Bala Town
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|
| Full name | Bala Town Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Lakesiders |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Ground |
Maes Tegid, Bala |
| Capacity | 3,000 (504 seated) |
| Chairman | Arwel Roberts |
| Manager | Colin Caton |
| League | Welsh Premier League |
| 2016–17 | Welsh Premier League, 3rd |
Bala Town Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed y Bala) are a Welsh football team from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the Welsh Premier League. They play their home games at Maes Tegid.
Although the current Bala Town was formed in 1880, there is record of a football club competing in the 1877–78 Welsh Cup, losing to Corwen after two replays. After Bala North End, Bala South End and Bala Thursday's merged, Bala Town's first available league status record is playing in the Welsh National League North Division 2 East in 1921–22 season. Bala Town moved to their current home, Maes Tegid, in the early 1950s and joined the Wrexham Alliance in 1950, however Bala Town had to wait for more than a century until they were promoted to the second tier of Welsh football, into the Cymru Alliance at the end of the 2003–04 season. After only four seasons in the Cymru Alliance, Bala Town sealed promoted to the Welsh Premier League.
Bala Town secured European football for the first time in their history after a John Irving goal in the 89th minute was enough to see off Port Talbot Town 2–1 to ensure the Lakesiders a European place. Bala Town were drawn against Estonian outfit Levadia Tallinn and after winning the home leg 1–0, crashed out of the Europa League at the first qualifying round after losing 3–1 in the reverse fixture in Tallinn. In the 2014–15 season, the Lakesiders finished second, their highest ever league position, thus qualifying for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. Bala Town missed out the opportunity of playing Turkish giants Trabzonspor in the 2015–16 Europa League after losing on aggregate to FC Differdange 03 after falling victim to an injury time Differdange goal, however Bala maintained a proud record of a 100% win percentage at "home", playing at Rhyl's Belle Vue stadium due to UEFA stadium requirements on both occasions, in Europe.
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