In December 1987 Pete Woodruff (now called Ishvar Sheran)
was manager of 1st division Southcross United. Pete asked for a second
team and was given Torpedo who were 17th in division 3 of Premier 3. In
1988 (1987/88 season) Torpedo made the most important signing in their
history when a player called J Moriss ATT 2* was bought from Tyneside
Tigers on the open market for a fee of £91,700. Jack Moriss would
go on to become a legendary club captain and later the manager of Torpedo!
Despite Pete's great managerial skills it was 1991 before
Torpedo finally gained promotion as Division 3 Champions. However before
that they did cause THE cup upset in P3 history by winning the League
Cup with a team of players rated mostly 2 and 3 with just one 5 rated
player (Dave Munn) bought as a new find for just £72,000 as the
5th highest bid.
Rangers overcame many much stronger teams to win the League
Cup in 1989, and they remain the only 3rd division club to have won a
cup in Premier 3. They have been back to the League Cup Final three times
since only to lose on each occasion!
Torpedo spent only one season in division 2 - reaching
division 1 via the 1992 play offs. Disappointing as they could have
won the division 2 title but fell away badly in the final third of the
season.
In 1997/98 Torpedo led division 1 for much of the season
but were pipped to the title by 1 point by Mick Bartle's Falcon PF Allstars.
Rangers also lost in the K.O. Cup Final 0-1 to Mick's other team Canterbury
Crusaders! So double runners up when they so nearly won the double.
Torpedo never really recovered from the shock of losing out on those
two major trophies they should have won in 1998 and went into decline
to finish mid table the following season.
In season 13 of P3 1999/00, Ishvar handed handed Torpedo
over to Jon Woodruff. Jon's brief tenure saw Rangers drop down the table
towards the relegation zone, and the board moved quickly to sack him!
Ishvar and his assistant - former Torpedo legendary striker Jack Moriss,
took over again for a few games to steer the club to safety. A long
term successor was then found in Luke Flynn, an experienced manager
of with Real Madrid, twice champions of Euro Premier 33! Credit to Luke,
despite a predictably hard first season with his new club in P3, he
guided Torpedo into the 2nd round of the 4th Champions League in 2000/01
- actually winning group 8!
Luke had a successful 3 years in charge
regularly leading Torpedo to a top 7 finish in a tough division 1. But
in season 18 (2002) the club slipped into the relegation zone with Luke
Flynn no longer able to devote the time to management demanded by the
directors. After match 14 an emergency board meeting was held and Luke's
contract was terminated. A deal was swiftly done to secure the services
of former Torpedo striker Jack Moriss as the club's new manager. Jack
was lured away from his role as assistant manager at Inter Norwich to
manage of the club where he made his name. Jack was the fans choice,
but he was unable top stop Rangers decline that season and the club
were relegated into division 2.
It took a few seasons of rebuilding in division 2 but
in 2004 Torpedo started to really pick up again. The club's rapidly
expanding fan base meant that a new bigger ground was needed as the
stadium was regularly packed to it's 45,000 capacity. The building of
the new 91,700 capacity Victory Parade (and the clever signing of a
Team Trainer 3 for the 5th highest bid of £4,074,056 in April
2004!) gave Rangers the springboard for success again.
After a great 2004/05 season Torpedo finished as division
2 runners up and gained promotion back to division 1. That was good
enough, but the real joy for the team and fans in season 21 was Torpedo's
superb Knockout Cup win! Having disposed of top division 1 clubs like
St Martins, Byron Park, Rapid Penetration and Colletts Cobblers, Torpedo
went all the way to the KO Cup Final.
On March 11th 2005 Rangers lined up against another top
division 1 side - Utah Jazz. The final was an evenly contested match
that saw Rangers twice coming back from a being a goal behind to force
a 2-2 draw. In the replay Torpedo had to withstand a lot of pressure
from Utah whilst converting their chances to score 3 times and win 3-2
in what critics have called the most exciting Cup Final in P3 history!
It was a wonderful achievement for the division 2 side, and the KO Cup
was the first major trophy Torpedo had won in 14 long years. Having
lost in 3 League Cup finals and 1 KO Cup final during that time made
the KO Cup victory of 2005 all the sweeter!
