Northern Championship Under 16 Premiers: 2021
Forestry Tasmania State Final Series Runners up: 2010; 2012 Milan Lakoseljac Statewide Cup Runners up: 2009 Steve Hudson Cup Winners: 2006; 2014
Records Record Games holder Gabriel Tams 300+ Marshall Pooley 300+ Patrick Lanau-Atkinson 250+ Tenzing Anderson 250+ Hayden Vandervelde 250+ Zac Chugg 250+ Daniel Sparshott 250+ Derek Schipper 200+ Ash Vandervelde 200+
Club Best and Fairest Winners Men's 1999: Tim Armstrong 2000: Derek Schipper 2001: Derek Schipper, Tim Schipper 2002: Tim Schipper 2003: Adam Whitemore 2004: Sam Luck 2005: Sam Luck 2006: Derek Schipper 2007: Thataetsile Kakadumane 2008: Thataetsile Kakadumane, Derek Schipper, Mark Ambrose 2009: Derek Schipper, Todd Hingston 2010: Todd Hingston 2011: Derek Schipper 2012: Chris Hunt 2013: Todd Hingston, Ryan McCarragher 2014: Todd Hingston 2015: Yitay Towns 2016: Harry Thannhauser 2017: Harry Thannhauser 2018: Harry Thannhauser, Patrick Lanau-Atkinson 2019: Rob Gerrard 2020: Wes Chugg 2021: Daniel Sparshott, Bryley Jordan 2022: Jonny Burk 2023: Patrick Lanau-Atkinson 2024: Bryley Jordan 2025: Bryley Jordan
Club Best and Fairest Winners Women's 2007: Arlene Crooks 2008: Rebecca Wheatley 2009: Arlene Crooks 2010: Felicity Shaw 2011: Felicity Shaw 2012: Emma Langley 2013: Emma Langley 2014: Emma Langley 2015: Becky Grennell 2016: Emma Langley 2017: Emma Langley 2018: Mickayla Anderson 2019: Moana Chambelin, Febey Pearce 2020: Kelsie Youd 2021: Febey Pearce 2022: Abbie Chugg 2023: Moana Chambelin
Individual honours George Dale Medal Winner: Derek Schipper(2006), Todd Hingston(2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012), Rob Gerrard 2019 2006: Tasmanian State team selection: Derek Schipper / Marshall Pooley 2007: Tasmanian State team selection: Thataetsile Kakadumane 2008: Tasmanian Youth A-League Team: Mark Ambrose / Marshall Pooley Fred Paice Medal Winners (Best & Fairest Winners Reserve Comp): Gabriel Tams (2003, 2008, 2012), Oytun Aykiran (2004), Peter Mcbeath (2005, 2007), Marshall Pooley (2015,2017) Under 18 League Best and Fairest winners: Stefan Jago (2009), Yitay Towns (2011) Northern Premier League Coach of the Year: Mitchell Billing (2002), Roslan Sa'ad (2009), Adam Whitemore (2010) Mitsubishi Medal Winners (Best & Fairest Winners PS4 National Premier League) : Yitay Towns (2015)
Life Members 2000: David Hughes 2003: James Park 2005: Brendan Lichtendonk 2008: Mark Ackerly 2008: Ian Loft 2011: Luke Connors 2011: Derek Schipper 2014: Marshall Pooley 2014: Rod Fulton 2018: Gabriel Tams 2021: Cherie Chugg 2024: Patrick Lanau Atkinson 2024: Tenzing Anderson 2025: Hayden Vandervelde 2025: Zac Chugg 2025: Daniel Sparshott
Club Presidents 1999–2002: David Hughes 2002–2011: Mark Ackerly 2012–2016: Mark Jefferson 2016: Coz Egberts 2017–2020: Rod Fulton 2021-2025: Gavin Stone 2026: Jesse Fulton
Treasurer 1999–2004: James Park 2005–2006: Rod Fulton 2007–2017: Marshall Pooley 2018: Vaishali Harinandan 2019-2020: Niki Fulton 2021 -2022: Nic Edwards 2023: Nateah Vandervelde 2024-current Mitch Souter
Vice President 2008–2013: Luke Connors 2014: Mark Ackerly 2015: Rod Fulton 2016–2017: Gary Harris-Newsham 2018: Marshall Pooley 2019: Tony MacNevin 2020: Dale Coombe 2021: Marshall Pooley 2022: Marshall Pooley 2023: James Ower 2024-2025: Jesse Fulton 2026: Gavin Stone
Secretary 2003–2006: Jenny Pooley 2007: Tanya Cotrell 2008–2011: Brendan Lichtendonk 2012–2013: Mark Ackerly 2014–2022: Cherie Chugg 2023-current: Febey Chugg
Coach Senior Men's Team 1999: David Hughes 2000–2002: Mark Ackerly 2003–2005: Mark Spicer 2006–2008: Mitch Billing 2009: Roslyn Saad 2010–2011: Adam Whitemore 2012: Peter MacBeath 2013: Peter Savill 2014: Tim Lunnon 2015–2016: Dane Hudson 2017–2018: Lino Scuilli 2019: Rod Fulton 2020: Fernando Munoz 2021: Rohan Pooley 2022-2023: Peter Savill 2024: Jack Bowman 2025: Rod Fulton 2026: Nick Lanau-Atkinson
Coach Senior Women's Team 2007–2010: John Crooks 2011–2013: Andrew Langley 2014: Josh Myer 2015–2018: Rod Fulton 2019-2020: Ian Loft 2021-2022: Stephen Pearce 2023: Jo Haezebrouck, Rod Fulton
Club Senior Men's Team Captain 1999: Jamie Cogger 2000–2001: Ben McKinnon 2002: Mitch Billing 2003–2004: Adam Whitemore 2005: Rohan Pooley 2006: Peter Mcbeath 2007: Rohan Pooley 2008 TT Kakadumane 2009–2011: Sam Luck 2012: Declan Cuschieri 2013–2014: Todd Hingston 2015–2018: Nick Lanau-Atkinson 2019-2023: Zac Chugg 2024: Zac Chugg & Pat Lanau-Atkinson 2025: Jesse Fulton & Pat Lanau-Atkinson
Club Senior Women's Team Captain 2007–2009: Arlene Crooks 2010–2011: Sharelle Preston 2012–2014: Felicity Shaw 2015–2017: Emma Langley 2018–2020: Jess Loft 2021: Febey Pearce 2022: Georgina Perkins 2023: Abbie Chugg
Senior Mens Team League records
First Senior Game played: 10 April 1999, against Launceston United at Birch Avenue. First Senior Win: 5 June 1999, Northern Rangers defeated George Town Utd. 5–2 at the NTCA. Greatest Winning Margin: 14 August 2015, Northern Rangers defeated Glenorchy Knights 12–1 at NTCA Ground. Greatest Losing Margin: 10 April 1999, Launceston United defeated Northern Rangers 14–2 at Birch Avenue. Best Finish to a Season Men's: 2010, 1st place out of 9 with 12 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss, 56 goals for and 23 against. Worst Finish to a Season: 1999, 10th place out of 11 with 2 wins, 2 draws, 16 losses, 41 goals for and 111 against
Senior Women's Team League records
Best Finish to a Season Women's: 2017, 1st place out of 8 teams
References
External links Northern Rangers – official website