Rangers' chiefs plea to lost fans

The directors of Stafford Rangers today issued a rallying cry to the club's missing fans to be back on the terraces for Saturday's home game at Marston Road.

They say falling attendances is one of the reasons behind the club's current financial difficulties, revealed exclusively in the Express & Star on Friday.

It follows a 2-1 defeat at Ebbsfleet on Saturday which leaves them still sitting third from bottom in the Blue Square Premier League with only nine points.

One of the victims of a swingeing cost-cutting exercise is player-coach Dave Oldfield, who has been manager Phil Robinson's right-hand man for the last 18 months.

Secretary and financial director Mike Hughes said having both a manager and assistant was "a luxury we cannot afford" so Oldfield has left the club.

Hughes blamed a slump in gates, an early FA Cup exit and a fixture card that gives them only one home league game in the space of seven weeks, for their immediate money problems.

And in a joint statement the Rangers' board said: "We hope that everyone now gets behind the manager, the team and the club at the next home game against Northwich on Saturday."

The statement adds: "No-one at Stafford Rangers can wave a magic wand and we know that our supporters are frustrated by the current position as much as we are."

The statement continues: "There are also a good number of supporters who have started to drift away as results have gone against us and it is the supporters who can make a huge difference both in terms of income to the club and lifting the team," the directors tell fans.