Highlights from the history of Bangor City's Farrar Road stadium

Farrar Road has staged thousands of matches – many of them highly significant, classics, thrillers – and others just Saturday afternoon kickabouts. But it might surprise you to know that football was not the first sport to be played upon this site.

In 1879 Lord Penrhyn granted Bangor Cricket Club the tenancy of “a very eligible field adjoining the British Hotel and extending to the back of St Paul’s school”. This was the Farrar Road ground where the cricket club began by building a “handsome pavilion”

Work on levelling the ground took place in 1894-5 to remove “a distinct slope extending from the High Street side to the northern boundary wall”. At the same time the playing area was enlarged by covering over the river Adda which flowed “along the northern extremity”. A new pavilion was erected in the north west corner of the field and Lord Penrhyn met the cost of all the improvements.

By the early 1900s the field was in use during winter by the Bangor and University College Hockey Clubs and the Railway Institute Boys Football Club. Bangor Football Club, whose Maes Y Dref ground was below regulation size, used the ground for Welsh Cup matches.

After the First World War, cricket resumed in 1919, but the Maes y Dref football ground had been turned over to allotments. The Football Club was forced to look for a new home. In 1920 the Bangor cricket and football clubs amalgamated under the title of the Bangor Athletic Club. The intention was that the football and cricket clubs would share the Farrar Road ground, but the arrangement did not work and in 1929 Bangor Cricket Club vacated the ground and moved to Ty Newydd at Llandegai.

During 1921-22 a ‘grandstand’ was built and in March 1923 the club moved the old Railway Institute dressing rooms to the cricket field to serve as “bathrooms”. In July 1923 the football club became known as Bangor City FC.

In 1930 the former Caernarvon Athletic stand was bought for £80 from the liquidator and erected at Farrar Road.

In 1936 a new, wooden grandstand was presented to the Club by T F Dargie, in memory of his son, Arnold Dargie, well-known as a footballer throughout North Wales, who fell in the Great War. This stand provided dressing room space as well as substantial spectator seating, and is still in use today.

In 1958 one of the ground’s two main grandstands was destroyed in a mysterious fire after a controversial North Wales Coast Challenge Cup final between Bangor and Holyhead. A new structure, bigger and better, was soon put in its place, built by a City director and builder, J C Jones of Penrhos. This stand is also still in use, accommodating City’s office, boardroom and collection of trophies and memorabilia.

The terracing on the High Street side was laid out in the early 1950s  - supporters and local players helped – and around the same time a shelter was erected.

In 1969 the club installed floodlights following Bangor’s admission to the Northern Premier League. A public fund was launched by the directors to help with the cost.

In the mid-1970s, City’s new Chairman, Charles Roberts, a Wrexham businessman, presided over a major upgrading of the stadium, which became enclosed with perimeter block walls. Other structural improvements and other new features were provided at this time, including new turnstiles at the Farrar Road end, the building of the Club canteen, and the refurbishment of the Green Turf Social Club.

The 1980s were years of uncertainty for Farrar Road. In the early part of that decade, Penrhyn Estate sold the ground to the City of Bangor Council.

New plans for the redevelopment of the ground were aired around this period – all coming to nothing. In July 1987 the press reported a proposed £1m development scheme for Farrar Road involving greater community use, whilst in February 1992 news emerged of plans, subsequently rejected, for a giant retail development on the site with the Football Club relocating to Caernarfon Road.
The wider footballing climate also impacted on Farrar Road. In 1985/6, Club Chairman John Ross Jones, a local solicitor, presided over a 21-day ground improvement “blitz”, ensuring that Farrar Road would meet UEFA safety regulations and be eligible to stage Bangor’s European match against Athletico Madrid. This included the refurbishment of dressing rooms, the installation of telephone lines and press facilities in the stand, the introduction of crush barriers on the terraces, the erection of a large perimeter fence, and improvement to toilets and emergency exits.

Looking at Farrar Road in the early 21st century, it is difficult to imagine the famous names which have graced the turf – and the huge crowds which have watched them.

