Bala Town F.C.

Bala Town
Full name Bala Town Football Club
Nickname(s) Lakesiders
Founded 1880 (1880)
Ground Maes Tegid,
Bala
Ground Capacity 3,000 (504 seated)
Chairman Arwel Roberts
Manager Colin Caton
League Welsh Premier League
2015–16 Welsh Premier League, 2nd

Bala Town Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed y Bala) are a Welsh football team from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the Welsh Premier League.[1] They play their home games at Maes Tegid.[2]

History

Although the current Bala Town was formed in 1880, there is record of a football club competing in the 1877–78 Welsh Cup, losing to Corwen after two replays.[3] After Bala North End, Bala South End and Bala Thursday's merged, Bala Town's first available league status record is playing in the Welsh National League North Division 2 East in 1921/22 season. Bala Town moved to their current home, Maes Tegid in the early 1950s and joined the Wrexham Alliance in 1950,[4] however Bala Town had to wait for more than a century until they was promoted to the second tier of Welsh football, into the Cymru Alliance at the end of the 2003–04 season.[5] After only four seasons in the Cymru Alliance, Bala Town sealed promoted to the Welsh Premier League.[6]

A view of Maes Tegid from the side of the pitch

Bala Town secured European football for the first time in their history after a John Irving goal in the 89th minute was enough to see off Port Talbot Town 2–1 to ensure the Lakesiders a European place. Bala Town were drawn against Estonian outfit Levadia Tallinn and after winning the home leg 1–0, crashed out of the Europa League at the first qualifying round after losing 3–1 in the reverse fixture in Tallinn. In the 2014–15 season, the Lakesiders finished second, their highest ever league position, thus qualifying for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. Bala Town missed out the opportunity of playing Turkish giants Trabzonspor in the 2015–16 Europa League after losing on aggregate to FC Differdange 03 after falling victim to an injury time Differdange goal, however Bala maintained a proud record of a 100% win percentage at "home", playing at Rhyl's Belle Vue stadium due to UEFA stadium requirements on both occasions, in Europe.

Stadium

Main article: Maes Tegid

Bala Town have played at Maes Tegid in Bala since the 1950s. For European matches they use Rhyl's Belle Vue stadium due to UEFA stadium regulations.

European record

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2013–14 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Estonia Levadia Tallinn 1–0 1–3 2–3
2015–16 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Luxembourg Differdange 2–1 1–3 3–4

Current squad

As of 7 February 2016[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Wales GK Ashley Morris
2 Wales DF Ryan Valentine
3 England DF Anthony Stephens
4 England DF Stuart Jones
6 Northern Ireland MF Conall Murtagh
7 England MF Mark Connolly
8 Wales MF Mark Jones
9 England FW Mike Hayes
10 England FW Ian Sheridan
11 England FW Kieran Smith
14 England FW Rob Pearson
No. Position Player
15 England MF Will Bell
16 England DF Tony Davies
18 England FW Lee Hunt
20 England MF Kenny Lunt
21 England DF Stephen Fisher
22 England DF Kristian Platt
23 England GK Craig Vernon
24 Wales FW Meilir Williams
27 England DF David Thompson
88 England MF Nathan Burke

Honours

References

  1. ↑ Welsh Premier profile
  2. ↑ Maes Tegid - The home of Bala Town
  3. ↑ "Welsh Football Data Archive:Welsh Cup 1877-78". Welsh Football Data Archive.
  4. ↑ "Welsh Data Archive:Wrexham Area 1950-51". Welsh Football Data Archive.
  5. ↑ "Welsh Football Data Archive: Wrexham Area 2003-04". Welsh Football Data Archive.
  6. ↑ "Welsh Football data Archive: Cymru Alliance 2008-09". Welsh Football data Archive.
  7. ↑ Bala Town squad list

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 29, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.