DAD Bob is joint-manager alongside son Jamie, while his other son Shaun plays in midfield and wife Penny makes the sandwiches. Forget Risborough Rangers, these are the Risborough Rayners!
The family connections don’t end there with Penny’s brother Peter Sulston on the gate and a committee member at the Step 6 outfit.
Bob, 60, coached his boys in the club’s youth teams before they graduated into the first team and, in Jamie’s case, to reserve team manager, first team coach last season before sharing the reins with his dad this term.
So when the Spartan South Midlands League Division One club play the first FA Cup game in their history at Ampthill Town on Saturday, it will be a proud day.
“It’s the first time any club from Princes Risborough has entered the FA Cup,” Bob, who has been in charge for the last 13 years, told The NLP. “It’s a nice moment for all of us.
“We’ve got a coach of supporters going which will be great. For a little club we’ve got quite a big support base.
“A lot of the lads are local so you get a lot more friends and parents coming to watch which is great.”
Unsurprisingly football can take over Sunday lunch, so the Rayners make a conscious effort to avoid it at family gatherings.
“We usually have to ban football talk so our wives can get a bit of a rest from it,” Jamie, 34, said. “I got married last year and so did my brother. When we do get together we have to be careful – or we try to keep it to 20 minutes and then shut-up.
“Our mum has great football knowledge. She’s liked football since she was a little girl so dad married the right one.
“She works the occasional Saturday but if she’s not she’ll be at the ground supporting us. Every home game she’ll be up at 9am preparing the sandwiches, pizza, nuggets, and all the other bits for both teams and officials.
“She’s washed the kit in the past and, during my dad’s first spell at the club, worked behind the bar too.
“When you’ve been at the club so many years, dad managed our kids’ team and my brother has always been at Risborough, it becomes a big part of your life. It’s a dream to be in the FA Cup.”
Bob, who has also managed Abingdon Town and Brackley Town as well as first team coach at Thame, will stand aside for Jamie at the end of this season. For now he’ll enjoy being alongside him in the dug-out.
But he also says Rangers’ FA Cup bow is for all the other hard working volunteers.
“A few of the players have played in the FA Cup and I’ve managed in the FA Cup,” he said.
“But for most of the people who run the club, the chairman Richard Woodward, the secretary and the tea lady, have never had anything to do with it so they’re quite excited.
“Our chairman is a lovely guy. He’s not a wealthy man, he’s a retired civil servant and he does what he can. He’s done so much for the club with his committee so I’m so pleased for all of them.”