Cup finals, under the auspices of local, regional and national Welsh footballing bodies, have been held at the ground, and representative matches have also been played at Farrar Road, from a full British Home International Championship match between Wales and Ireland in 1904 to a Wales v Bulgaria under-21 international in 1983.

A temporary grandstand was erected to hold up to 1,000 of the nearly 5,000 who attended the 1904 game. Before the match, spectators enjoyed entertainment by the band of the Clio training ship, whilst part of the players’ preparation had been a trip to nearby Penrhyn Quarry to enjoy an “exhibition of blasting”.

Amateur, Junior and Youth internationals have been held at the stadium, which has also seen Inter-Association fixtures between the North Wales Coast FA and its Scottish equivalent. 1991/2’s visit of Gretna in the FA Trophy proved unique when a team from Wales took on a team from Scotland in an English competition!

Numerous Football League clubs have appeared at the ground against Bangor over the years in Welsh and English competitions, and some of Britain’s biggest teams (including Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs) have been attracted as opposition in friendly encounters. One notable overseas visitor was the US “soccer” team Tulsa Roughnecks.

Bangor City’s reputation in European competition is second to none in Welsh football – and most of these matches have been played at Farrar Road, from the famous 1962 clash against Napoli, through encounters with Fredrikstad of Norway and Athletico Madrid (both in 1985), Akranes of Iceland (1994), Widzew Lodz of Poland (1995), and Haka of Finland in 1998. More recent European matches have been played in Wrexham and Rhyl due to safety requirements.

City’s 1962 European Cup-Winners’ Cup campaign was masterminded by manager T G Jones – ex-Everton and Wales star, later inducted into the Everton Hall of Fame, as well as becoming Freeman of the City of Bangor. Against all odds, Bangor beat the Italian giants 2 – 0 at Farrar Road, only to lose the return leg 1 – 3 and be knocked out of the competition after a playoff at Highbury. Had the away goals rule been in operation at that time, Bangor would have gone further in the competition.

In 1978, one of football’s greatest-ever names donned a City shirt as Bobby Charlton guested when Bangor took on Treviso in the Anglo-Italian Tournament.

Many of these games have been watched by crowds which, with today’s Health and Safety legislation, seem unimaginable. The record attendance is believed to be 12,000 in July 1969 for a special Investiture match between a Wales XI and Manchester United. Some reports suggest that there was room for about 4,000 more at the St Paul’s end!

It’s hardly surprising that this game attracted such support as Wales’ team included Mike England, John Mahoney, Cliff Jones and Gary Sprake, whilst United, recent winners of the European Cup, included in their ranks Charlton, Best and Law.

Other huge attendances have been reported for Welsh Cup matches against Cardiff City in 1928 and 1951, the 1st leg of the European Cup Winners Cup v AC Napoli in 1962 and crowds of around 10,000 for the Ted Robbins Memorial match in 1946 between Queens Park and a Wales XI, and the first leg of the 1978 Welsh Cup final against Wrexham.

To bring the Farrar Road story up to date, at the time of writing (2003) local planners are considering new moves to allow retail development on the site, with Bangor City moving to a new ground at Nantporth on Holyhead Road.

Should these latest plans come to fruition, they will mark a new chapter in the history of what has been one of the most prominent clubs in Welsh football.


When a club moves forward, however, it is also a chance to look back, and more than a few tears will be shed when Bangor City leaves its famous Farrar Road home.

Many thanks to Ian Garland, Keith Evans and John Cowell for their contributions to this piece.

When Bangor City played on Christmas Day

A Bangor City programme from over sixty years ago has brought the memories flooding back for stalwart supporter Mr Eric Thomas (left), now of Rhos on Sea and formerly of Bangor.

Mr Thomas brought in the matchday programme for City’s Lancashire Combination home match played on Saturday, December 21, 1946. The opposition were Leyland Motors, and the match heralded a frantic Christmas and New Year period of activity for footballers at all levels.

