History
Pre-League of Wales era (1876–1992)
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.[6]
The club 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 National League) in 1979, and in 1992 the League of Wales.
In the 1961–62 season, they won the Welsh Cup, and consequently entered in the European Cup Winners' Cup for the first time. In the first round, they were 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 in its place. Due to Wigan Athletic having installed crush barriers, they were elected ahead of Bangor and Boston.
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 they 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 the club returned to European football in the European Cup Winners' Cup, 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 on the "Away Goal Rule", 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 the club during that season was midfielder Mark Palios, who later became chief executive of the English Football Association during 2004–05.
Early League of Wales years (1992–2007)
In 1992 the club left the English football pyramid to join the new national League of Wales. In the second season the club were league champions and as champions, entered the UEFA Cup. They were drawn against the Icelandic champions, IA Akranes. Akranes won the tie 4–1.
In 1995 the club retained the League of Wales championship and this time drew the Polish runners-up Widzew Łódź in the preliminary round of the UEFA Cup. Łódź triumphed over City, winning 4–0 in Bangor and 1–0 in Łódź.
In 1998 the club 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.
Powell years (2007–2016)
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,[7] 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.[8] 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.[9][10][11][12]
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[13] was to take over, promising large investment in the team, plus ground improvements.
On 25 July 2016 Powell was sacked, according to a statement released by the club.[14]
The Vaughan era (2016-2019)
In August 2016 Andy Legg was appointed manager of the club.[15] His departure in November 2016 due to his inability to commit to a full-time contract[16] paved the way for Ian Dawes.[17] 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[18] and in the absence of such a qualification, Dawes was gone by March 2017.[19] 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.[20]
In May 2017, Kevin Nicholson was named as manager with Gary Taylor-Fletcher as assistant.[21] Nicholson holds the UEFA Pro licence.[22] The Club qualified automatically for the Europa League for the second successive season, finishing second under Nicholson's guidance[citation needed] 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[23] 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.[24] Fellow criminal[25]
and ex-professional, Stephen Vaughan Jr., was later appointed as Director of Football and a coach at the club.[26]
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 [27] 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.[28]
In June 2018 Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs issued up a second winding up petition against the club.[29] This was later dismissed as the tax owed had been paid, albeit late.[30]
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.[31] 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".[32]
In March 2019, Vaughan Jnr returned to the club as chairman, having formerly been both Director of Football and interim Manager at the club.[33]
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.[34] 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.[35] The club and the FAW confirmed that an appeal had been lodged.[36] 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.[37] The appeal date was set for the 18 June[38] where the original points deduction was nullified.[39] 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.[40] 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.[41]
In June 2019 it was reported that the club had avoided the winding up order by paying the outstanding debt in full.[42] 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.[43] 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.[44]
In September 2019 the club announced that VSM had sold their shares in the club to an Italian-based consortium headed up by Italian musician Domenico Serafino.[1]
Domenico Serafino era (2019 onwards)
Domenico Serafino took over the club on 2 September 2019.[45] His son Francesco Serafino, a Bangor player, had appealed to him to rescue the club.[46]
Serafino brought in Argentine World Cup winner Pedro Pasculli as the new manager of the team.[47] 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.[48]
Bangor used the January 2020 transfer window to bring in new players including former Barnsley player Hugo Colace.[49]
In April Serafino made a £5,000 donation to local hospital Ysbyty Gwynedd to help it fight the outbreak of coronavirus.[50] The club finished the inaugural Cymru North season in fifth place in a season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic with the final table determined on a points-per-game basis. In June, Colace was appointed manager of the club.[51]
The 2020–21 Cymru North season was postponed and then cancelled entirely due to Welsh government COVID-19 restrictions. In April 2021 the club was refused a Tier 1 licence on the basis of a failure to provide the club's financial accounts as part of their application along with an issue in relation to coaching qualifications.[52]
In October the club applied for a Tier 1 licence again for the 2022–23 season,[53] Colace's contract with club was terminated after a club investigation into his conduct and the team's performance in the league that season.[54] Colace contested the charges made against him by the club in a statement released on social media and highlighted the lack of payment of staff and players by the club's president.[55] Maturin Ovambe was appointed the club's new head coach.[56]
Concerns over unpaid wages for players and club officials were reported in the press, who noted similarities to a situation in 2020 where another club owned in Italy by Domenico Serafino, A.S. Sambenedettese had seen players not paid, the club declared bankrupt and expelled from the league.[57] The club were summoned by the Football Association of Wales to a disciplinary hearing over the matter.[58] The panel ruled that "all outstanding monies" must be paid within 31 days from 29 October 2021 - the club owed nearly £53,000 of unpaid wages to players and staff - with the sanction in the event of non-payment being the club would be banned "from all football related activity".[59] On 30 November the Football Association of Wales suspended the club from all football related activity after they failed to comply with the payment of outstanding monies.[60][2] As the club were suspended from football their Cymru North match versus Buckley Town on 4 December was postponed, they were fined and had three points deducted from their points total for failing to fulfil a fixture.[61] The club's match against Prestatyn Town on 10 December was also subsequently postponed by the FAW with the club again fined with three more points deducted.[62] The next match against Airbus was also postponed.[63] Three more points were deducted moving them to the bottom of the Cymru North league table.
A temporary suspension of football in Wales over the festive season (due to COVID-19 Welsh government restrictions) saw the club not deducted any more points as all domestic games were postponed. On 7 January 2022 it was announced by FAW that the club had not applied for a licence to compete in the tier 2 Cymru North for the 2022–23 season, or at tier 3 level.[64] On 14 January the club's academy announced on social media that closing with immediate effect after no support was forthcoming from the club and there had been no evidence from the FAW or the club that the situation at the club was going to improve.[65] Upon the restart of the season in January, the club's match on 21 January against Holyhead Hotspur was also postponed with the club being docked a further three points.[66] The club at that point only had five registered first team players. The following match was also postponed, and with another three points deducted the club now had no points at the bottom of the table.[67]
Withdrawal from Cymru North
On 11 February the FAW announced that the club had until 19 February to pay all outstanding fines or they would be immediately expelled from the Cymru North. It also announced that in the event the club paid outstanding fines, they would have to play all subsequent league fixtures or they would also face immediate expulsion from the league.[68] The next scheduled league match is due to take place on 25 February and the club had three players registered.
"A club competing in the second tier of Welsh professional football" and "a club with a noteworthy history. They have had some spells in the international European tournaments" was shortly afterwards advertised for sale with asking price of £1.25 million.[69] The club was reported as Bangor City with the Daily Post noting the "eye-watering price" did not include the club's ground which was leased from the council.[70]
On 18 February the club announced in an official statement they had informed the FAW that they had withdrawn from the Cymru North for the 2021–22 season.[3] They also noted plans to return to play for the following season.[71] Later that day, the FAW confirmed that the club's withdrawal had been accepted and its playing record in the league for the season had been expunged.[4]
Post league withdrawal
The club failed to enter a team in any league for the 2022–23 season. At the start of August 2022, the club surrendered its lease on Nantporth Stadium. The club were also served with their first Gazette notice for a compulsory strike-off, the first step in Companies House striking off a company from its register.[72]
