And so to Maes Tegid, home of Bala Town FC - Clwb Pel Droed Y Bala Town - another area where Welsh speakers amount to nearly 80%. This for the final game of the Welsh domestic season, the Europa League play off final against the Archers of Cardiff Metropolitan University FC, and that guaranteed prize money of £200,000.
Bala Town FC was formed in 1880 but there is record of a football club in Bala playing in the 1877/78 Welsh Cup. Bala North End, Bala South End and Bala Thursdays merged to form the current Bala Town, with the first record being the 1921/22 campaign in the Welsh National League North Division 2 East.
In the early 1950s the Lakesiders (naturally enough !!) moved to Maes Tegid from the adjacent Castle Park. The team played in the Welsh National League Wrexham Area between 1950 and 1954, then rejoined the Cambrian Coast League in 1954, winning titles in 1959 and 1963. The club re-entered the Welsh National League Wrexham Area for the 1963/64 season.
For the 2003/04 term Colin Caton (cousin of the late Tommy) took over the managerial reins - he is still in charge - and Bala won promotion to the Cymru Alliance in his first season.
In 2009 the Lakesiders were crowned Huws Gray Cymru Alliance champions and promoted to the Welsh Premier League. In their first season Town finished 11th out of 18, but the Welsh Premier League committee decided to reduce the league to 12 clubs - relegation seemed inevitable but was avoided as no feeder league club was deemed able to reach the criteria to obtain a Domestic Licence.
The Lakesiders took their place in the 'Super 12' but again finished 11th in 2011, once more evading relegation due to Licensing issues.
Since then there has been no more flirting with relegation - Bala finished runners up in 2014/15 and 2015/16 (when the club was being bankrolled by local businesses keen to bring an end to The New Saints' monopoly on titles). The Welsh Cup was won in 2017 when Town fought back to beat TNS 2-1, and the club has qualified for the Europa League five times but is yet to win a tie on aggregate.
Last time the Lakesiders finished a disappointing sixth, but beat fifth placed Newtown 2-1 to earn a home final play off against Cardiff MU.
Last
weekend's win at Caernarfon will live long in the memory but a swift resume of
the visitors, 'The Archers' of Cardiff Metropolitan University FC, who were
formed from a series of mergers and name changes.
It all started with Lake
United renaming themselves AFC Cardiff in 1984. In 1990 the club was taken over
by Sully FC to form Inter Cardiff FC, which became Inter CableTel AFC in 1996.
This club represented Wales in the old UEFA Cup three times, including playing
Celtic in the 1997/98 season.
In 2000 a merger with UWIC
(University of Wales Institute, Cardiff) produced UWIC Inter Cardiff which
became Cardiff Metropolitan University FC in 2012. The Archers, or unofficially
known as The International, The Sheep (!) or The Div's (Car-DIFF), then won
three promotions in four seasons to reach the Welsh Premier League.
Since then the club has
qualified for the Europa League play offs every season, this time via finishing
top of the relegation group, but without winning the final and moving on
to play in Europe. Also this season The Archers won the Welsh League Cup
for the first time, beating second tier Cambrian & Clydach Vale
Boys & Girls Club 2-0 in the final, all under the managerial reign of
ex Welsh international Dr Christian Edwards.
So on a cloudy, breezy
afternoon I set off past the property that is now styled as the Brexit House,
then the well appointed Denzell Gardens, The Stretton Fox and Daresbury Park.
Not long before the ridiculous numberplates appear - today we have X 11ON X, H1
2OLD (too old for what ??), N1NJA, ADD 2 (add two what ??), GR03 VEG, CAR
123X (??) and D3KLN. A fool and his money are soon parted....
Then the wind turbine farm
and belching fumes that is Stanlow before I join the A494, skirting Buckley and
Mold. A wry smile at the We Three Loggerheads, in Loggerheads itself, the Druid
Inn at Llanferres and some glorious Welsh countryside scenery on the winding
road from the heights of Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd.