On Christmas Day, City were scheduled to visit Morecambe, with the Lancashire club travelling to Bangor for the Boxing Day return match. On 28 December, Bangor were again in the North West, this time against Nelson, with Marine the visitors to Farrar Road on New Year’s Day.  The appetite for football was insatiable at this time, just after the war, and although we didn’t know the attendance figure for this particular game, City’s 1954 Christmas day match against Ellesmere Port Town, played at Farrar Road attracted 2,000 fans. According to Eric, attending a Christmas Day match would make a mess of dinner arrangements—and what about those journeys in the days before the A55 and motorways to the North!

Eric clearly remembers the season as the first where he would have attended matches unsupervised by his father, and recalls that the entrance charge was 9d (9 pre-decimal pennies—about £0.04) for juniors or 1/6 (about £0.07) for adults—with 2d for the programme There was no terracing at Farrar Road in those days—just sloping rough ground around the touchline, although those who fancied a more luxurious vantage point could sit in the main stands, for which an additional charge would be made. There was also more standing available in the area now occupied by the Wendy House Nursery—previously the Green Turf Club which of course was not built until much more recently.

As this was a time before floodlights arrived at Farrar Road (they were not to be installed until the late 1960s), wintertime games would kick off at about 2.00 pm and with the size of these post-war crowds, it made sense to get to the ground early, even though there were turnstiles open at the High Street side of the ground, as well as gates just off Farrar Road, these entrances being much closer to the road itself, and the rear of Foulkes’ Garage, than is the case today.

The game itself, and the result? A 1—3 defeat, I’m afraid—but one has to suffer the troughs in order to enjoy the peaks—and there have certainly been enough of those at Farrar Road over the golden years.

BANGOR CITY V LEYLAND MOTORS, SATURDAY DECEMBER 21 1946.

Bangor City (Royal Blue shirts with scarlet  collars and cuffs, white shorts): Gill, Tuthill, Bell, WH Jones, Regan, Lloyd, W Jones, Haddon, J Jones, Humphreys, Barton.

Football in Bangor: the first ten years (part two) - by John Cowell

Referees came under a great deal of abuse at this time, and newspaper reporters did not mince words in describing them as "disgraceful". It was not unusual for teams to leave the field as a protest against poor decisions. One reads, for example, of a match between Bangor and Beaumaris Grammar School in 1883. With Bangor leading 14-nil the schoolboys retired from the field ten minutes from time because of "unfair play! by their opponents.

Another amusing incident occurred later in the season when Bangor, having run onto the field, were told that their opponents would not be turning up. It was the rule in those days that when the visiting team failed to put in an appearance, the home side simply had to score through the undefended goal in order to win the match. The ball was tapped from player to player down the field, the centre-forward being finally entrusted with the honour of placing the ball between the posts -but he shot wide! Unfortunately one is not told whether Bangor claimed the match, or whether their opponents claimed a draw.

Football made tremendous progress during the 1885/86 season. Clubs sprang up throughout the district -Mountain Rovers, St James's, Victoria FC, Bethesda Rovers, CH Ogden's XI, Brynmeurig Blues, Hirael, Portdinorwic and Vaynol Park. Meanwhile, Bangor Athletic, as the city team was then known, was more than holding its own, and against Beaumaris they won by "11 goals and 3 disputed ones to nil". The Bangor goalkeeper found so very little to do that "he did not even take off his overcoat and gloves". 

The prolonged feud between Bangor and Caernarfon grew very bitter in 1885. During a challenge cup-tie on the city ground, the Bangor full-back received a severe blow under the jaw, while others were "brutally kicked about the shins". Bangor eventually won 4-0, and as they made their way to the changing room, dirt and stones were hurled at the Canaries. The principal recipient was the goalkeeper, whose face and clothing, we are told, "were besmeared with objectionable". It was also reported that Bertie Newton, the Caemarfon captain, was ashamed to go home after being so badly beaten.

When Bangor visited Caernarfon later that season~ the visiting players were pelted with "sods and other objectionable missiles by scores of roughs". Matters became so bad that the referee had to escort the Bangor players off the field. The Caernarfon team then had the audacity to ask the referee whether they could "stay on the pitch for the remaining time and to score goals".

This was not the only match to end prematurely. When Bangor travelled to Colwyn Bay for the first round of the North Wales Challenge Cup in 1885, the game was abandoned 30 minutes from the end as the home side ran out of footballs, two having burst during the course of the match.

