Rangers wait to find out league fate

Stafford Rangers will know on Friday whether they will spend next season in the Evo-Stik Premier League - and whether local rivals Hednesford will be joining them.

Rangers are waiting to re-located into the third tier of non-league football after relegation from the Blue Square North, but expect to be in the old Northern League rather than the Zamaretto Southern Premier.

The club actually went into the Southern division the last time they dropped out of the Conference pyramid in 1996 but, due to an overspill of clubs into the league, expect to be plying their trade in the Evo-Stik this time.

The team that joined them in taking the drop from the Blue Square North, Redditch, want to join the Zamaretto Premier, meaning that another club must join Rangers in the Evo-Stik next season, to cover the promotions of Halifax and Colwyn Bay.

There would have been three teams joining the division had Ilkeston not gone bust during the season but, as it stands, there is only one.

And Rangers chairman Mike Hughes believes that either Redditch will be ordered to join the Evo-Stik or Hednesford, beaten play-off finalists last season, will switch over from the Zamaretto to make the quota of 22 clubs.

He said: "I think it's 99 per cent certain we will be in the Evo-Stik Premier League but I have come to the conclusion that Redditch could be as well.

"There's only two teams coming down from the Blue Square North, due to Ilkeston pulling out, so two have got to go into the Evo-Stik.

"If Redditch are going into the Zamaretto League, someone will have to move over and I wouldn't be surprised if that was Hednesford."