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Bangor City, formed in 1876, spent most of its early years competing in various cup competitions. Founder members of the North Wales Coast Football League in 1893, City were crowned Champions in 1896. 1898 saw us joining the Football Combination League and in 1910 we joined the North Wales Alliance League.

During the 1930's and 1940's, City competed in the Lancashire Combination League, winning the League Cup in 1949. In 1950, we joined the Cheshire League, being runners-up twice, 1954 and in 1959. In 1968 City became founder members of the North Premier League. The League Cup was won in its inaugural season and consistently good League performances saw City invited to become founder members of the Alliance Premier League (now the Nationwide Conference) in 1979.

Two spells in the Alliance Premier League saw City relegated back to the NPL in 1984, the same season that we were defeated 1-2 by Norwich Victoria in a replay of the F.A. Trophy Final at Stoke. The 1-1 draw at Wembley was the first time a Welsh club had played there in almost 60 years.

A Welsh Cup win in 1962 saw City qualify for a place in the European Cup Winners Cup and face Napoli. A 2-0 home win was cancelled out by a 1-3 defeat in Italy. As there was no "away goals" rule then, a replay was needed and the Italians emerged 2-1 victors at Arsenal's Highbury ground.

In 1984, as the last surviving Welsh Club in the Welsh Cup, City once again qualified for E.C.W.C. Norwegians Fredrickstad were beaten on the "away goals" rule in the First Round, with Athletico Madrid the Second Round opponents . A 0-2 home defeat in the 1st leg saw City expected to be well beaten by the Spaniards in the 2nd leg. Bangor confounded the experts by holding the Madrid side to a 0-1 margin.

In 1992, City were once again to become founder members of a league, this time the League of Wales, finishing 5th in the first season. Former Tranmere Rovers Goalkeeper, Nigel Adkins, was appointed Manager during the '93/'94 season and duly guided City to the Championship. This gained City a place in the UEFA Cup where they lost 4-1 on aggregate to IA Arkranes of Iceland.

The League was won again the following season and our opponents in the UEFA Cup this time were Widzew Lodz of Poland, to whom we lost on 0-5 aggregate.

1995/96 was a disappointing season as City only finished 4th in the League and attendances fell by about a third from the previous season.

After a succession of Managerial changes, former Everton and Scotland International, Graeme Sharp took over the reins for the 1997/98 season with the hopes of competing with Barry Town for the League. The challenge never really materialised, but City beat Connah's Quay Nomads on penalties in the Final of the Welsh Cup, this six days after losing on penalties to Barry Town in the Final of the League Cup, the third time City had lost out in the Final of that competition. A week after the Welsh Cup Success, Graeme Sharpe and Bangor City parted company.

John King was installed as manager during the summer of 1998 and was in charge as City faced FC Haka of Finland in the last ever ECWC Competition. City failed to make any progress, losing 0-3 over the two legs. By the middle of September, King was gone and goalkeeper Lee Williams took over. City finished the season in 11th position, our lowest ever in the League of Wales.

A change was on the cards once again. During the 1999-2000 close season, Aberystwyth based Meirion Appleton was given the manager's job with former Welsh International, Terry Boyle, as his assistant. City finished the season on a high, winning the Welsh Cup at the Racecourse ground to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Bangor were unlucky to be drawn against Swedish league leaders, Halmstads who showed their class by comfortably beating City over two legs.

The departure of Meirion Appleton and the appointment of England International, Peter Davenport during the Summer of 2001 made a huge change to the club's fortunes when in the following season the Citizens chased for the championship and made the Welsh Cup final.

The 2002/3 season began with a narrow aggregate defeat against Yugoslav side FK Sartid-after a first leg victory-and this set the way for another promising campaign where City finished third, again qualifying for Europe where they met Romanian outfit FC Gloria Bistrita in the Inter Toto Cup. Well beaten over two legs in that encounter, an injury hit season resulted in a sixth placed Welsh Premier finish in 2003/4. 

Improved performances in 2004/5 resulted in third-place in the Welsh Premier League, with the prize of European football once again achieved. Again, however, we fell at the first hurdle, going out of the InterToto Cup to Latvian side Dinaburg Daugavpils. A feature of the season was our progress to the semi-final of the FAW Premier Cup where we were unlucky to lose to English League side Wrexham, having also defeated Cardiff City in the previous round.

An inconsistent start to the 2005/6 season saw Peter Davenport resigning in December, with Youth Academy Director Mel Jones taking over the first team on a caretaker basis. Manchester United and Wales legend Clayton Blackmore inherited the managerial mantle in early 2006, with Mel Jones remaining in the setup, combining his Academy duties with those of First Team Assistant Manager. A Welsh Cup final appearance against Rhyl was some compensation for a moderate League campaign. City's U-21 string showed that there is promise for the future in the Club, reaching the national playoff final.

In late 2006, after a Welsh Cup defeat at Porthmadog, Blackmore stepped down from the manager's job and subsequently left the club. His place in the managerial hotseat was taken by former Peterborough boss Steve Bleasdale wo got his reign off to a flying start with a 4 - 1 win over title challengers Llanelli. Bleasdale's time in charge was brief however. He resigned in April 2007 to be replaced by former City player Neville Powell, recruited from the manager's dugout at Connah's Quay Nomads.

Off the field, lengthy negotiations have been continuing between landlords and developers to find a new home for the Club, away from the historic Farrar Road stadium, the Nantporth site outside the city being earmarked.

(Correct to May 2007)

HONOURS

Welsh Cup winners:
1888-89, 1895-96, 1961-62, 1997-98, 1999-2000                

League of Wales Champions:
1993-94, 1994-95                    

League of Wales Cup runners-up:
1993-94, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1999-00, 2002-03

North Wales Coast League champions:
1895-96, 1899-1900, 1903-04, 1904-05, 1905-06, 1907-08, 1918-19

N.Wales Coast Challenge Cup winners:
1926-27, 1935-36, 1936-37, 1937-38, 1946-47, 1951-52, 1957-58,
1964-65, 1967-68, 1992-93, 1998-99, 2004-05

European Cup Winners’ Cup entrants:
1962-63           

UEFA Cup entrants:
1994-95, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03             

Intertoto Cup entrants:
2003, 2005

 



The programme from City's famous game against Napoli, played at Highbury, 1962. Picture: BCFC.

 



Action from the FA Trophy Final: Bangor v Northwich 1984

 




© 2004 Bangor City F.C.