Bethesda Athletic F.C.


Bethesda Athletic F.C. is a football club based in the Welsh town of Bethesda, in northwest Wales who play in the North Wales Coast West Football League Division One.

History

Predecessor clubs

In 1919 a team known as Bethesda Comrades were playing in the North Wales Coast League. This name changed to Bethesda United. In the 1930's Bethesda Victoria were involved in North Wales football circles, winning the North Wales Combination and NWCFA Cup in 1930-31.

Early years and Welsh League (North)

Bethesda Athletic was formed in 1946. In the 1948–49 season they joined the Welsh National League Division 1, and early years in the league saw them regularly finish bottom, or near bottom of the table. The late 1960's saw the club regularly finish near the top of the division, with the first league title coming in the 1970–71 season, and a period of relative success followed in this period.
Athletic also enjoyed some good runs in the Welsh Cup, the English F.A. Cup, and the English F.A. Trophy. A long Welsh Cup run in 1960 saw wins over Nantlle Vale, Penmaenmawr and Pwllheli which set up a Quarter Final date with Cardiff City which ended in a six nil defeat against the eventual winners. In 1976 they beat Oswestry Town but were knocked out by Bangor City at Farrar Road. The score was 4–2 goals from Broadhead, Olney and John Hughes for Bangor and Alan Leicester for Bethesda.
In the FA Cup Bethesda took Tamworth to two replays in 1970 before finally bowing out. In 1974 Bethesda knocked out South Liverpool in the Qualifying rounds of The FA Cup but were eventually beaten by Rhyl in a second replay after two drawn matches.
The club spent 28 seasons in the Welsh League with their final season, 1976-77, bringing the club's second divisional Championship.

Caernarfon & District League and Gywnedd League

The 1977-78 season saw the club move to the Caernarfon & District League, where they remained for six seasons, before moving to the Gwynedd League for a singular season, where they finished in third position.

Welsh Alliance

1984–85 saw the club join the Welsh Alliance League, the successor to the Welsh League as a founder member. For the first two seasons, the club were runners-up in the league, before in 1988–87 finishing as champions. In 1990 when fellow Welsh Alliance members Fflint, Conwy, Porthmadog and Connah’s Quay joined the newly formed Cymru Alliance, Bethesda remained in the Welsh Alliance League.

Return to Caernarfon & District/ Gywnedd Leagues

After finishing third in the Welsh Alliance in 1990–91, the club decided to drop down to the local Caernarfon & District League where they remained until stepping up to the Gwynedd League after being crowned champions in 1997–98 season. After two seasons in this league they were promoted to the Welsh Alliance League in 2000 after being crowned champions for the 1999–2000 season.

Welsh Alliance success

The club spent nine years in the Welsh Alliance culminating in two successive championship winning years. In the 2007–08 season they were champions of the Welsh Alliance League but were refused promotion to the Cymru Alliance by the Football Association of Wales. Two players, Gareth Davies and Richie Owen, scored 70 goals between them over the course of the season..
The following season saw the club break the league's season goal-scoring record, with 146 goals - again securing the league title..
After also completing upgrades to their football ground, the club stepped up to the second tier of Welsh football – the Cymru Alliance.

Cymru Alliance

The club spent a solitary season in the Cymru Alliance, finishing 9th from 17 clubs in 2009–10 season.

Return to the Welsh Alliance

The club returned to the Alliance, competing for two subsequent seasons. In August 2012 they were not able to complete fixtures and were given 14 days by the league's Management Committee to resolve their issues. The club announced in September that it was disbanding and resigned from the league "due to various circumstances".
After a season away - the club returned for the 2013–14 season but finished bottom of the Welsh Alliance Division 2 with just 6 points. The following season saw them finish 10th from 16 clubs, before they again left the league.

Return to the Gwynedd League

The club returned to the Gwynedd League, finishing bottom of the league in the 2016–17 season. The following season they withdrew from the league.
In 2018 it was announced that the club would return to the league again but they again resigned from the league in August 2018 without playing any games.
They were named as a returning club for the 2019–20 season to same league.

Ladies

The club also has a ladies team, Bethesda Athletic Ladies, who were established in 2018. The play in the North Wales Womens Football League part of Wales' womens football pyramid. Their first season saw them compete in the second division, finishing the season as champions. In their second season, they played in the first division before withdrawing from the league in September 2019 and having their results expunged. The club announced they will continue to play instead at recreational level in the North Wales Recreational League.

Honours

SeasonLeagueFinal position
1946-47
1947-48
1948-49
1949-50Welsh League Division 111th
1950-51Welsh League Division 110th
1951-52Welsh League Division 117th
1952-53Welsh League Division 118th
1953-54Welsh League Division 118th
1954-55Welsh League Division 113th
1955-56Welsh League Division 116th
1956-57Welsh League Division 114th
1957-58Welsh League Division 115th
1958-59Welsh League Division 117th
1959-60Welsh League Division 14th
1960-61Welsh League Division 114th
1961-62Welsh League 10th
1962-63Welsh League 11th
1963-64Welsh League 10th
1964-65Welsh League 17th
1965-66Welsh League 13th
1966-67Welsh League 16th
1967-68Welsh League 3rd
1968-69Welsh League 4th
1969-70Welsh League 4th
1970-71Welsh League 1st
1971-72Welsh League 2nd
1972-73Welsh League 7th
1973-74Welsh League 2nd
1974-75Welsh League 6th
1975-76Welsh League 3rd
1976-77Welsh League 1st
1977-78Caernarfon & District League7th
1978-79Caernarfon & District League9th
1979-80Caernarfon & District League3rd
1980-81Caernarfon & District League10th
1981-82Caernarfon & District League10th
1982-83Caernarfon & District League12th
1983-84Gwynedd League3rd
1984-85Welsh Alliance League2nd
1985-96Welsh Alliance League2nd
1986-87Welsh Alliance League1st
1987-88Welsh Alliance League2nd
1988-89Welsh Alliance League8th
1989-90Welsh Alliance League5th
1990–91Welsh Alliance League3rd
1991–92Caernarfon & District League15th
1992–93Caernarfon & District League4th
1993–94Caernarfon & District League4th
1994–95Caernarfon & District League4th
1995–96Caernarfon & District League3rd
1996–97Caernarfon & District League2nd
1997–98Caernarfon & District League1st
1998–99Gwynedd League4th
1999–2000Gwynedd League1st
2000–01Welsh Alliance League4th
2001–02Welsh Alliance League7th
2002–03Welsh Alliance League4th
2003–04Welsh Alliance League6th
2004–05Welsh Alliance League3rd
2005–06Welsh Alliance League3rd
2006–07Welsh Alliance League6th
2007–08Welsh Alliance League1st
2008–09Welsh Alliance League1st
2009–10Cymru Alliance9th
2010–11Welsh Alliance League 19th
2011–12Welsh Alliance League 15th
2012–13Welsh Alliance League 1Resigned from League
2013–14Welsh Alliance League 213th
2014–15Welsh Alliance League 210th
2015–16Welsh Alliance League 213th
2016–17Gwynedd League12th
2017–18Gwynedd LeagueWithdrew from the league
2018–19Gwynedd LeagueWithdrew from the league prior to season start
2019–20Gwynedd League14th
2020–21North Wales Coast West Football League Division One

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