Bangor 1876 remain positive despite promotion blow

Bangor 1876 are staying positive despite their bid to play in Tier 3 of the Welsh football pyramid next season being unsuccessful.

The fan-owned club secured Tier 3 certification after an appeal on Wednesday, but yesterday (Friday) the 2019-20 Gwynedd League champions were told they must settle for Tier 4 or 5 football in 2020-21 following a meeting of the FAW’s National Leagues Board.

Despite this, club secretary Dafydd Hughes was upbeat following the decision.

He said: “The club reached an important milestone this week as its ground at Treborth was granted Tier 3 accreditation by the Football Association of Wales.

“We are one of only five Tier 5 clubs to have been granted this status, but there are a further 79 clubs in Tiers 3 and 4 which have achieved the same standard.

“The FAW National Leagues Board met today to consider how it would distribute the 64 places in the new Tier 3 national leagues among the 84 clubs which met the ground criteria.

“As a club, we had made a specific application to be given enhanced promotion to Tier 3 believing that the standard of our squad and coaching team, our playing record (including victories over Tier 3 and 4 teams in national cup competitions), the club infrastructure, and the size of its fan base would enhance the new FAW managed tier 3 league for the region by its presence.

“It is disappointing that will we not be playing in Tier 3 next season but, realistically, there were more than enough clubs operating in higher tiers than us to fill the vacancies, and we congratulate those clubs that were chosen.

“Having said this, we remain convinced that what we have put together over the last year would have prepared the club to hold its own at this standard.

“We remain focused on achieving Tier 2 status within five years. We have come this far thanks to the unstinting support from Bangor University with whom we have developed an excellent partnership that has resulted in the club investing in some improvements to Treborth.

“However, there is much more to come and we hope to build on our success in satisfying Tier 3 criteria with further improvements that will allow on-field success to be complemented by facilities that are second to none at this level of football.”

Mr Hughes concluded: “We are a club with big ambitions. We have recruited many new members in the last month and have several hundred registered on our database. We have fantastic sponsors, and a fantastic bond between our fans and our talented players.

“This provides a great basis from which to work towards gaining a place in the national leagues.

“The future is what we believe in – KEEP THE FAITH.”