THE EARLY DAYS - 1877 TO 1914

BANGOR HAVE HAD A LONG, VARIED, SOMETIMES SUCCESSFUL AND OCCASIONALLY CONTROVERSIAL HISTORY IN THE WELSH CUP

Following the success of the English FA Cup, the Welsh FA decided to organise a knock-out competition along similar lines. The first season of the Welsh Cup was 1877-78. Bangor’s first game in the new competition was against Carnarvon (the official spelling at the time) which ended in a 1-0 victory. Bangor won easily in the next round, beating Corwen 7-0. Bangor received a bye to the Semi Final where they met Druids at Wrexham. The winners would meet Wrexham who had already received a bye to the Final itself! Druids were the hot favourites but after 90 minutes the game was scoreless. Both teams originally agreed to extra time, but Druids changed their minds as the "neutral" Wrexham crowd were cheering on Bangor too much! Druids walked off and Bangor scored into the unguarded goal and tried to claim the tie, but the Welsh FA ordered a replay. The replay followed a similar pattern with a 0-0 scoreline after ninety minutes, but this time, both teams had agreed to the possibility of extra time before kick off, if needed. The only goal of the game came when Turner, the Bangor keeper slipped when throwing out the ball, leaving Dr. Grey an open goal, which he wasted no time in filling with the ball.

The following year, 1878-79, saw Bangor again reach the Semi Final and after a 2-2 draw against Newtown White Stars, a replay was needed. The replay in Chester was to end in controversial circumstances, when, with the ball out of play, a Newtown player violently kicked a Bangor player who was lying injured on the pitch. A fight broke out, and both teams walked off claiming the tie. Newtown were winning 3-1 at the time and said they should win because of this, whereas Bangor were claiming the tie on account of Newtown being a team of dirty cheats. The Welsh FA enquiry on January 29th refused to hear the referee’s report, and also a report from a neutral at the game from Chester, both of whom supported Bangor’s version of events. The verdict was a February 1st rematch, but Bangor refused, left the competition and retired from the Welsh FA. Club officials set up and ran their own association, the Northern Welsh Association, which had its own cup. To no great surprise, Bangor won the Northern Welsh FA Cup for four times between 1880 and 1885!

Bangor returned to the Welsh FA in time for the 1884-85 competition, but their first game back was again controversial. Bangor beat Rhyl at home in a replay, but Rhyl protested that one of the Bangor players lived outside the five mile limit of the ground. The protest was upheld and Rhyl won by the only goal of the game. In 1885-86, Bangor again reached the Semi Final, and played the same team that had caused the trouble seven years before, Newtown. This time around the games went ahead without a hitch and following two draws, Newtown won 1-0. Bangor started out the following season’s Welsh Cup in fine style, beating Llandudno Excelsior and Carnarvon Wanderers by seven goals to two. After a bye, Bangor met Chirk in a Semi Final at the Racecourse, Wrexham. Chirk took the lead, before Willie Lewis equalised for Bangor. Bangor went ahead, only for Chirk to equalise straight from the restart. There were no further goals and Chirk won the replay 2-0.

After a disappointing home defeat in 1887-88, (1-2 at home versus Mold), Bangor bounced back to reach their fifth Semi Final in just seven years of competition. At the Faulkner Street ground in Chester, in front of 2,000 fans, Bangor faced hot favourites Wrexham. Wrexham had lost just 2 of their last 29 games and were expected to win comfortably. Bangor had other ideas however, and a goal from future Welsh International and son of the Dean of Bangor, David Lewis gave Bangor an unexpected lead. Further goals from Willie Lewis and Patsy Leary saw Bangor through 3-2. The Final against Northwich Victoria took place in front of 4,000 fans at the Racecourse, Wrexham. The first half was scoreless, and then after 75 minutes Bangor were celebrating when club captain and Friars School old boy, E.P. Whitley Hughes scored. Just a minute later the Vics equalised, but shortly afterwards, a pass by R.O. Roberts was knocked into the Vics’ goal leading to a pitch invasion of jubilant Bangor fans. When the police cleared the pitch, Bangor held out for the remaining five minutes to win the Trophy. On returning to Bangor, the club chairman, R.B. Watson, led the reception for the players and a celebratory dinner was held in the Albion Hotel. Bangor’s success was even more remarkable as they were drawn away in every round of the cup.

The following season, Bangor again reached the Semi Final but had lost several of their cup- winning team for the match against Wrexham in Chester. R.O. Roberts ensured a 1-1 half time score, but Wrexham scored twice in the second half to finish off as comfortable 3-1 victors. In 1890-91 Bangor met Mold in the second round, and beat them 4-1. Mold protested about the width of Bangor’s Maes-y-Dref pitch, leading to the Welsh FA expelling Bangor from the competition. Bangor again had trouble in the 1891-92 season, when in a home replay against Denbigh, a Bangor fan ran onto the playing surface and attacked the Denbigh keeper. This led to a pitch invasion which the police had great difficulty in controlling. The game finished in darkness with the score at 2-2. The Welsh FA ordered a neutral replay and Bangor won 3-1 in Llandudno before losing out to Chirk in the next round. The next three years ended in early defeats, 1892-93 2nd Round, 1-0 away against Llandudno Swifts, 1893-94 1st Round 2-1 home against Flint and 1894-95 4th Round 1-0 against Brymbo Institute.

1895-96 saw Bangor beat Llandudno Swifts, Westminster Rovers and Wellington St. George to set up a Semi Final against old foes, Newtown. Joe Roberts scored for Bangor in a 1-1 draw. In the replay at Wrexham, goals from Tom Thomas, Joe Roberts and Charlie Jones saw Bangor through 3-0. The Council Field in Llandudno was the venue for the Final, and a Welsh Cup record crowd of 7,000 turned up on 6th April to see Bangor and Wrexham battle it out. Tom Thomas and an own goal gave Bangor the lead before Wrexham hit back shortly before the break to send the teams in at half-time 2-1. The next goal would prove critical, and John Roberts popped up to score for Bangor and the cup returned with the victorious Bangor team. Bangor had had a fantastic season, winning the Welsh Cup, the North Wales Coast League and the North Wales Coast Challenge Cup. When the train pulled up at Bangor station a large and enthusiastic crowd chaired the Bangor players through the streets to a celebratory dinner at the Wicklow Temperance Hotel.

The following year saw Bangor and Wrexham meet in the fourth round. A 1-1 draw at Maes-y-Dref was followed by a 6-0 Wrexham win in the replay. Bangor had lost three players from their grand slam winning team, with Richard Jones and Willie Lewis trying their luck as professional footballers in Crewe. The 1897-98 competition saw Bangor crash in the second round at Rhyl 4-1. For the next three seasons in a row, Bangor reached the Quarter Finals, each time playing against Druids, and each time ending in defeat: 1898-99, 5-2, 1899-1900, 4-0 and 1900-01, 4-1. South Wales sides had begun to enter the competition and Bangor must have wished they hadn’t, losing to Aberaman by 2-0 in 1902 and 4-1 in 1903. After being one of the strongest teams in the Welsh Cup, Bangor were entering a difficult phase, never managing to get past the fourth round until after the First World War. This was, in part, due to the poor facilities of the Maes-Y-Dref ground, which Bangor as a team had outgrown.