Bangor City F.C.

Bangor City F.C. is one of Wales' older football clubs, and has played in European football, the English pyramid system and the Cymru Premier.

Bangor was a founding member of the North Wales Coast League in 1893, the Welsh National League in 1921, the North Wales Combination in 1930, the Welsh League (North) in 1935, the Northern Premier League in 1968, the Alliance Premier League (now Football Conference) in 1979, and in 1992 the League of Wales.

In the 1961–62 season, Bangor City won the Welsh Cup, and consequently entered in the European Cup Winners' Cup for the first time. In the first round, Bangor was drawn against the Italian Cup winners, Napoli. In the first leg, played at Farrar Road, Bangor won 2–0; three weeks later, in front of a crowd of 80,000 in Naples, the result was 3–1 in Napoli's favour. A playoff had to be played, at Arsenal's Highbury Stadium, in London and AS Napoli won 2–1.

At the end of 1977–78 when Southport was relegated from the English Football League Fourth Division, Bangor City, Boston United and Wigan Athletic were considered for promotion instead. Due to Wigan Athletic having installed crush barriers, Bangor missed out on promotion.

In 1979–80 Bangor City was invited to compete in the Alliance Premier League, which would become the English game's de facto fifth division.

On 12 May 1984 Bangor became the first Welsh club to play at Wembley since Cardiff in 1927, when reaching the FA Trophy final against Northwich Victoria. The match finished 1–1. The replay was played in Stoke's Victoria Ground and Bangor lost 2–1.

In 1985 Bangor City was back in the ECWC, in the first round drawn against the Norwegian Football Cup winners, Fredrikstad. The first leg in Norway was a 1–1 draw, while the return leg in Bangor was a 0–0 draw, resulting in Bangor progressing to the second round, where the club was drawn against the Spanish side Atlético Madrid. The first leg in Bangor was won 2–0 by Atlético. In the return leg in Madrid, Bangor lost 1–0.

The captain of Bangor that season was midfielder Mark Palios, who later became chief executive of the English Football Association during 2004–05.

In 1994 as League of Wales Champions, Bangor City entered the UEFA Cup. They were drawn against the Icelandic champions, IA Akranes. Akranes won the tie 4–1.

In 1995 Bangor City retained the League of Wales championship and this time drew the Polish champions Widzew Łódź in the preliminary round of the UEFA Cup. Łódź triumphed over Bangor City, winning 4–0 in Bangor and 1–0 in Łódź.

In 1998 Bangor were back in the Cup Winners' Cup, having won the Welsh Cup under the management of Graeme Sharp. Between winning the Welsh Cup and playing their opponents, FC Haka, the manager and most of the team had left, so new manager John King had to put together a completely new side, a week before the start of the Welsh football season (and three-quarters of the way through the Finnish football season). Bangor were beaten 3–0 on aggregate.

In 2006 the club made it to the Welsh Cup final where they were beaten by Rhyl 2–0 at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground.

The club won back the Welsh Cup in 2008 defeating Llanelli 4–2 after extra time at Latham Park, Newtown. Victory in the Welsh Cup meant that Bangor had again qualified for Europe and in the following seasons Uefa cup they were drawn to face FC Midtjylland of Denmark. The tie saw Bangor beaten 10–1 on aggregate.

Bangor ended the 2008–09 season with yet more silverware as they retained the Welsh Cup by defeating Aberystwyth Town 2–0 in a match held at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli.

The 2008–09 Welsh Cup success meant that Bangor participated in the inaugural Europa League competition at the start of the 2009–10 season. They were drawn to face Honka Espoo in the second qualifying round and were eliminated at the first hurdle losing 3–0 on aggregate.

Bangor made it three Welsh Cup wins in a row in 2009–10 with a 3–2 success against Port Talbot in the Welsh Cup Final,[3] again held at Llanelli.

In the 2010–11 Europa League campaign, Bangor City were drawn against Honka Espoo. They overcame the Finnish side in the Europa League second qualifying round with a 3–2 aggregate scoreline.[4] Bangor succumbed to Portuguese side Marítimo in the third qualifying round. Marítimo won 10–3 on aggregate.

