Carnforth Rangers prepare to play catch up after disruptive winter

Carnforth Rangers’ first team management duo have spoken to Beyond Radio about the club’s progress on and off the pitch.

Both manager Steven Lancaster and assistant Neil McCole have been at the club for long periods of time, Lancaster starting off as a player in the junior setup and McCole as a junior coach.

The pair have been in charge of the first team since the start of the 2024/25 campaign after, similarly to many other coaches in the club, progressing through the teams, and it’s fair to say the side are on the up.

After a sixth-placed finish last season, they currently sit eighth in Division One of the West Lancashire League, having picked up 24 points from 12 games. However, they have seven games in hand on table-toppers Hesketh Bank, who are 25 points ahead, due to a number of their fixtures being postponed, and could very soon find themselves in the promotion mix.

The top two sides get promoted to the Premier Division and, considering Carnforth are only nine points behind second placed Ulverston Rangers, it’s no wonder that the West Lancs’ top tier remains the club’s main short-term goal.

“We’ve set ourselves up into a nice position,” says Lancaster, “but the next two or three games are crucial because if they go the other way, it makes life really difficult.

“If we can put a string of wins together again then there’s no reason why we can’t be up there.

“The aim is promotion but we’ve a long way to go and we just need to focus game by game in all honesty.”

McCole added: “We’d rather have points in the bag, but you can look at it two ways:  we’re sat here after 12 games with 24 points; you’d rather have those points having played 12 games rather than having played all 19.

“There are positives there, it’s just about getting a good spell of weather and a good run under our belt.

“I’m very confident we can go on that type of run given the calibre of players that we’ve got.

“We’re unbeaten at home in the league and we’ve only lost two games this season, one of those at Hesketh Bank where we had a disrupted preparation to the game.

“We’re confident, but we’re remaining grounded.”

Despite the great opportunity that now comes for Carnforth to close the gap on, and maybe overtake, their promotion rivals, this recent period of the season has understandably been one of frustration.

“[The season] has been a bit of a frustrating one if I’m being honest,” said Lancaster, “we started as well as we have done for a number of years.

“August is challenging for all teams, not just us, you’re playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday and we started really well.

“After nine or 10 games, we were top or second and looking in a good position. We then had cup games and so many postponements, I think we’ve played two league games since the end of September.

“It’s just difficult to get that continuity back with the lads and we’re almost starting pre-season again because we’ve played maybe four games in two months.

“It’s not the league’s fault, it’s the weather and British winter football.”

Another positive for the team is that the vast majority of the squad are now available after a few injury concerns earlier in the campaign.

Having so many players to call upon is only a good thing, especially during what many are calling one of the most competitive West Lancs League seasons ever

“We were playing great football, getting good crowds down at Quarry Park,” said Lancaster. “The standout score [so far this season] would probably be beating Ulverston 4-0 at home earlier in the season, they’re currently second, a good side and in that first half, it could’ve gone either way.

“The league is that strong this year, even the teams down the bottom… we’ve played Slyne with Hest twice this season and results haven’t really been going their way, but they’ve given us a good 30 and 20 minutes in their games and the scores probably didn’t reflect how well they played.”

McCole noted that the club’s supporters are really pleased with what they’re seeing.

“It’s all to play for; the brand and style of football, when it clicks, I don’t think anyone can beat us on our day.

“We’ve had compliments even from opposition sides, Ulverston and Hesketh Bank actually said we were probably the best team they’ve played all season

“A lot of the guys that come and watch us every week, and have been watching the club for years, they’re probably our biggest critics but they’re telling us it’s as good as it’s been and as good as they’ve seen so it’s pleasing.”

It’s not just the league that the club will look to do well in either, they are still in the Challenge Cup, a competition they won in 2023 and 2024.

They take on Division Two outfit and fellow North Lancashire side Caton United in the next round.

“I was lucky enough to be involved in the previous two cup finals as part of the management group,” said Lancaster.

“To get there for a third time in four seasons would be a bonus for us, definitely, but we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.

“Caton will be a tricky game, they’ve been improving and they’ve got a good setup down there.

“Cup runs are always a bonus and great for the lads.”

McCole added: “I was involved in the last cup final and I was surprised at the scale of it. There were about 600 down there, a few seagulls and a couple of dogs!

“The boys really enjoyed that. The bread and butter is the league, but it’ll be a tough game at Caton. We played them in the semi final last time and they took us to extra time. We won’t be taking it lightly that’s for sure.

In addition to the first team, the club have a second team that competes in the West Lancs League’s Reserve Division One, two more senior men’s teams, a newly-formed women’s team and an ever-developing youth section.

The reserves were promoted as champions of Reserve Division Two last season and now sit ninth in their new division.

“[The reserves] are holding their own,” said Lancaster.

“I don’t think they’ve been helped so much by us having a few out injured and having to pull from the second team as well. The lads who are stepping up are more than capable of doing so.”

On the women’s section, McCole said: “It’s an exciting addition to the Carnforth Rangers portfolio, we all know how ladies’ football is growing globally.

“The ladies have been tied up with the weather, like we all have, but they’ve been training hard and looking forward to getting a run of matches in. They’re in good spirits.

“We’ve had the girls teams for some time and we’re now finding there’s more and more people reaching out because they can see a trajectory potentially to reach the ladies’ senior teams going forward over the coming seasons.

“There’s a lot of talk which is great for the club and the community.”

The women’s side play their games on Sunday afternoons in a competitive league, the Lancashire Women's County League Division One North.

As for the junior section, there’s now over 20 teams from ages five to 16 including 7 girls’ teams.

“The junior teams are the foundation of Carnforth Rangers in all honesty,” said Lancaster.

“When you put all the teams together, we’re the biggest club in this area and it’s close to my heart because I’ve come through the junior section with my two boys from the under 6s to under 16s.

“It’s a massive part of the club and it’s a family, the whole club is together and there’s a senior pathway for every player effectively.”

Carnforth Rangers are a very ambitious club across all sections with work ongoing to improve their facilities and long-term ambitions to climb the pyramid, citing Fulwood Amateurs - who last summer moved from the West Lancs League to the North West Counties Football League - as an example of a club who can make the jump successfully.

To hear more from Steven Lancaster and Neil McCole on Carnforth Rangers’ season so far, long-term aspirations, their coaching dynamic and more, head to the Listen Again section of the Beyond Radio website and click on the ‘Saturday Sport’ episode from January 10.