Joy for Johnno 12 months after one of the toughest days of his life
On this date 12 months ago, CPD Dinas Bangor City 1876 manager Michael Johnston felt the weight of the world on his shoulders.
His club had just been relegated from the Cymru North after conceding a late goal to Ruthin Town, scored by former team-mate Jamie Reed, which sent the Citizens tumbling back to Tier 3 – and ensured the 1-0 winners survived at the expense of 1876.
Johnno was distraught. After beginning the season with a stunning 4-0 victory at champions-to-be Colwyn Bay, eight straight defeats to end the campaign condemned Bangor to the drop.
After the Ruthin game at Maes Tegid, Bala, his young daughter cried in his arms, worried her dad would be sacked.
Twelve months on, however, the story has been transformed.
Bangor City 1876 owner Nick Pritchard kept faith with Johnno and his assistant Sean Eardley and the pair repaid him with an instant return to Tier 2 after clinching the Tier 3 Ardal North title with three games to spare yesterday.
Jamie Reed was quickly forgiven for his part in the previous season’s relegation – Johnno signed him for 1876 and the evergreen forward has been a tremendous performer this term, bagging 11 league goals.
Recalling that emotional April 12, 2025 day Johnno said on social media: “One year to the day, my daughter cried her eyes out to me at Bala after defeat leading to relegation because, in her words “I don’t want you to get sacked”
“On that day, not only did I let thousands of people down, I let one of the most important people in my life down in her!
“I’m so glad that, since that moment, a lot of people stood by me and believed that both Eards and myself were the people to not move the club forward but put things right!
“Today is a small step in securing the title. We couldn’t have done it without every single person helping us along the way. Management, players, supporters, volunteers and fans.
“Still a lot to play for this season but, so proud of every single one of those mentioned above. We lose together, we win together.”
The charismatic Johnno is already established as a Bangor football legend.
He first joined the club as a player in 2007-08 and went on to become a colossal defender in Neville Powell’s sides which won three Welsh Cups, the Welsh Premier League title and a Europa League tie in a remarkable four-year spell.
In total, Johnno made 240 Welsh Premier appearances for Bangor over eight seasons, four of them as a substitute.
He also holds the record for the most appearances in European competition in a Bangor shirt, starting all 14 of City’s matches in Europe between 2008-14.
Johnno later moved to represent the likes of Llandudno, Caernarfon Town and Brickfield Rangers, but returned to City in 2019, and when the new club Bangor 1876 was formed in 2019-20, he was instantly on board.
After successes as a player, he became joint-manager with Mel Jones in February 2022 before later taking sole charge.
Last season was a tough ride, but Johnno is back and now hopes to lead the Citizens to a treble with the club into the FAW Amateur Trophy final and Ardal North League Cup semis.