The 2010–11 season marked a significant change in the set-up of the Welsh Premiership, with Bangor one of the 12 sides (down from 18) contesting the championship. They won their opening 15 games of the season, eventually winning their first league title in 16 years on the final day of the season. This was achieved by beating TNS, 1–0.

By winning their competitive league, they were involved in the 2011–12 Champions League campaign. Bangor City were against HJK Helsinki in the second qualifying round but lost 3–0 at home. In the away fixture, Bangor City were beaten 10–0 in the game and 13–0 on aggregate. Bangor finished second in 2011–12's Welsh Premiership, keeping in contention for the title until the final game of the season, a decider against TNS who won the league.

In July 2012 Bangor City forward Les Davies made the 32-man longlist for UEFA's best player in Europe award.[5][6][7][8]

2012–13 began with a 0–0 home draw against Moldovan side FC Zimbru Chisnau in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League, first qualifying round. The Citizens lost the away leg 2–1 to bow out. City finishing third in the league, losing the Welsh Cup Final 3–1 after extra time to Prestatyn Town and then being defeated days later in the European playoffs by Bala Town.

Bangor finished fourth in 2013–14. The team did qualify for 2014–15 Europa League but lost 8–0 on aggregate to Icelandic side Stjarnan. It heralded a slide during which the side was in real danger of relegation for much of the season. The team stayed up in tenth position. 2015–16 was another struggle for the blues, who ended up in ninth place.

In June 2016 it was announced that a Cheshire-based consortium[9] was to take over, promising large investment in the team, plus ground improvements.

On 25 July 2016 Neville Powell was sacked, according to a statement released by the club.

In August 2016 Andy Legg was appointed manager of the club.[10] His departure in November 2016 due to his inability to commit to a full-time contract[11] paved the way for Ian Dawes.[12] However, with Welsh Premiership licensing rules stating that every club's head coach/manager must have, or be in the process of attaining, the UEFA Pro Coaching Licence[13] and in the absence of such a qualification, Dawes was gone by March 2017.[14] Gary Taylor-Fletcher then became player-manager. The Club qualified via the playoffs for the Europa League under Fletcher’s guidance with a 1-0 win at Nantporth against Cardiff Met.[15]

In May 2017, Kevin Nicholson was named as manager with Gary Taylor-Fletcher as assistant.[16] Nicholson holds the UEFA Pro licence.[17] The Club qualified automatically for the Europa League for the second successive season, finishing second under Nicholson’s guidance[18] as well as being beaten in the semi-final of the Welsh Cup.

In 2016 a company called VSM (Vaughan Sports Management), which became the main shirt sponsors of the club, took over the club. Although convicted criminal[19] Stephen Vaughan Sr. was present at the launch of the new ownership, the new chairman Ivor Jenkins insisted that Vaughan – who is banned from being a company director – was not involved with running the club.[20] Fellow criminal[21] and ex-professional, Stephen Vaughan Jr., was later appointed as Director of Football and a coach at the club.[22]

On 26 April 2018 the FAW Club Licensing Appeals Body decided to revoke the club's Tier 1 and UEFA license due to not meeting financial criteria [23] meaning that they would automatically drop down to the second level of Welsh football the next season, despite a second-placed finish in the Welsh Premier League, and would not be able to compete for a place in the following season's Europa League.[24]

In June 2018 Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs issued up a second winding up petition against the club.[25] This was later dismissed as the tax owed had been paid, albeit late.[26]

In October 2018 the club' auditors, the accountancy firm Salisbury resigned, with a public letter citing 11 points of concern in relation to how the club's owners were managing the club's financial affairs.[27] These concerns included gaps in the clubs' accounts, missing financial documents and around a lack adequate documentation received in relation to cash shares totalling £258,000. The BBC reported that "Those concerns relate to the transfer of 25,800 shares to the company Vaughan Sports Management Ltd, a move which gave the firm significant control of the club".[28]

