Bangor FC
| Bangor FC | |||
| Basic data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Surname | Bangor Football Club | ||
| Seat | Bangor , Northern Ireland | ||
| founding | 1918 | ||
| Colours | gold - royal blue | ||
| Website | bangorfc.com | ||
| First soccer team | |||
| Venue | Clandeboye Park, Bangor | ||
| Places | 4000 | ||
| league | NIFL Championship | ||
| 2014/15 | 2nd place, relegation lost | ||
|
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Bangor FC (called The Seasiders ) is a Northern Irish football club from Bangor ( County Down ), which plays in the NIFL Championship , the second highest division in Northern Ireland. The club, founded in 1918, plays its home games in Clandeboye Park and uses the colors gold and royal blue .
history
founding
The founding of Bangor FC actually dates back to 1914, when the idea of founding another football club in addition to the Bangor Rangers and Clifton Amateurs , which had been the main clubs in Bangor until then, was first conceived - allegedly in a rowboat in Bangor Bay. The clubs mentioned had stopped playing with the outbreak of the First World War . Although a direct predecessor club of Bangor FC was then established, this was dissolved again in August 1918, as the prevailing opinion was that in view of the extent of the horrors of war on the Western Front, football could not be thought of. However, this view was not shared by all members, who then took action and founded the association again a little later.
Interwar period
After participating in the amateur cup competition (Intermediate Cup) in the first season of its existence, which was also crowned with qualification for the Irish Cup , Bangor FC was finally admitted to the amateur league (Intermediate League) in the 1919/20 season. The first countable success, however, was not achieved until winning the Steels & Sons Cup in 1923, after defeating Woodburn FC, a club from Carrickfergus , 2-0 in the replay of the final .
The greatest success of the interwar period was achieved by Bangor FC, which belonged to the Irish League from the 1927/28 season , when they reached the final of the Irish Cup in 1938, in which Belfast Celtic finally defeated the Celtic 2-0 in a replay Seasiders was able to prevail.
World War II and post-war period
With the cessation of league operations in 1940 following the outbreak of World War II , the club inevitably had to compete in the amateur camp again, but celebrated its greatest successes during this time, at least based on the number of titles won. Overall, Bangor won three titles in the Intermediate Cup between 1940 and 1946 and won the Steels & Sons Cup twice. However, you had to admit defeat to Distillery FC in the finals of County Antrim Shields in 1946 .
With the resumption of regular league operations in 1947, the club was again included in the Irish League. In the 1948/1949 season, Bangor FC finished fifth in the league, but had previously been given a real chance to become the first non-Belfast team to ever win the title. In the 1950s, which brought the club one financial crisis after the other, the Seasiders gradually slipped into mediocrity. The only outlier up here was the 1955/56 season, which could be concluded under the leadership of coach Sammy Smyth as third in the Irish League. The first title win in the County Antrim Shield competition was thwarted a little later by Linfield , as the Belfast club had the upper hand in the final of 1959 with 3-1.
1960s to 1980s
The 1960s began for Bangor FC, which had just escaped dissolution due to financial problems in the decade before after conversion into a limited liability company, not exactly promising in terms of sport either. In 1963 they failed in the third attempt in the final of the County Antrim Shields, in which they again lost to Linfield FC , this time 4-0. The dream of winning the County Antrim Shields, and thus the first title in the top football division in Northern Ireland, only came true in the 1969/70 season. On May 22, 1970 they defeated arch rivals Ards 3-2 in what was already the fourth replay . This success was continued a few months later with the title win in the City Cup, after a 4-3 win in the final against Derry City .
The triumph in County Antrim Shield was even repeated a few years later. In the final on May 13, 1975 Bangor went in a hard-fought game 2-1 against Glentoran deservedly as the winner. As in 1970, the Seasiders were able to repeat their triumph in the City Cup in the same year, after having made it to the final unbeaten here. In an extremely exciting final against Coleraine , which had not yet found a winner even after extra time, the title was finally secured with a 3-1 on penalties .
Although it was still possible to reach the semi-finals in two competitions in the following years, years of sporting rather unsuccessful awaited Bangor, which is said to have been due not least to the very tight funds that the club had until the late 1980s were available.
