CLUB HISTORY

Miramar Rangers Football Club was founded in 1907 but it wasn’t until 1929 it first fielded a senior side. It maintained a position in the Wellington 1B division throughout the 1930s.  Following the 2nd World War the Club slowly built up considerable strength and by the mid 1950s had become a force to be reckoned with in Wellington football. They won promotion to the Wellington 1st Division in 1954.  Miramar won the Chatham Cup in 1966, was a foundation member of the Central Regional League 1st Division in 1968 and won the Chatham Cup for a second time defeating Waikato United 3-1 in 1992. They finally won the Central League in 1980 thus gaining entry to the National League.  They competed in it until the club-based format was dissolved in 2004.  Miramar Rangers is now the principal club for Team Wellington in the ASB Premiership.

In 1987 the Club established its sand carpet surface at David Farrington Park, Miramar to give it one of the best playing surfaces in New Zealand along with Park Island and Kiwitea St, as it is an all year round football only ground. The field received a renovation in 2012 by Mexted Performance Sport Surfaces. In 2009 Wellington City Council agreed to rename the ground, from Centennial Park, to David Farrington Park – as a mark of respect to the local football stalwart who passed away in 2008. David Farrington was a legendary figure in New Zealand football for more than 40 years, coaching Miramar Rangers, Wellington representative teams and the New Zealand women’s national side, his son Jamie is the current captain of the Central League side.

The club has won the Chatham Cup on four occasions in 1966, 1992, 2004 and 2010 and were runners up in 1981. Since 2001 the club has had a great period of the success in winning two National Leagues in 2002 and 2003, while they were runners-up in 2001. The club won the Capital Premier League in 2004 along with the Chatham Cup. Since the reintroduction of the Central League in 2005 Miramar has won the title five times (2006, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2014), claiming three of the last four titles and have been runners up three times in 2007, 2009 and 2010. The club has a strong history of players who have represented New Zealand at all levels including the likes of Peter Whiting, Wynton Rufer, Grant Turner, Michael Utting, Malcolm Dunford, Vaughan Covey, Simon Eliot, Chris Jackson, and more recently Andy Barron, James Bannatyne and Jeremy Brockie. In 2014 a record five players from the club were selected to represent the New Zealand Under 20 side.

1982 FINAL

Miramar Rangers 0-1 Mt Wellington

Miramar in their first Cup final since 1966 fought hard for a home-town success at the historic Basin Reserve. They were well served in goal by Barry Pickering and also sent to England to bring back from Norwich City John Fashnu who had earlier played half a dozen games for Miramar.  The move went very close to coming off as Miramar contained a strong Mt Wellington side making their seventh final appearance in 11 years. The final would be settled by Keith Nelson who scored the winning goal after 107 minutes of play to secure Mt Wellington their fourth success.

Round 3Miramar 3-2 Stokes Valley
Round 4Miramar 2-1 Stop Out
Quarterfinal Miramar 1-0 Wellington City
Semi-Final Miramar 1-0 Christchurch United
FinalMiramar 0-1 Mt. Wellington (AET)

1992 FINAL

Miramar Rangers 3-1 Waikato United 

Miramar reached the final after defeating Stop Out, Takaro and Western Suburbs in the early rounds; they then overcame Hutt Valley United 5-2 in the quarterfinal and then defeated North Shore United 2-0 in the semi-final. The side was coached by Barrie Truman and John Cameron and featured a number of internationals including then All White Captain Malcolm Dunford, Michael Utting and Vaughan Coveny, in addition to the likes of Stu Jacobs, Neal Cave, John Murphy, Paul Brydon and Kelvin O’Meara
The Sunday of the final was wet, with a typically strong southerly battering the players and the crowd of around 3000 at the Basin Reserve. Against the run of play, Waikato United's Darren Fellows tucked a goal past Utting in the 12th minute. But Rangers' experience and enterprise had them equalise through All White Billy Wright's headed conversion of an accurate Stu Jacobs cross as halftime approached. After the break it was all Rangers, with Wright, Cave, Dunford and Coveny picking holes in Waikato's defences. The pressure told, with Wright scoring from the penalty spot in the 68th minute.The clinching goal came from a piece of individual brilliance from Coveny, who received the ball on the halfway line,  and then dribbled past four guys, and ended up one-on-one with the keeper and buried it. Coveny would go on to score 30 goals in 71 games for the All Whites in a stellar carrier.