In March 2019, Vaughan Jnr returned to the club as Chairman, having formerly been both Director of Football and interim Manager at the club.[29]

In May 2019 the club were found in breach of various league and FAW regulations by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), fined and docked 42 points from their 2018–19 Cymru Alliance points total. The club had until 29 May 2019 to appeal against these findings.[30] Should the appeal be unsuccessful the club will be relegated to Tier 3 of the Welsh league structure for the 2019–20 season. The club was also left facing a transfer embargo until 31 December 2019 and was facing a third winding up order from HMRC over further unpaid tax.[31] The club and the FAW confirmed that an appeal had been lodged.[32] The FAW confirmed on 5 June that the club were unable to appeal against the FAW Panel's decision to place a transfer embargo on the club as the deadline for an appeal had lapsed - and as such the club was suspended from registering any professional players (or renewing current contracts) with immediate effect up to and including 31 December 2019.[33] The appeal date was set for the 18 June[34] where the original points deduction was nullified.[35] The FAW confirmed that at the meeting the appeal panel took the decision to adjourn the hearing until 24 June 2019, at which point the panel would be reconvened to consider the appeal submitted by the club.[36] The appeal found the club guilty of most of the original charges and issued revised penalties including a reduced 21-point deduction, which meant the club remained in the second tier on goal difference.[37]

In June 2019 it was reported that the club had avoided the winding up order by paying the outstanding debt in full.[38] However on 5 August of that year Bangor were suspended from playing competitive matches pending an arbitration hearing on 16 August following allegations that they fielded an ineligible player the previous season.[39] On 16 August 2019, Bangor City won their appeal against the FAW in Birmingham and were reinstated the 21 points that were originally deducted from them in the 2018–19 Cymru Alliance season, a campaign they finished in fourth spot.[40]

In September 2019 the club announced that VSM had sold their shares in the football to a Italian-based consortium headed up by Argentine musician Domenico Serafino.[41]

Italian musician and producer Domenico Serafino took over the club on September 2, 2019.[42] His son Francesco Serafino, a Bangor player, had appealed to him to rescue the club.[43] Serafino brought in Argentine World Cup winner Pedro Pasculli as the new manager of the team and he was given the task of helping Bangor back into the top flight. His first win was a 2-1 victory over Rhyl in November. Pasculli had been a roommate of Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.[44] Bangor used the January, 2020, transfer window to bring in new players including former Barnsley FC Player Of The Year Hugo Colace.[45] In April, 2020, Serafino made a £5,000 donation to local hospital Ysbyty Gwynedd to help it fight the outbreak of coronavirus.[46]

When the club was first founded, Bangor played their home games on a small field called Maes-y-Dref in the Hirael area of the City. However, visiting teams often protested about the condition of the playing area and the cramped conditions.[47] Despite this Bangor remained at their Maes-y-Dref ground until being evicted to make way for allotments in 1919. Residential housing now stands on the site.

Needing to fulfill their home fixtures in the league the club used the Bangor Cricket Club ground at Farrar Road. The Farrar Road ground served as home to the club for many years afterwards and has hosted two Welsh Senior Cup Finals, in 1928 and 1953. The ground has also hosted various other domestic finals and tournaments over the years. Bangor played their last match at Farrar Road, a 5–3 win over Prestatyn Town, on 27 December 2011 before moving to Nantporth. An Asda supermarket now stands on the site.

