Rangers ready for new season

The Sydney Rangers have returned from the London International Gay and Lesbian Football Association championships a little forlorn after their defeat in the semi-finals, but filled with determination to take out the title in 2009.

The Rangers had been on track to take out their first gold medal at the IGLFA, right up until the last 12 minutes of the semi-finals match against London’s Stonewall, when injuries finally got the better of them and the team had to admit defeat and find contentment with a bronze medallion instead.
It was a tear-jerking moment, Rangers president Gavin Meares said.

A bronze medal at the world championships is a great achievement. We could not help but feel shattered, with gold so close to our grasp, Meares told Sydney Star Observer.

It wasn’t just that we felt like we deserved to win. It was also disappointing that we missed out on playing on a first division pitch in the home of football -” which is the goal of anyone in any sport.

Meares said a different draw and fewer injuries could have made a difference to the end result, as the Rangers were reduced to just 11 players by the time they reached the semi-finals.

Broken noses, split heads and busted ankles plagued the team as they battled their way through the opening matches, Meares said, while praising the courage and determination of the side.

We really did just run out of steam in the last game. Our problem was not our game. We really played the best football we’ve played all year -” we worked as a team and we fought till the end, he said.

Our major problem was that because we’re so far away, it is just so expensive to get there that we don’t have enough people who can afford it, to take a whole squad of an A team.

We played a hard game, in probably the toughest IGLFA tournament any of our players have ever seen. Even if we had played in division one, we probably would have come out with the same result because the whole tournament was so much stronger all round this year.

For Rangers fans both here and abroad the team’s placement at number three in a line-up of 31 teams is sure to be considered nothing less than an outstanding achievement, though everyone, especially Meares, will be hoping for even better results next time round.

We’ve already started planning our next assault in Washington next year. Everyone’s already said they’re going to start saving and looking for accommodation.

We know what we need to have a better chance -” just one or two more players. We know who those players are, so we’ll start training them up, and hopefully next time it will be gold.

info: For more information on the Sydney Rangers and to join the club visit www.sydneyrangersfc.com.au.