That takes me to Ruthin and its Gaol, a brief flirtation with the A5 and a left turn at The Druids, beyond Glassblobbery and into Bala. Time is on my side so I take in the magnificent views of Lake Bala - 3.7 miles long by 0.5miles wide. It was the largest natural body of water in Wales until its level was raised by Thomas Telford to help support the flow of the Ellesmere Canal, and the sight of it is utterly breathtaking.
Then I take the minor B
road by the eastern side of Lake Bala down to Llanuwchllyn, a one track road
with the odd passing place - I, uncomfortably, come head on to several
classic cars, all sporting a 'Hills and Valleys Tour' blue badge.
At the foot of the hill
Llanuwchllyn is the home of the Bala Lake Railway, a 4.5 mile ride taking
25 minutes (and £11.50 return !!) to Bala Penybont, along the side of Lake
Bala. The locomotive shed and heritage centre reveal 6 engines and various
wagons, plus Winifred, the steam engine operating today.
Then into Bala, with its
eclectic mix of pubs, galleries and cafes - including one called, naturally
enough, Sospan Fach !! Not much to Bala away from the High Street, bearing in
mind its population of less than 2,000 at the last census. However there is a
striking clocktower in honour of John Jones of Tremynfa, and a statue of Thomas
Edward Ellis, a prominent Welsh Liberal politician, emanating from the Bala
area.
Left at The White Lion and
then onto Castle Street brings me to Maes Tegid and Bala Town FC. No
problem parking at the ground this week but it comes as no surprise, given the
shambolic marshalling and sheer imbecility and selfishness of some drivers,
that there is utter chaos and gridlock at the final whistle; fortunately I am
away within ten minutes.
£6 at the gate and a crowd
of 623 for the final, including a healthy number of away fans making the near
300 mile round trip and several groundhoppers.
Inside the main stand is to my left, a piecemeal affair made up of no less than 5 separate covered structures plus a press box - and with stunning views of Snowdonia shrouded in mist in the background. At the top end is the house on the hill, whilst opposite are the dugouts and TV gantry with the near end providing the dressing rooms, snack bar and a small three step terrace behind the goal. It is here that the Bala Ultras congregate, their flags completely outnumbering the solitary 'The Roving Sheep On Tour' at the far end - a Merthyr Town supporter who is 'neutral'. Dial M for Merthyr....
The Lakesiders are in
white with black sleeves and shorts, the Archers in claret and blue with yellow
trim, and the officials in all yellow - so no colour clash this week. Bala
start with 4 Welshmen and 7 English players - by the end it's 2 Welsh and
9 English - whilst Met have the complete reverse - 7 Welsh and 4 English.
Unlike last week the
Archers start strongly with Adam Roscrow hitting the bar in the first minute
and then heading against the inside of the post on 12 minutes. However Bala
take the lead eight minutes later when Nathan Burke's cross is flicked on to
Kieran Smith and glanced in by Henry Jones.
Four minutes later parity
is restored - Will Evans given far too much space, drawing a save from Keighan
Jones, but Eliot Evans pounces on the rebound to equalise. Smith hits the
sidenetting for Bala as we approach half time.
The second half is a cagey
affair with few chances and solid defending. The Archers' keeper Will Fuller
denies Henry Jones and Mike Hayes, whilst Met's Will Evans has a goal
disallowed and is then booked for simulation in the penalty box.
Tension mounts as we move
into extra time; in the first period Chris Baker heads against the post for
Cardiff, whilst in the second Fuller makes a splendid save from Anthony
Stephens but is then helpless as Hayes and Stuart Jones strike the bar within
seconds - how the ball does not cross the line defies belief.....
Inevitably penalties and
further unbearable tension which transmits itself to the players.... After 6
penalties the score is 1-0 to the Archers, with Keighan Jones saving two weak
Cardiff penalties, and Bala skying one over the bar and having two saved,
the second superbly by Will Fuller. The final three are scored, the last by
Eliot Evans for a 3-1 win for the Met, and ecstasy on the pitch and the
terraces as the students' team qualify for Europe !!