The new stadium is away from the city centre, at the University's former Nantporth playing field near the Menai Strait. The stadium was completed in January 2012, the first game took place on 24 January, where Bangor hosted local neighbours Caernarfon Wanderers, the score ended 6–1 to the Citizens. In July 2012 Nantporth played host to Bangor City's first European game at Bangor for 14 years; 1022 people attended to watch Bangor City take on FC Zimbru of Moldova. Starting in 2012–13 the ground became known officially as "The Book People Stadium" after a three-year deal with the literary company.[48] The new ground hosted its first competitive international on 13 August 2013 as Wales U21 lost 5–1 to Finland U21,[49] the first U21 international held in Bangor since 1983. Nantporth has hosted various other Welsh youth and schools matches and also gone on to host more Wales U21 games.[50] In August 2015 Bangor University announced that a new partnership had been agreed with the club, announcing the new name of the ground as Bangor University Stadium.[51]

Formed in 2001, the Bangor City Football Club Supporters' Association (or BCFCSA) is independent of the club itself but its representatives are members of the management board,[56] giving the fans a voice in the running of Bangor City. The association has been responsible for raising almost £70,000[57] for the club since its inception and regularly arranges travel for fans to away matches. BCFCSA membership is open to all supporters of Bangor City.

In April 2019 the Supporters Association voted overwhelmingly to create a breakaway club in order to protect football in the city from the Vaughan's. They stated, “We want fans to reconnect with each other and restore the pride and feeling of being a supporter of our historic club. The new club is a creative and positive solution for an ever-changing and precarious situation. We are not disowning Bangor City FC or its history, the club is OURS, it belongs to the fans and local community. “Owners” will come and go but the people remain. Keep the faith.”[58] The new club, named Bangor 1876, were accepted into the Gwynedd League for the 2019/20 season.[59]

Bangor City's main rivalries are with Caernarfon Town and Rhyl.

Competition	Attendance	Opponent	Season	Result
Cymru Premier	2,593	Prestatyn Town	2011–12	5–3
Cymru Alliance	739	Porthmadog	2018–19	1–2
Welsh Cup	12,000	Cardiff City	1927–28	0–2
UEFA Champions League	1,189	HJK Helsinki	2011–12	0–3
UEFA Europa League	1,022	Zimbru Chișinău	2012–13	0–0
UEFA Cup1	3,426	ÍA Akranes	1994–95	1–2
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup2	12,000	Napoli	1962–63	2–0
UEFA Intertoto Cup2	1,032	Gloria Bistriţa	2003	0–1
UEFA Europa League	1,089	Lyngby BK	2017–18	0–3
Friendly	2,567	Liverpool FC U23	2017–18	0–3

• Note 1: Now known as the UEFA Europa League.
• Note 2: Competition now defunct.

Bangor City has youth sides at U7, U8, U9, U10, U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, U16 and U19 level.[60] The U19 side compete in the Welsh Premier U19 League.[61]

• President: Domenico Serafino
• Manager: Hugo Colace
• Secretary: Alun Griffiths
• Youth Co-Ordinator: Hugo Colace
• Social Media & Web Press Manager: Mathew Wyn Jones

• Cymru North (2019–present)
• Cymru Alliance (2018–2019)
• Cymru Premier:^[a] (1992–2018)
  • Champions (3): 1993–94, 1994–95, 2010–11
• Northern Premier League^[b]: (1968–79, 1981–82, 1984–92)
  • Champions (1): 1981–82
• North Wales Coast League: (1893–1898)
  • Champions (5): 1895–96, 1899–00, 1900–01, 1903–04, 1919–20

The Welsh Cup is the second oldest national trophy in world football. Above, on display before Bangor City's victory over Cymru Premier rivals Llanelli in the 2008 final at Latham Park, Newtown.

• Welsh Cup: (1877–present)
  • Winners (8): 1888–89, 1895–96, 1961–62, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
• North Wales Coast Challenge Cup:
  • Winners (13): 1927, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1951, 1958, 1965, 1968, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2012
• Northern Premier League Challenge Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1969
• Northern Premier League President's Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1989
• Northern Premier League Shield:
  • Winners (1): 1987
• North Wales Coast Amateur Cup:^[c]
  • Winners (9): 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1912
• North West Wales Challenge Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1886

• Davies, Gareth M (1994). A Coast of soccer memories 1894–1994: the centenary book of the North Wales Coast Football Association. Gareth M Davies. ISBN 0-9524950-0-7.
• Garland, Ian (1993). The History of the Welsh Cup 1877–1993. Bridge Books. ISBN 1-872424-37-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)