THE NINETEEN EIGHTIES

THE TWIN TOWERS AND EUROPE BECKON

1980/81

Dave Elliot returned as manager, but a terrible league season ended in relegation back to the Northern Premier League. Bangor went for more locally-based playing talent such as Meilir Owen, Phil Lunn, and Phil Tottey. Despite the poor league performance, City had a good season in the cups. Bangor reached the Quarter Final of the Welsh Cup, but lost 3-1 away against Newport County. In the FA Trophy, Bangor beat Mossley in the Quarter Final at Farrar Road by five goals to three. The Bangor scorers were Dewi Atherton, Phil Lunn, and a hat-trick by Graham Bennett. The two-legged Semi-Final was against southern team, Sutton United. For the home leg on April 4th a disappointing crowd of only 2,000 (including 500 away fans) saw a 2-2 draw. The following Saturday, a 4-1 Sutton victory ended Bangor’s Wembley dreams.

1981/82

Following relegation, Dave Elliot persuaded the majority of the team to stay. He strengthened the side with the signing of Bruce Urquhart. Although making heavy going of the tail end of the season, Bangor proved far too strong for the NPL, and won the title convincingly, scoring over 100 goals during an impressive campaign (see Roll of Honour article). Bangor also reached the Welsh Cup Semi Final, and played against Swansea, at that time riding high in the First Division. John Toshack’s team included numerous stars such as Bob Latchford, Alan Curtis, Robbie James, and Ray Kennedy. The March 9th home leg was a sell-out. At half time a Bruce Urquhart goal gave Bangor a 1-0 lead. Swansea went on to score twice in the second half to take a narrow 2-1 lead back to The Vetch. On April 20th, the second leg was scoreless. It was one of only three times that Swansea had failed to score at home. A £32,000 move by top flight Sunderland for top scorer, Graham Bennett fell through to the disappointment of all involved.

1982/83

With promotion won, Bangor prepared themselves for a longer stay in the top-flight of non-League football with four new signings. The newcomers were Paul Whelan, Ian Howat, Mark Carter and Derek Goulding. City finished the season comfortably in eleventh place, and hopes were high for the following season.

1983/84

The league committee decided to experiment with the points system to encourage attacking football. They decided to award three points for an away win, and only two for a home win. Unfortunately Bangor only won two away games all season. A poor start, with only winning once in their first eight games saw Bangor struggle and finish second from bottom. A spell of ten league games in twenty days during April and May did Bangor no favours. Despite relegation, this season will be remembered as one of City’s best. In the first round of the FA Cup, Northwich were beaten 1-0 at home in a replay, after a 1-1 away draw. This set up a Second Round clash with Blackpool. On December 10th at Farrar Road, a late Bruce Urquhart goal levelled matters at 1-1. Bangor missed a lucrative home tie against Manchester City after losing the replay narrowly 2-1 in Blackpool. Bangor reached the Welsh Cup Quarter Final and again lost out to Swansea, going down 4-2 away. In the FA Trophy Quarter Final, City faced a tough looking tie away versus AP Leamington. Bangor ran out 6-1 winners, helped by a Mark Carter hat-trick. On April 7th local boy Paul Whelan scored the only goal of the game home against Dagenham in the first leg of the Semi Final. On the 14th, in Dagenham, Bangor were in trouble after two Dunwell strikes gave Dagenham the lead. Mark Carter popped up to score to force extra time during which Alan Morris scored to send Bangor to Wembley. No Welsh club had played at Wembley since Cardiff City in 1927. On May 12th Bangor and Northwich ran out onto the lush Wembley turf. The crowd of over 14,500 was entertained by a 1-1 draw. Paul Whelan became a Bangor legend as he scored Bangor’s goal. Extra time could not separate the teams so a replay was needed. The replay was held in Stoke City’s Victoria Ground the following Tuesday. Despite Phil Lunn’s 15th minute goal, City lost in the very last minute by two goals to one (see Roll of Honour).

1984/85

The majority of the Wembley team left. After five successive defeats at the start of the season, manager Dave Elliot also left the club. Former Welsh International star John Mahoney took over and re-built the team with players such as the two Williams, Everton and Viv, and former Tranmere pros Neville Powell and Les Armor. After the shaky start Bangor rallied well to finish sixth in the league. The Welsh Cup was the highlight of the season. The two-legged Semi-Final was against Newport County. On April 10th, a Bruce Urquhart goal gave Bangor a 1-0 victory. By the time the second leg was played Shrewsbury had already qualified for the Final. This meant that the winner of the Bangor versus Newport tie would automatically qualify for Europe. A great performance at Somerton Park achieved a 0-0 scoreline and City were back in Europe after 23 years. The Welsh Cup final was lost 5-1 on aggregate against Second Division Shrewsbury.

1985/86

This season would be remembered for Bangor’s European exploits in the Cup Winners’ Cup. In the First Round Bangor faced the Norwegian Cup holders, Fredrikstad. In Norway, an Everton Williams headed equaliser gave Bangor a precious away goal in a 1-1 draw. Mark Cartwright, the City right-back, was given the choice of either travelling to Norway to play in the Cup Winners Cup or keeping his job. The young defender was soon unemployed after boarding the flight! The second leg on October 2nd saw a superb defensive performance from the likes of former Welsh International, Dai Davies in goal, and defensive lynchpins, Phil Lunn and Jerry Banks. The 0-0 scoreline saw Bangor go through on the away goals rule. Bangor landed a plum tie in the Second Round against Spanish giants, Atletico Madrid. Bangor faced the choice of ground improvements or taking the game elsewhere. Within 21 days the dressing rooms were re-furbished, telephone lines and press facilities were installed in the stand, crush barriers were introduced on the terraces, a large perimeter fence was erected, and toilets and emergency exits were improved. On the night of the match 7,000 fans packed in to see the Spanish superstars, hoping for a repeat of the 1962 Napoli success. After early pressure from Bangor, and a Mark Palios header that went inches wide, the class of the Spaniards, who included several internationals in their line-up took control and a 2-0 victory. The media were predicting a massacre in the second leg, but Atletico Madrid were held to only a 1-0 win after Dai Davies made a superb penalty save. After the Atletico game, the Madrid club expressed an interest in signing Bangor’s 21-year old striker Vivian Williams for £25,000, but the transfer fell through due to the sacking of the Atletico manager (see City in Europe). By the end of the season financial trouble again reared its ugly head. Out of the European team only three players remained.

1986/87

1987/88

1988/89

Carl Dale was sold to Chester City for a sum of £15,000 by new player-manager John Aspinall. Despite losing Dale, Bangor finished fourth in the league and top scorers. Stars included striker, Tony Livens and winger Neil Ellis. City won the Presidents Cup with a 5-1 aggregate scoreline against South Liverpool.

1989/90

City finished lower in the league than the previous two seasons, however Bangor recorded a fantastic performance beating Merthyr in the Welsh Cup Fourth Round. Merthyr were flying high in the Vauxhall Conference, and were laughingly proclaiming themselves the "best non-League team in Wales." On the 21st of January, goals from Neville Powell, Vivian Williams and Darren Baker secured a 3-0 victory in South Wales for City. Bangor lost in the quarter finals against Hereford United. Off the field there was increasing speculation of a new "League of Wales"