Menai Bridge Tigers
Full nameMenai Bridge Tigers Football Club
Nickname(s)Tigers
GroundTreborth Playing Fields,
Bangor University[1]
ChairmanRobyn Cooke[2]
ManagerAaron Rowlands[3]
LeagueNorth Wales Coast West Premier Division
2022–23North Wales Coast West Premier Division, 6th of 15

Menai Bridge Tigers Football Club is a Welsh football team based in Menai Bridge on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. The team currently play in the North Wales Coast West Football League Premier Division, which is at the fourth tier of the Welsh football league system.

History

The history of football clubs playing in Menai Bridge sees teams playing in the various leagues operating in North Wales, as well as clubs being formed and folding with considerable gaps of clubs playing in leagues.

Football in the town of Menai Bridge can be traced back as early as 1878, when The North Wales Express reported on a Christmas Day football match between the Menai Football Club and Blue Star, with the latter winning by 3 goals (plus one disputed) to one.[4]

First league appearances

In 1897, the Menai Bridge Football Club unanimously resolved to join the proposed Anglesey League and finished the 1897–98 season as league champions,[5] before joining the North Wales Coast League for the 1898–99 season, where they finished bottom of the league.[6] Records show Menai Bridge Tigers featuring in Division Two of the same league from 1909–10[7] until the outbreak of World War One.[8]

1920s and 1930s

The 1926–27 and 1927–28 seasons saw the club as compete in the Welsh National League (North) as a Division Two West club.

The team then again feature in the Anglesey League as Menai Bridge finishing 1928–29 as champions and the 1929–30 season as runners-up[9] before joining the North Wales Coast League for the 1930–31 season and moving to the Bangor & District League for the 1931–32 season, as one of two Anglesey based teams to feature in the league.[10] The club won two league titles in the 1932–33[11] and 1933–34 seasons.[12]

Post Second World War to mid 1960s

As Menai Bridge, the team finished runners-up in Division IIIA (Anglesey League Division Two) in 1947–48,[13] runners-up of the Welsh League North Division Two (Western) in 1948–49, and champions of Division IIIB (Anglesey League Division Two) in 1950–51.[14] and continued to play in the Anglesey League until the end of the 1963–64 season. Menai Bridge Youth played in Caernarfon & District League during the following 1964–65 season[15] but the team seems to disappear after that.

1970s and 1980s

The team returned to the Anglesey League as Menai Bridge Tigers for the 1975–76 season, finishing in fourth place, and then were league runners-up on three successive occasions, in 1976–77;[16] 1977–78[17] and 1978–79.[18] The club then finished third in the 1979–80 season[19] and were promoted to the Welsh League North for the 1980–81 season. They finished bottom of the table[20] and after finishing third from bottom of the league the following season were relegated.[21]

The club then returned to the Anglesey League, finishing third in Division Two.[22] As part of ongoing discussions around restructuring of football in North Wales, the club hosted a meeting at the Menai Bridge Tigers Sports and Recreation Club on 23 June 1983, and the Gwynedd Football League was born. Admitted into the league were Benllech & District, Bethesda Athletic, Conwy United, Llandudno Amateurs, Llanfairpwll, Menai Bridge Tigers, Porthmadog and Y Felinheli.[23] The club finished bottom of the table scoring only three points (one win and one draw) from fourteen matches.[24] Following the end of the season the club resigned from the league because of financial difficulties. The 1984–85 season saw football return to the town with a club called Menai Bridge Town[25] appearing in the Anglesey League Division Two until the end of the 1988–89 season.[26] The next two decades were spent as a junior only club.

