Bangor City Football Club are one of the oldest football clubs in Wales, they were formed in 1876, a few months after a club was formed in nearby Caernarfon, a fierce rivalry has existed between the two teams ever since.
During the early years there wasn't a structured league for Bangor to compete and they would play friendly matches and also entered the Welsh cup when it began 1877, Bangor being the first team from North Wales to win the Welsh Cup in 1889.
A league was formed in 1893 consisting of teams from the North Wales Coast, Bangor's earlier attempts to join an all Wales league had been rejected as they would not have been able to meet the fixture commitments due to difficulty with travel arrangements and the costs involved. Bangor won the inaugural league in 1896, as well as winning the Welsh Cup, and the North West Wales Challenge Cup.
In 1898 Bangor were entered into the Combination League, where they would face a higher level of competition from teams from the North of England, which included Everton and Liverpool's reserve sides, they remained in this league until 1910 when the league disbanded.
Bangor joined the North Wales Alliance League for the following season, following a period of inactivity during the First World War, Bangor rejoined the North Wales Coast league in 1919 and for a short time were known as Bangor Comrades FC in memory of those who had fallen in the war. Bangor also moved from their original playing field at Maes-y-Dref to their The Farrar Road ground in 1919, which was originally shared with Bangor cricket club, they have remained at the Farrar Road ground ever since.
In 1932 Bangor joined the Birmingham & District League following much turbulence and constant re-organising of the Welsh leagues, where they usually finished in the top half of the table, they remained in this league until 1939 when they joined the Lancashire Combination League before joining the Cheshire League in 1950.
Bangor City won the Welsh Cup in 1962, which qualified them to enter the European Cup Winners Cup, which saw them face Italian Side Napoli. The game resulted in a 3-3 draw over to legs, which under today's rules would have seen Bangor win on the away goals, unfortunately they were forced to play a reply where they lost 2-1 at Arsenal's Highbury stadium.
At the end of 1977/78 Bangor were considered for promotion to the English Fourth Division, but as their stadium was in better order, Wigan Athletic (who now play in the Premier League) were chosen instead. Bangor instead joined the Alliance Premier League, which is the conference league of today.
In 1984-85, Bangor again qualified for the European Cup-Winners' Cup., after beating Norwegian side Fredrickstad in the First Round, Bangor lost 3-0 to Spanish side Athletico Madrid.
Following this, Bangor have qualified the UEFA Cup and Europa League qualifying rounds, but are placed at a major disadvantage having to play their European 'home' games at Wrexham's Racecourse ground which is sixty miles away, as Bangor's Farrar Road ground does not meet European specifications.
Bangor have remained a major force in Welsh football in recent years, winning the Welsh cup for the last three consecutive years and they are now one of twelve teams contesting the Welsh Premier League, at the beginning of the 2010-11 season Bangor have recorded 10 victories from 10 games.
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