Two outstanding Bangor players at this time were Billy Lewis, who went on to gain 30 Welsh international caps, and Humphrey Jones, who was awarded 15. Among other notable players were Sebastian Willman, an old Friars boy who also played for Wales, EH Ridge, a solicitor in the town, AT Hay, a master at Friars School and a fine local cricketer, and HC Vincent, the well-known Bangor solicitor who became Mayor of Bangor and in later life was knighted for political services. These old players can still be seen today in faded photographs with their heayy moustaches, their Newgate fringes, their brown boots and their shorts extending well below the knees. It is hard to believe that they could play well, but they were fine athletes who played their hearts out and were proud to wear the colours of Bangor.

Football in Bangor: the first ten years (part one) - by John Cowell

It is doubtful whether there are many clubs in Wales which can boast a history like Bangor. Established as far back as 1876, the Club cab certainly claim to be among the oldest in North Wales, and older than the majority of English Premier League Clubs.

The Club was born on 18 December 1876 at a public meeting held in the Magistrates’ Room, presided over by George Tolson, a notable Bangor cricketer. R H Pritchard, The Magistrate’s Clerk, was appointed Secretary with John Jones of the NP Bank as treasurer. The rules were relatively simple, with management vested in a committee of seven playing members. Blue and red were adopted as the official club colours and subscriptions were fixed at five shillings (£0.25).

The problem of finding suitable accommodation was easily solved when a field adjoining the old Friars School at the lower end of the High Street, now built upon by the Maes y Dre homes, was rented from a Thomas Williams.

It will come as a surprise to most football followers in Bangor to learn that it was the handling code which was first played in the City as the following minute shows” that the game be played according to the rules of the Rugby Union”. Is was played during the first season, and from all accounts it was played too enthusiastically as several players were badly injured. At a general meeting held on 10 September 1877 it was decided to abandon rugby to become an Association club, and to join the Welsh association.

The club evidently had its eye on the balance sheet in those far-off days as "no dinners were to be given to visiting sides". It was not very generous to the police either, for it was resolved to pay a policeman one shilling (5p) to keep the field clear during a match. A fee of 3d was charged for admission to the ground in order to "keep out the roughs" whom, we are told, "did more damage to the field than the players". Bad language was not tolerated, and offenders were not only ejected but prevented from attending any future matches. Apparently this was quite a common occurrence for there were quite a number "on the black list".

The committee exercised a good deal of wisdom in their 1reatment of the players, and clearly showed that they would stand no nonsense. If, for instance, any player became recalcitrant and showed a disposition to kick over the boundary wall he was quietly dropped. Furthermore, if a player, after promising to play, failed to turn up for a match without reasonable cause, he was liable for a fine of two shillings and was not eligible to play in any subsequent game until this sum was paid. Players had to pay their own expenses for away games, but for a match at Caernarfon in 1879 it was agreed to pay "one-half of the travelling expenses of the team and umpire [referee]".

A Welsh cup-tie against Newtown White Star created a great deal of bad feeling, and as a result Bangor withdrew from the Welsh Association and in October 1880 joined the newly-formed Northern Welsh Football Association. Bangor's first season in the NWF A proved to be a huge success, winning the "challenge cup and badges". All 11 matches were won with 31 goals scored and only 2 against.

The committee certainly did not suffer from a lack of courage in those days as they accepted a challenge from the mighty Blackburn Rovers on Easter Monday 1880. Bangor lost 2-1 but they gave a good account of themselves against much superior opposition.

Bangor's biggest rivals at this time were Mountain Rangers, a local side which played on the mountain. A prolonged feud existed between the two teams, and the town club continually refused to play against them. Feeling must have been running high as five of the Rangers' star players applied to join the Bangor club, but were refused. Eventually the two sides were drawn together in a challenge cup-tie in 1880 which only increased the bitterness between them. Bangor managed to 'score~ a disallowed goal as one of their players held the goalkeeper by the hands and prevented him from getting to the ball, while the behaviour of the Rangers players and supporters was described as "disgraceful".

