Great week for Seasiders

It has been be a great week for Bangor Football Club with the senior side celebrating their Steel and Sons Cup Semi Final win over Shankill United last week that will set up a showpiece final against Larne in late December.


Meanwhile Bangor Ladies, the ladies section at Bangor Football Club, will commence their 2012 divisional preparations shortly as the club will look to strengthen their squad of players in a bid to bring more silverware to the Clandeboye Road club.


Having won the third division championship in 2009 and subsequently lifting the North Down Sports Advisory Council’s Team of the Year in 2010 the ladies will be looking to kick on and hopefully both sections at Clandeboye Park will be adding to the trophy cabinet.


Ladies Manager Andy Craig is committed to developing the sport of ladies football in the North Down and surrounding areas, and although his young team enjoyed their sixth season in the sports governing body, the Northern Ireland Women’s Football Association (NIWFA), it is felt that this coming season could potentially be the ladies most successful to date.


Competing next April in Division Two, the ladies football club will be expecting a lot more from a team that was almost completely rebuilt at the beginning of 2011, and who will be put through a tough and demanding preseason program by coach Peter Gilmore.


Having secured the signatures of a number of very talented teenagers the Sammy Mellon and Sons sponsored Club went into last season with no fewer than fourteen new faces. Although the side were to struggle in the middle of the campaign the youngsters rallied and finished with wins in their last four fixtures to maintain their status in the Division Two table.


One of the aims of the ladies section at Clandeboye Park in 2012 is to expand its current membership: to a maximum of 28 seniors (Over 16) and also to establish a Junior (under 16) Section to represent the club next summer in the sports Junior League. As part of a development plan, to encourage more participation in the sport, the club intends to launch an Under 16 School Cup Competition.


Using Clandeboye Park as the venue the club will be inviting a minimum of 4, to a maximum of 8 local secondary schools to compete for the Bangor F.C. Schools Cup. The teams will compete in 7-a-side competition, under the direction of the clubs qualified female coaches.


Bangor Ladies will also welcome anyone under the age of 16 (8 year old upwards) wishing to play football to join a Junior (U16) Section who will take part in the NIWFA Under 26 Leagues next summer.

Bangor Ladies have also added a little bit of extra colour to the local sports ground following their award of a significant ‘paint donation’ from the newly opened Dulux Decorating Centre in Balloo Industrial Centre, as part of their colouring sport initiative. Collecting the paint are (Left to right) Maurice Beattie (Director, Bangor Football Club), Natasha Lee and Alanah Burns (Bangor Ladies), Trevor Best (Chairman, Bangor Football Club); Tina Sharpe (Bangor Ladies), Dulux Decorator Centre representative Ken Wilson, and the ladies section’s 2012 Player of the Year Jessica Beers.


The paint was used to freshen up the viewing lounge and also brightened up the players’ entrance of the local football ground on the Clandeboye Road, home of the 2011 Steel and Sons semi finalists.


The management and coaches also wish to maintain the current momentum of the 2011 Season and push for a top two finish in their division, and the possibility of a Cup Final position in 2012. As well as to establish a Junior Section competing in the NIWFA Junior League next summer.


Our Junior Development Officer Jenny Boyd would welcome any interest from your school to participate in this competition next year and also if you would be interested in a visit from our qualified coaches to an after school coaching session. Jenny can be contact by telephoning 07787 791496 or by email jboyd@bangorladiesfc.co.uk if you require more information, entry form, rules and regulations, etc.


Bangor Ladies Football Club play their home matches at Clandeboye Road, to reinforces inclusion, and promote the status of the ladies section within the borough. It emphasises the ladies section as a bona fide part of Championship side Bangor Football Club.

Last Edited on 24-Nov-2011 10:01 AM