2000s return to senior football

The club returned to the Anglesey League for the 2009–10 season as Menai Bridge Tigers finishing seventh from nine clubs.[27] The 2013–14 season was successful with the club finishing the season as league champions[28][29] and gaining promotion to the Gwynedd League. The 2018–19 season saw further success with the club finishing as Gwynedd League champions.[30] Promotion to the Welsh Alliance League Division Two was denied by the Football Association of Wales, even after the club appealed the initial decision from the FAW.[31][32]

The club finished third in 2019–20, the final season of the Gwynedd League[33][34] and joined the newly formed North Wales Coast West Football League Premier Division for the 2020–21 season. This was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the club starting the 2021–22 season when amateur football returned to Wales in the summer of 2021.[35]

Honours

Leagues

Cups

Anglesey League

  • Dargie Cup – Winners (2): 1928–29, 1978–79
  • Elias Cup – Winners (1): 2012–13
  • IPP Cup – Winners (1): 2013–14
  • JW Lees Shield – Winners (1): 1981–82
  • Megan Cup – Winners (4): 1930–31, 1978–79, 2012–13, 2013–14[43]
  • SK Williams Challenge Shield - Winners (1): 1979–80

Gwynedd League

  • Gwynedd Cup – Winners (2): 2014–15, 2018–19
  • Bob Owen Memorial Shield – Winners (1): 2015–16

References

  1. ↑ Cooke, Robyn. "Club Statement". Menai Bridge Tigers FC. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "Contact". Menai Bridge Tigers. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  3. ↑ Jones, Dave. "Pre-season chat: Aaron Rowlands (manager – Menai Bridge Tigers)". Grassroots North Wales. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  4. ↑ "Club History". Menai Bridge Tigers. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "Anglesey League 1897-98". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  6. ↑ "North Wales Coast League 1898-99". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  7. ↑ "North Wales Coast League 1909-10". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "North Wales Coast League 1913-14". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  9. ↑ "Anglesey League 1929-30". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "Bangor & District Junior League history". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "Bangor & District League Table 1932-33". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Bangor & District League Table 1933-34". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Anglesey League (Div IIIA) 1947-48". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "Anglesey League (Div IIIB) - 1950-51". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  15. ↑ "Caernarfon & District League 1964-65". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  16. ↑ "Anglesey League 1976-77". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  17. ↑ "Anglesey League 1977-78". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "Anglesey League 1978-79". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  19. ↑ "Anglesey League 1979-80". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  20. ↑ "Wales 1980-81". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  21. ↑ "Wales 1981-82". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  22. ↑ "Anglesey League 1981-82". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "Gwynedd Football League history". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  24. ↑ "Gwynedd League 1983-84". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  25. ↑ "Anglesey League 1984-85". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  26. ↑ "Anglesey League 1988-89". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  27. ↑ "Anglesey League 2009-10". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  28. ↑ "Anglesey League Table 2013-14". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  29. ↑ "Tigers are crowned Anglesey champs; LOCAL ROUND-UP". Daily Post.
  30. ↑ "Gwynedd League 2018-19". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  31. ↑ Jones, Dean. "Menai Bridge Tigers refused promotion after FAW reject appeal". North Wales Chronicle. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  32. ↑ Jones, Dave. "Menai Bridge appeal against Welsh Alliance League decision to block their promotion". Sgôr – Dave Jones’ North Wales Sports Blog. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  33. ↑ "Table Terfynol - Final Standings". Gwynedd Football League. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  34. ↑ Jones, Dean. "Menai Bridge Tigers crowned Gwynedd League champions after Glantraeth win". North Wales Chronicle. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  35. ↑ "Nine Anglesey teams to compete in new Tier 4 football league". Anglesey Mon News. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  36. ↑ "Anglesey League 1922-23". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  37. ↑ "Anglesey League 1929-30". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  38. ↑ "Anglesey League 1947-48". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  39. ↑ "Bangor & District League Table 1932-33". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  40. ↑ "Bangor & District League Table 1933-34". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  41. ↑ "Bangor & District League Table 1931-32". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  42. ↑ "Junior Challenge Cup" (PDF). North Wales Coast Football Association. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  43. ↑ "Menai Bridge Tigers". Buckley Town FC. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
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