An effort was made by Dr Grey Edwards to revive rugby in Bangor in 1882, and he was allowed the use of the football field for a match against Denbigh for a fee of ten shillings (50p). But rugby had few supporters in the city, so popular had become the exciting game of "leather-kicking".

Bangor had a formidable side, and the 1882-83 season saw only one defeat out of 14 games played. Its reputation must have travelled far beyond the confines of Wales, and among many English clubs anxious to challenge them were Aston Villa. This famous club offered to play at Bangor on Easter Monday 1883 for £10, but it was decided to only offer them just over £7.

(to be continued ...)

This article originally appeared in our matchday programme for the game v Total Network Solutions 22 January 2006

When Bangor City played Coventry City – with four internationals in our ranks! - by Huw Pritchard

Many are the Football League giants who have visited Farrar Road, and on 17 May 1971 it was the turn of Coventry City. 

In the season just completed, Coventry had finished a respectable 10^th in the old First Division, and competed in their only European campaign to date. They played in the European inter-Cities Fairs Cup (later the UEFA Cup), beating Bulgarian side Trakia Plovdiv 6-1 on aggregate in the first round. In the second round they notably beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in the home leg, but lost 3-7 on aggregate.

Coventry’s manager Noel Cantwell had previously won fame with Manchester United and the Republic of Ireland, and later helped pioneer the role of TV football pundit.

According to the matchday programmes, Coventry had a number of past, present and future internationals in their ranks such as defenders Jeff Blockley (England) and Jimmy Holmes  (Rep of Ireland) midfielder David Clements (N Ireland) and future Aston Villa star Dennis Mortimer – described as the best midfielder never to get an England cap.

 

Also in the squad were Willie Carr and Ernie Hunt, famous for their famous ‘donkey kick’ goal scored against Everton the previous October. This was when Carr took a free kick by gripping the ball between his ankles and flicking it up for Hunt to volley home. The move gained widespread fame through being shown repeatedly on Match of the Day. The football authorities banned the skill at the end of the season.

More remarkable than some of the famous names in the Coventry lineup were those listed to appear for Bangor.

As well as local heroes such as George Morton, Jimmy Conde and George McGowan were names who were, or were to become, internationally famous in the world of football.

Emlyn Hughes – at the time with Blackpool, went on to achieve fame as captain of England (62 appearances) and the much-decorated Liverpool team of the 1970s. Hughes returned to a snowy Farrar Road nearly ten years later, captaining Liverpool in a friendly when nearly all Football League matches were called off

Jimmy Armfield – played 627 times for Blackpool, the only club of his career. A full back, he played 43 times for his country, captaining the England team on 15 occasions

Ron Yeats – a Liverpool legend of the early 1960s. He was known as ‘The Colossus’ at Anfield, after his huge frame and muscular build. As club captain, Yeats led Liverpool to their first major honours in nearly 20 years – the League championship in 1964 and 1966 and the FA Cup in the intervening year. Yeats also won four caps for Scotland. 

Tony Book –joined Manchester City as a fullback at the age of 31 and became the club’s most-decorated captain of all time, winning a League championship, FA Cup, European Cup Winners’ Cup and League Cup. Book had spent the period 1956 – 1964 with his home town club Bath, making nearly 400 appearances.

Shay Brennan – was a full back for Manchester United who also played 19 times for the Republic of Ireland. He made his debut for United in an FA Cup match v Sheffield Wednesday on 19 February 1958. This was United’s first match after the Munich Air Disaster, and Brennan scored twice on an emotional night. Brennan went on to help United to the 1965 and 1967 League titles as well as to the European Cup.

With so much talent on both sides, you’d think there’d be thrills and goals a-plenty …. and there certainly were!

Bangor won 4-2 in front of an estimated crowd of 5,000, our scorers being Mcgowan 8 Fleming 41 Conde 50, 87

Coventry's scorers were: Rafferty 12, O'Rourke 18

Many thanks to Jim Brown, official historian at Coventry City FC for the score and scorers information. Read Jim's Coventry City blog at jimbrownsjournal.blogspot.com