Shock news: Les Davies is to leave Bangor 1876 and return to Cymru Premier!

News has emerged from Bangor 1876 that talisman Les Davies is to sign for Cymru Premier club Flint Town United.

Davies will probably find himself in the Silkmen’s squad for the match against Caernarfon Town tomorrow evening.

“Like many players, Les has found the long period without competitive football extremely frustrating and, with his extensive experience of playing at the top level, has found the opportunity to get back into match action too attractive to miss at this time,” said an 1876 statement.

“It was late last night that both Les and the club first came to know about Flint’s interest and following discussions between the player and 1876 management it was agreed that we would not stand in his way even though he will be sadly missed.

“The situation we found ourselves in resulted from the differences between the way in which clubs in the lower tiers are treated compared with Tier One clubs in the face of the Covid pandemic which results in an inequitable situation in relation to offering playing opportunities.”

Davies, 35, first featured in the Welsh Premier in 2002-03, making six substitute appearances for Caernarfon.

He then moved to Anglesey side Glantraeth of the Cymru Alliance before being signed up in 2003-04 by Bangor City – the club he had just helped knock out of the Welsh Cup with the islanders.

At the end of 2004/05 he departed Farrar Road and spent two seasons at Porthmadog, netting 18 goals in 62 starts.

In the summer of 2007, Neville Powell took over as Bangor City manager and Davies was one of his first signings.

Then followed the most successful period of The Truck’s career. In eight seasons with the Citizens, he scored 76 goals in 209 starts, winning three Welsh Cups, the Welsh Premier League title and made several appearances in Europe for the all-blues.

In 2012, Davies was named in the elite 32-man list for the Best Player in Europe award, alongside the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

At the start of the 2015/16 campaign, Davies switched to Connah’s Quay Nomads, where he featured for two seasons, scoring 16 times in 53 starts, then in 2017-18 he made Bala Town his fifth WPL club.

After a season at Maes Tegid, he rejoined Bangor City – now relegated to the Cymru Alliance for the first time in their history – but returned to the national league in January 2019 when he put pen to paper for Llandudno.

Davies had signed for Aberystwyth Town in summer 2019, but before a ball was kicked he joined newly-formed Bangor 1876.

He netted 23 goals last season for the Gwynedd League title-winners..

The striker’s WPL career to date has seen him make 403 starts across six clubs, chalk up 41 substitute appearances, and net 128 goals.