Round 2Miramar 3-1 Stop Out
Round 3Miramar 4-0 Takaro
Round 4Miramar 4-1 Western Suburbs
QuarterfinalMiramar 5-2 Hutt Valley United
Semi-FinalMiramar 2-1 North Shore
FinalMiramar 3-1 Waikato United

1966 FINAL

Miramar Rangers 1-0 Western

Played at the historic Basin Reserve, Miramar’s side featured the country’s leading goalkeeper at the time Peter Whiting and the talented Taylor brothers Les and Barry. The Final was hardly a vintage affair and Western played most of the football early on before Miramar took over. Whiting had a difficult opening which he saw a shot cleared off the line, only to be bundled into the net but to his relief the goal was ruled out. The only goal came soon after halftime. Western Goalkeeper David Smith could not hold on to Stef Billings’s header and Les Taylor shot went in via an upright. Both sides had further chances but Rangers had enough energy to hold on for their first Chatham Cup.

Round 1Miramar 3-0 Western Suburbs
Round 2Miramar 1-0 Karori Swifts
Round 3Miramar 2-0 Northern
Round 4Miramar 3-1 Seatoun
Quarterfinal Miramar 3-0 Moturoa
Semi-Final Miramar 2-1 Ponsonby
FinalMiramar 1-0 Western

2004 FINAL

Miramar Rangers 1-0 Waitakere City

Miramar reached the final after defeating Marist AFC, Victoria University, Napier City Rovers, Wellington Olympic, Western and Eastern Suburbs, playing all but one of these fixtures away from home.  The side was coached by the late great Dave Farrington and secured a double that season after capturing the Capital Premier title. It capped off a great three years for the club which had seen them capture back to back National League titles in 2002 and 2003.
The side was captained by Graham Little and heavily featured those involved in Miramar’s previous National League triumphs including Tim Buttefield, Bryan Little, Matt West, Tariq Imam, Andy Hedge, Jamie Farrington, Dylan Hall and Rupert Ryan who unfortunately was overseas for the final.  In addition to Matt Keane, Kevin Thompson and Chris Peck and three youngsters Roddy Brown, Nic Tromp and Michael Eagar. 
The match winner came from loyal club man Michele Zannoto in the 106th minute. Breaking down the left, Graham Little fired in a low cross behind Zannoto, who turned and lashed the ball inside Michael Utting’s near post from eight yards to win the cup for Rangers. Utting of course had been in goal for Miramar in the 1992 Chatham Cup Final in which they defeated Waikato United 3-1 at the Basin Reserve.
Instantly, Miramar’s bench raced onto the pitch, ecstatic in triumph, their 1-0 victory sealed by their very own "Supersub" to provide a fitting send-off for Coach Dave Farrington, taking charge of his last match in senior level soccer, and bowing out a winner.

Round 1Miramar 6-2 Marist
Round 2Miramar 5-0 Victoria University
Round 3Miramar 3-1 Napier City Rovers
Round 4Miramar 3-1 Wellington Olympic (AET)
Quarterfinal Miramar 2-1 Western
Semi-FinalsMiramar 1-0 Eastern Suburbs
FinalMiramar 1-0 Waitakere City (AET)

2010 FINAL

Miramar Rangers 3-1 Bay Olympic

Miramar Rangers claimed their fourth Chatham Cup after they defeated Bay Olympic 3-1 in the final of the 83rd Chatham Cup final at North Harbour Stadium on Sunday September 12th. Miramar took the lead in the 12thminute when Tim Schaeffers was first to react to a sweetly struck Darren Cheriton free kick that Bay Olympic goalkeeper Danny Robinson could save but not hold. Schaeffers’ defensive partner Campbell Parkin – who tasted Cup final defeat with Dunedin Technical two years ago – extended Rangers’ advantage eight minutes later with a fierce close range finish after Dominic Rowe headed a Garry McDermott corner into his path.
Bay Olympic pulled a goal back in the 34th minute via the head of Nathan Strom and carried the momentum into halftime and for twenty minutes after the break, but Michael White then streaked past Olympic left back Craig Wylie and made no mistake one on one with Robinson to make it 3-1 with 15 minutes to go.  Olympic then earned a potential lifeline when Tim Schaeffers felled Joe Edwards in the box but Miramar keeper Phil Imray was more than equal to Nathan Strom’s firmly struck penalty, diving to his right and swatting the ball clear with his left hand to deflate a resurgent Auckland side and clinch Miramar’s fourth Chatham Cup title.
Round 1Miramar 9-0 Naenae
Round 2Miramar 3-2 Wairarapa United (AET)
Round 3Miramar 3-2 Lower Hutt City (AET)
Round 4Miramar 2-1 Napier City Rovers (AET)
Quarterfinal Miramar 3-1 Wellington United
Semi-FinalMiramar 2-1 East Coast Bays
FinalMiramar 3-1 Bay Olympic