Club Formed to Attract NFL Expansion Team : Pro football: Rams Booster Club, Save the Rams members trying to persuade league to give county another franchise.

Two groups that unsuccessfully tried to keep the Rams in Orange County announced Wednesday that they have formed an NFL Booster Club to focus on bringing another professional football team here.

“Our primary goal is to bring an expansion team here,” said Frank Bryant, who was president of the Rams Booster Club. “We want to convince the NFL that if there is to be another team in Southern California, it should be in Anaheim.”

In April, the NFL officially approved the Rams’ move to St. Louis, ending the team’s 50-year relationship with Southern California. At that time, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said placing another team in the Los Angeles market would be a high priority.

The booster club will work with members of the old “Save the Rams” task force, which includes sports agent Leigh Steinberg, former Disneyland President Jack Lindquist, and former Ram Johnnie Johnson, who was present at Wednesday’s news conference at the Anaheim Marriott.

“The fact that the Rams have left town has allowed us to shift our focus,” Johnson said. “We really feel that with the right vision and the right approach, this area would fully support a team.”

Bryant said fan support will be a key component in proving to the league that a new team should be put in Anaheim. The group has set a goal of improving its membership of 1,600 people to at least 10,000 members.

Former Ram Coach John Robinson, who also was on hand, said Orange County is ripe for a new team.

“Look at the Mighty Ducks,” Robinson said. “They are probably as successful a franchise as there has ever been. With that kind of support and commitment, it shows how successful a new franchise can be.”