Welcome to 2010 with BANGOR LADIES FOOTBALL CLUB ...........PRE-SEASON DATE - SUNDAY 21st FEBRUARY, 2010, Bloomfield Road Playing Fields, Bangor 1.45 -3.45 p.m............2010 MEMBERSHIP NOW OPEN....Text 773 2277854 for further details.......

Leanne McGarry, assistant manager, with the 3rd Division championship trophy presented at Clandeboye Park in August, 2009.

Bangor Ladies welcome challenging 2010

The first committee meeting of Bangor Ladies F. C., the ladies section of Bangor Football Club, took place at Clandeboye Road, on Monday (28th) evening, as the 2009 divisional champions begin preparations for the 2010 season in the N.I.Womens Football Association (NIWFA), which will get underway in April.



Steering the club forward following their successful promotion in 2009, Manager/Coach Andy Craig along with Assistant Manager/Coach Leanne McGarry met with Paula Dougherty (treasurer); Rachel Bates (secretary) and Patricia Webb (fundraising), to discuss some of the important challenges which lie ahead for the North Down side.

Bangor Ladies enjoyed their most successful season to date in 09

The ladies football club who enjoyed a quite unprecedented successful year of football over the summer of 2009, are determined to keep the Seasiders' on track come April when the pre-season programme launches on Sunday 21st April when training will begin.



The 2009 League Champions will, however, be hoping to strengthen their squad for the new divisional challenge of playing in the Second Division in 2010. The 17 match unbeaten side will face a considerable line up which should present not only a step up in the calibre of opposition, but also a more wide spread campaign.



The Seasiders can expect to face ladies teams from Ballymoney, Derry City, Dungoyne, Glenavon Limavady, and Moyola Park, which will mean a lot more mileage than in previous years, although Manager Andy Craig remains upbeat.



"Im confident the club will continue to improve, and have had a few enquiries from players expressing a desire to sign for the successful Clandeboye Road based team. So there may well be a few new faces in the squad come February.

The ladies section at Bangor F.C., currently unbeaten in 17 consecutive league games.

"I am always looking to strengthen and expand the current squad. While I had 23 players registered last season, we struggled with injuries and really didn't have enough cover towards the latter part of the season.




"We paid the price in August, unable to field a full compliment in an important league cup semi final and arguably that might have cost us a clean sweep in our division. With this in mind, we might need to have signed a couple more players, before the April deadline for sufficient cover. 2010 Registration Form are now available on line.



"Although we have the potential to do well with the current squad, who will no doubt give a good account of themselves in the higher division. If we can add just a bit more quality then we will have a very good chance of advancing further up the league structures in the future.



"We have set a realistic target to be competing at the top level of ladies football within a couple more seasons so, it's a case of continuing to show the work ethic and consistency that brought the league championship to Clandeboye Park last September."



With a winning team and the new committee in place there are areas where we will be looking to develop over this year ? and galvanise our existing association within Irish League club Bangor F.C. The club will be continuing to build their close relationship with Chairman Trevor Best and the rest of the Board at Clandeboye Park, who have been very supportive of ladies football, which is refreshing.

Bangor Ladies are currently proud to be associated with, and sponsored by Sammy Mellon & Sons, Bingham Street, Bangor, supporting local sport. 09

Financially the club will also be looking to move on, thankfully now attracting suitable sponsorship in the form of local business Sammy Mellon & Sons, Hyundai dealers, Bingham Street, who have a long association of supporting local sport. Their continued support is very much appreciated by everyone at Bangor Ladies.




Overall things are starting to move forward with the NIWFA already poised for the start of 2010, the ladies section will hope to gather enough momentum with a number of pre-season games being penciled in, to be ready for the start of the 2010 league campaign, which is just 8 weeks away.

Bangor LFC - ready for the 2010 season, which gets underway in April

Everyone at Bangor Ladies would like to wish the Chairman, Board of Directors, staff at Bangor F.C., Ivan Mellon of Mellons & Sons and all the officials, players and members of the NIWFA a very happy new year in 2010.

Last Edited on 27-Jan-2010 9:00 AM