Minmi Rangers
Minmi Rangers was Australian football club that was a foundation member of the Northern District British Football Association. It was the most successful club in the competition in the 1880s and 1890s. History The story goes that Minmi Rangers FC was formed on 9 September 1884. However there is no primary source reference to this from the period. Minmi Rangers entered the historical record in 1886. Members of the inaugural team were expatriate Scottish coal miners who had settled in Minmi. In 1886 the Rangers had won the first Newcastle & District premiership. They proceeded to win the premierships of 1887, 1888, 1889, 1891, 1892 and 1893. During the same period, they won the knockout Ellis Cup competition in 1886, 1887, 1888, 1890, 1892, 1893, 1895 and 1898. Recent research by Dr. Jeffrey Green has cast doubt on the year Minmi Rangers was formed. Dr. Green contends that Minmi was probably formed in late 1885 or early 1886 as a result of players from Lambton Thistle moving for work to Minmi. Lambton Thistle was formed in 1885 and played Caledonians from Sydney at Lambton Reserve on 13 June 1885 in the first recorded organised game of football in Northern NSW.