26 January 1999
THE PRESS
Rangers has appointed New Zealand Soccer area coach and southern league stalwart Fred Simpson to guide its Canterbury premier league team this year.
Simpson takes over from player-coach Mike Fullen, who guided Rangers to second place last season, but later quit, disillusioned with the direction of Canterbury soccer.
Simpson, a former national league player, coached Invercargill Thistle to the 1981 southern league title and played in two Woolston southern league championship teams.
When the Canterbury league was launched last year, he was a staunch advocate for retaining the southern league as the leading domestic soccer competition.
Rangers, Halswell United, and Christchurch United pulled out of the southern league to play in the new competition, which was won by United.
Simpson said last night that his views had not changed "and the club is aware of that".
"I won't be standing in the way of players who feel they want to play at a higher level. I understand there may be one or two (Rangers) players who will be joining southern league clubs. It's something that Canterbury league clubs have got to realise will happen." Simpson said he was also hopeful that Rangers would review their position on the southern league over the next few years.
He said he had not been looking for a club job because he was busy with junior development work in the province and also with the new Aoraki Polytechnic soccer institute programme at QEII Park.