A non league club changes it’s name for a TWELFTH time in the 43 years of it’s history, and now they are being ridiculed online.
Smethwick Rangers, who currently play in the Midland League Division One, first joined the West Midlands (Regional) League in 1996 under the name Smethwick Rangers, initially playing in Division One South.
In their second season in the division they were champions and were promoted to the Premier Division, where they remained until 2006.
Smethwick Rangers in 2013
In 2000 the club changed its name to Warley Rangers after signing a sponsorship deal with Warley Accident Repair Centre. In the same season former Wolves player Robbie Dennison served as their player-coach.
In 2001 they reverted to their former name, but a year later they changed their name again, this time to Smethwick Sikh Temple.
As a predominantly Asian team, they have competed in the UK Asian Football Championships, and in 1994 they played at Villa Park in the final of the Aston Villa Cup, a tournament for local teams hosted by the Premier League club.
In 2005 they reverted to the name Smethwick Rangers. After dropping out of the league in 2006 they re-surfaced in the Midland Football Combination in 2008 under the name Smethwick Town, and were subsequently known as AFC Internazionale and AFC Smethwick before reverting to their present name in 2013.
In 2010 they switched back to the West Midlands (Regional) League and won promotion twice in three seasons to return to the Premier Division.
In 2015 Smethwick Rangers were crowned UK Asian Champions after beating IGFC Singh Sabha Hounslow at Ibrox.
In the 2015–16 season Smethwick signed former Dinamo II București player Albert Alexandru, who led the club to the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division Cup, beating Wolverhampton Sporting Community 1–0 in the final at Long Lane Park.
In the 2016–17 season Smethwick finished runners-up in the West Midlands Regional League Premier Division Cup as they lost to league winners Haughmond 1–0.
For the 2017–18 season the club changed its name once more, this time to Smethwick to establish themselves as the number one club from the diverse area of Smethwick. They have also added Ahmed Ali a UEFA B Qualified coach and former Man Utd and England Schoolboy Stephen Cooke to the backroom staff.
On the 9th of September 2017 Smethwick won their first ever game in the FA Vase beating Malvern Town 4–1, Joshua Small, Nathan Stone, Beni Kiembi and Stuart Hillman scoring the goals.
In December 2018 Hayden Foote, former assistant manager at Bilston Town was appointed manager alongside Darsh Ram. After a poor start to the season, Foote decided to depart and return to Bilston Town. Grant Joshua was appointed as first team manager with Chris Rabone and Ross Harris coming in as assistant managers.
At the end of the 2020–21 season the club were transferred to Division One of the Midland League when the Premier Division of the West Midlands (Regional) League lost its status as a step six division.
Then in the summer of 2021, they changed their name again, this time to Midland League Division One according to users on the NonLeagueMatters forum.
TEAM NAME HISTORY:
1996: Smethwick Rangers
2000: Warley Rangers
2001: Smethwick Rangers
2002: Smethwick Sikh Temple
2005: Smethwick Rangers
2008: Smethwick Town
2008-2013: AFC Internazionale and AFC Smethwick
2013: Smethwick Rangers
2017: Smethwick
2017-2021: Smethwick Rangers
2021-: Smethwick Khalsa Football Federation
As mentioned, some fans reacted as the non league club changes it’s name for a TWELFTH time in 43 years…
One Non League Matters forum user named ‘Griffon’ wrote: “Smethwick Rangers of the MFL1 have changed their name to Smethwick Khalsa Football Federation!”
Another person called Sarumio Whites replied: “What. What is wrong with this club? Seriously – how many name changes now – its beyond a joke!”
A third, named Kirby Knitters, added: “About seven different names in 25 years. Known as Smethwick Rangers on 3 different occasions!! 🤔”
@ForeverAYellow: That must be some sort of record surely?! I would hate to be a supporter of that club, would proper lose track of what they would be called after so many changes. Common theme in their name is obviously Smethwick, so why not just keep it as that instead of putting add-ons to make it sound more ridiculous or more of a mouthful than necessary
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