It was only with the 1988/89 season that better times slowly set in again, when under coach John Flanagan the season in the Irish League could end in fourth place. This unexpected success, as well as the fact that Bangor won the Antrim Shield competition for the third time on May 15, 1989 with a 2-1 win after extra time against Linfield, ultimately helped John Flanagan to be voted "Coach of the Year" .
Recent history - 1990 to today
The club was finally able to celebrate its biggest success in the league to date in the 1990/91 season when it was runner- up behind Portadown , which in turn led Bangor FC to a European competition for the first time. Here, however, they failed in the first round of the UEFA Cup at the Czech club Sigma Olmütz .
Probably the biggest triumph in the club's history so far was recorded in 1993, when they won the national cup competition ( Irish Cup ) 1-0 (n. V.) against arch rivals Ards in the second replay . The only goal in this memorable game came in the last minute of extra time, which in turn averted an impending third replay of the cup final. The goalscorer Paul Byrne was signed by Celtic Glasgow shortly afterwards . Just a year later, Bangor FC was able to reach the cup final again, but failed 2-0 to Linfield .
These sporting heights were again followed by lean times, which finally led the Seasiders to the second division as relegated in the 1995/96 season and were only somewhat brightened by victories in the Intermediate League Cup and the Steels & Sons Cup in 2005. As a result, the association increasingly got into financial difficulties, which finally came to a head in 2007 that the only way to avert insolvency was through the sale of land.
Bangor FC was able to qualify for participation in the restructured IFA Premiership in May 2008 , although the club was only able to finish the 2007/08 season as third in the First Division (now IFA Championship) and thus actually not qualify for promotion to the top division would have been.
Although Bangor was first class again since relegation from the Premier League in 1996, the club announced on February 1, 2009, as a consequence of the financial difficulties, which had worsened due to the absence of spectators, the extension of the game license for the Premiership to renounce and want to compete in the second highest division again from the 2009/10 season. Then Marty Quinn, who could only be won as training manager the year before, pulled the ripcord and left the club with immediate effect in the direction of Glenavon FC . Colin McCurdy, who had already briefly taken over the post as interim coach of Bangor in March 1997, was hired as Quinn's successor.
Ultimately, Bangor's voluntary waiver brought league rival Dungannon Swifts, who had already been relegated from the bottom of the table , to relegation at the end of the season after the association had decided that the Swifts were allowed to compete in the relegation against Donegal Celtic FC as runner-up in the IFA Championship instead of Bangor , where Despite protests, Donegal Celtic ended up losing out.
Stadion
The home of Bangor FC has been Clandeboye Park on Clandeboye Road in Bangor since the 1920s, with a capacity of around 4,000 spectators. The stadium is designed as a multi-purpose sports facility, but is mainly used to host football matches. Clandeboye Park temporarily served as the home stadium of arch rivals Ards FC after they were forced to sell their own stadium in 1998 due to financial problems.
successes
-
Irish Cup : 1
- 1992/93
-
League Cup: 1
- 1992/93
-
City Cup: 2
- 1970/71, 1976/77
-
Ulster Cup: 2nd
- 1991/92, 1994/95
-
County Antrim Shield: 3
- 1969/70, 1974/75, 1988/89
-
Mid-Ulster Cup: 1st
- 1995/96
-
IFA Intermediate Cup: 3rd
- 1940/41, 1942/43, 1943/44
-
Intermediate League Cup: 1
- 2004/05
-
Steel & Sons Cup: 5th
- 1923/24, 1940/41, 1945/46, 1994/95, 2004/05
European Cup balance sheet
| season | competition | round | opponent | total | To | Back |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991/92 | Uefa cup | 1 round |
 Sigma Olomouc
|
0: 6 | 0: 3 (H) | 0: 3 (A) |
| 1993/94 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | qualification |
 APOEL Nicosia
|
2: 3 | 1: 1 (H) | 1: 2 (A) |
| 1994/95 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | qualification |
 1. FC Tatran Prešov
|
0: 5 | 0: 1 (H) | 0: 4 (A) |
Overall record: 6 games, 1 win, 5 defeats, 2:14 goals (goal difference −12)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ BBC NI Sport, May 13, 2008 - Bangor win Premier League place: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/irish/7399454.stm
- ↑ IFA, May 4, 2009 - IFA Premiership Promotion / Relegation Play-off: http://www.irishfa.com/the-ifa/news/4854/ifa-premiership-promotion-relegation-play-off/
