Grove Park Rangers – March 2026

Gaffers Pete and Aaron bring us up to date on extremely damp 2026 thus far

Guest blog by Pete, Grove Park Rangers manager

We haven’t done one of these in a while.

Truth be told, this is the point in the season where any semblance and consistency gets stamped out by poor weather.

And what terrible weather we have had. Rain has been relentless. Periods of frost in between. Sunday league pitches are always the first casualty.

Despite this, a few games have gone ahead. GPR I continue their title challenge in Division 3 of the MCFL, and are now sitting on 10 wins out of 12 in the league, despite a drop in standards in both remaining cups.

And then there are all the stories in between, luscious and rich as ever. Throughout all the pain, fear and anxiety that comes from standing on the touchline every Sunday, there’s no place I’d rather be.

And this season hasn’t been without its blows, despite our position in the league table. The turn of the year was tough, as we lost back to back cup ties.

On both occasions the result felt harsh, but given how well we were playing coming into those fixtures, it didn’t matter. A tough couple weeks that.

To this point, we never had an expectation to win anything. Originally, any talk of silverware was shelved for romantic afternoons at the pub after a 5-0 drubbing. Not anymore.

That’s not to say we are getting carried away. Well, Nik might be. But I’m not. The league we find ourselves in is extremely competitive.

Write teams off at your peril. We’ve found out the hard way how much each team possesses quality and threat.

Especially at this point in the season, every 90 minutes feel like a maze to be navigated. Whilst we’ve kept on winning, injuries have been piling up. In one of our more recent games, half the team were carrying something.

But anyway, time for some highlights. Super striker Rory took his already exceptional record to new heights as notched over 60 goals and 70 appearances for the club. The man just cannot be stopped.

Elsewhere, Joel continued his fine run of form in front of goal, remaining on track to end the season with double digit goals and assists.

But football is a team sport, and many of them will never see their performances reflected in the stat sheet. Players like Aman, Jake, Saf, Matty and Andre have been exceptional chess pieces for us.

Their versatility in playing multiple positions at a high level has allowed us to stay consistent when the team sheet hasn’t been.

January saw three wins in the league, including a hard earned victory against banana peel side AFC Grove, who have taken some scalps against other title challengers along the way.

Coming into February, our game against Heathrow Club was one of the most manic, insane games ever recorded.

A game that saw kickoff delayed by over an hour due to a dispute over player safety began with both sides keen to shut up the other.

Despite outplaying the away side, the Salads found themselves level at 2-2 with twenty minutes left. Down to nearly 10 minutes, we made it 3-2. Then it became 3-3. Then, 4-3 to us.

Time to batten down the hatches. Then again, with 2 minutes left, Heathrow equalised to make it 4-4. Game over. Head’s gone.

Then Jonno found Matty out wide, who danced down the wing and rifled the ball across goal. In a desperate effort to clear it, with both side’s nerves shredded, Heathrow smacked the ball into their own net. 5-4 us.

A terrifying 5 minutes followed (don’t ask) but we rode it out.

As of publishing, we’re now 60% of the way through the league season. It feels like an age. Injuries everywhere. Composure everywhere. But, somehow, we’re still on track.

Up the Salads.

Guest blog by Aaron, GPR II Manager

January was ultimately a disappointing month as we failed to add any points in the league, but what we have gained is squad consistency and are now working towards improving the cohesion of the group we have built.

Behind the scenes we continue the hard work to set ourselves up to compete in what has turned out to be a very competitive division.

February was a month in which we only played one game but what a game it was.

Away at Chiswick Celtic the side fought bravely. After receiving a red card and a penalty, fought back from 2-0 down with 10 men, to draw 2-2 and we looked the more likely to go on and win it.

It was a very proud day for all of us involved and will be used as a marker for the standards we expect.

Frustratingly, the bad weather meant we couldn’t play again in February to keep the momentum going but the spirit of that performance will absolutely be taken forward into future games.

You can find out more about Grove Park Rangers and catch up with their old blogs on their website: groveparkrangers.co.uk