An interview with former Bangor City player and manager Neville Powell
CHARLIE KING is a student freelance sports journalist studying at Staffordshire University at the end of his 2nd year. He recently interviewed former Bangor City manager Neville Powell on both his managerial and playing career. Best of luck to Charlie, he certainly chose an ideal person to write about for Grassroots North Wales.
Born on September 2, 1963, in the town of Flint, North Wales, off the estuary of the river Dee, Neville Powell started his long and decorated footballing career playing for Prenton Park Boys and then later, Tranmere Rovers.
Powell made his debut for Tranmere at the age of 17 against Torquay in 1981, scoring his first professional goal. ‘
He recalled: “Obviously only being 17 things happened quickly, there was a lot of interest in me at the time, and I remember Crystal Palace being interested.
“Playing for the youth side Prenton Park Boys, it was an honour to be offered a first team contract at Tranmere.”
Expanding on his debut, Powell said: “Well it happened on 1st of March, which was Saint David’s Day and I remember talking to my Dad about it and saying: ‘Imagine if I score today…’ and I did. “I remember the manager really emphasized about getting in at the back post. Get there and you could have 10, he said, so I did it and scored.”
Over Powell’s time with the Super White Army, he had many fond memories, with career highlights such as playing at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, facing a Nottingham Forest side fresh off the back of winning back-to-back European Cups, and scoring a last-minute winner against Division One Bolton Wanderers.
“At the start it was fantastic. We had about 40 pros and the first three years were good, but financial issues dampened that. But the things I’ve done and the memories I’ve made are unforgettable.”
Powell went on to make 86 appearances for Tranmere, scoring four goals over the three-year stint.
Some amazing years playing for Bangor City in the Northern Premier League followed, including European Cup Winners’ Cup ties against Fredrikstad of Norway and the mighty Atletico Madrid in 1985/86.
At the end of his first term with the Citizens, Neville was offered a player-manager role at the start of the 1993 season by Connah’s Quay Nomads.
He said: “I had a lot of experience, so Nomads reached out to me, and I thought it was something I could do with my knowledge.”
Over the 14 years Powell was in charge, he led Nomads to Welsh Premier League Cup glory in 1996, with a 1-0 victory over Ebbw Vale at the Recreation Ground in Caersws.
“It was fantastic to win the cup with no budget, playing teams like Inter-Cardiff we definitely overachieved.” Powell added: “I was injured, my hamstring was bad. I originally wasn’t going to play but the backroom staff convinced me, so I strapped it up and got on with it.”
Powell was forced to end his playing career in the 1996-97 season after suffering a leg break in the opening game of the season against Llansantffraid at 33 years of age.
At the start of the 2007 season, Powell returned to Bangor City, taking over the managerial role from Steve Bleasdale.
“I took over after a few bad years. I spent the weekend (after being offered the job) thinking about it, I remember thinking ‘it’s time for a challenge you know; It’s time to test myself.’
Powell was in charge from 2007 to 2016. Over this period he established himself as one of Bangor’s most successful managers, leading the Citizens to their first Cymru Premier League title in 16 years in the 2010-11 season.
“Winning the league with a part-time squad on top of competing against The New Saints was surreal – it won’t happen again. No side has done it since,” he said.
Under Powell, City dominated the Welsh Cup winning the competition three years in a row from 2008-2010. “When you win 3 on the bounce, it’s special, the third one in particular (a 3-2 win over Port Talbot) because it really showcased Bangor’s never say die attitude.”
Bangor also became a prominent side in Europe, with the highlight a 3-2 Europa League win over two legs against professional Finnish side FC Honka.
The manager reflected: “We went to Honka and parked the bus. We managed to draw and take them to Wrexham at one-all, where we won it late following a long throw.
“It was a tough tie; we were semi-pro playing against Finnish international players.”
Powell continued: “European competitions are a massive step up, the teams are full time, they’re fitter and have much better quality. We played in Europe for 8 years in a row, the ideal draw would always be a team that’s close and hasn’t started their pre-season.”
After finishing ninth with Bangor in the 2015-16 season, Powell was relieved of his duties following a number of changes behind the scenes at the club.
Since Neville’s departure, Bangor City have fallen on tough times. It was announced on February 22, 2022 that Bangor had withdrawn from the Cymru North due to disputes with staff over unpaid wages.
Powell’s view was: “Obviously from a personal point of view it’s sad to see the club fizzle out, but you only need to look at English football nowadays to see that it is becoming the new norm.”
The situation for the Citizens got even bleaker with both a 2nd and 3rd tier licence being rejected, leaving them league-less for the 22-23 campaign.
When reminiscing about his time with the Citizens, Powell expressed his admiration for the fans.
“Bangor had a huge following, we didn’t really do mascots and things like that, but we’d still bring 500 odd to an away game.”
Powell took over Aberystwyth Town in 2017 and managed the Black and Greens up until 2018 before the club named him director of football on March 28, 2018. He stood down from the role on May 6, 2020.
Despite many teams looking to secure Neville Powell’s expertise and experience, he is committed to giving back to the community, continuing his legacy and the development of football in Wales through the Nev Powell Soccer School.
Every half-term both boys and girls aged 5-12 are offered the opportunity to learn the beautiful game in Powell’s hometown of Flint.