Bala Town F.C.

{{Infobox football club

| nickname = Lakesiders

| ground = Maes Tegid,
Bala

| capacity = 3,000 (504 seated)

| pattern_la1=_macronwyverneco24ws|pattern_b1=_macronwyverneco24ws|pattern_ra1=_macronwyverneco24ws|pattern_so1=

| pattern_la2=_macronwyverneco24ar|pattern_b2=_macronwyverneco24ar|pattern_ra2=_macronwyverneco24ar|pattern_so2=

| clubname = Bala Town

| image = Bala_Town_F.C.png

| image_size = 195px

| fullname = Bala Town Football Club

| founded = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1880}}

| chairman = Arwel Roberts

| manager = Colin Caton

| league = {{Welsh football updater|BalaTow}}

| season = {{Welsh football updater|BalaTow2}}

| position = {{Welsh football updater|BalaTow3}}

| website = {{URL|https://www.balatownfc.net/}}

}}

Bala Town Football Club ({{langx|cy|Clwb Pêl-droed Tref y Bala}}) is a Welsh professional football club from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the {{Welsh football updater|BalaTow}}.{{Cite web |url=http://www.welshpremier.co.uk/LeagueClubInfo.ink?TeamID=577&sSeason=13%2F14&Season=2013%2F2014&theseason=y |title=Welsh Premier profile |access-date=26 June 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140103112628/http://www.welshpremier.co.uk/LeagueClubInfo.ink?TeamID=577&sSeason=13/14&Season=2013/2014&theseason=y |archive-date=3 January 2014 |url-status=dead }} They play their home games at Maes Tegid.{{Cite web |url=http://www.balatownfc.co.uk/club/maes-tegid |title=Maes Tegid – The home of Bala Town |access-date=3 January 2014 |archive-date=17 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017235252/http://www.balatownfc.co.uk/club/maes-tegid |url-status=dead }}

History

For a full history see; List of Bala Town FC seasons

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.{{cite web |url=http://wfda.co.uk/welsh_cup.php?id=1 |title=Welsh Football Data Archive:Welsh Cup 1877–78 |work=Welsh Football Data Archive |access-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227102747/http://wfda.co.uk/welsh_cup.php?id=1 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead }} 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 the 1921–22 season. Bala Town moved to their current home, Maes Tegid, in the early 1950s and joined the Wrexham Alliance in 1950,{{cite web |url=http://wfda.co.uk/leagues_welsh_nat_wrex.php?season_id=6 |title=Welsh Data Archive:Wrexham Area 1950–51 |work=Welsh Football Data Archive |access-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227103204/http://wfda.co.uk/leagues_welsh_nat_wrex.php?season_id=6 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://wfda.co.uk/leagues_welsh_nat_wrex.php?season_id=60 |title=Welsh Football Data Archive: Wrexham Area 2003–04 |work=Welsh Football Data Archive |access-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227103927/http://wfda.co.uk/leagues_welsh_nat_wrex.php?season_id=60 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead }} After only four seasons in the Cymru Alliance, Bala Town sealed promoted to the Cymru Premier.{{cite web |url=http://wfda.co.uk/leagues_ca.php?season_id=19 |title=Welsh Football data Archive: Cymru Alliance 2008–09 |work=Welsh Football data Archive |access-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227104439/http://wfda.co.uk/leagues_ca.php?season_id=19 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |url-status=dead }} File:Maes_Tegid.jpg

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 in the Europa League first qualifying round but after winning the home leg 1–0, they lost 3–1 in the reverse fixture in Tallinn and were eliminated. 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.

After finishing second in the 2015–16 Cymru Premier they followed this success up by winning their first Welsh Cup, beating The New Saints 2–1 in the final ending their 8 trophy winning streak.

In the 2021–22 season Bala Town secured a runners-up finish for the third time in their history behind champions The New Saints. The 2023–24 season then saw Bala secure a third-place finish.

Stadium

Bala Town have played at Maes Tegid in Bala since the 1950s. For European matches they use Rhyl's Belle Vue stadium due to UEFA stadium regulations. They lost a 2021–22 Europa Conference League qualifying match at Park Hall to Sligo Rovers on 8 July 2021.{{Cite web|last=Pritchard|first=Tom|date=2021-06-15|title=TNS, Bala and Newtown discover Europa Conference League opponents|url=https://clwbpeldroed.org/2021/06/15/tns-bala-newtown-europa-conference-league/|access-date=2021-07-08|website=Y Clwb Pêl-droed – Your home for Welsh football|language=en-GB}}

European record

class="wikitable"

! Season

! Competition

! Round

! Club

! Home

! Away

! Aggregate

2013–14

| UEFA Europa League

| 1Q

| {{Flag icon|EST}} Levadia Tallinn

| bgcolor="#ddffdd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–3

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 2–3

2015–16

| UEFA Europa League

| 1Q

| {{Flag icon|LUX}} Differdange

| bgcolor="#ddffdd" style="text-align:center;"| 2–1

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–3

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 3–4

2016–17

| UEFA Europa League

| 1Q

| {{Flag icon|Sweden}} AIK

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–2

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–4

2017–18

| UEFA Europa League

| 1Q

| {{Flag icon|Liechtenstein}} Vaduz

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–2

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–3

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–5

2018–19

| UEFA Europa League

| PR

| {{Flag icon|SMR}} Tre Fiori

| bgcolor="#ddffdd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–3

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–3

rowspan="2" | 2020–21

| rowspan="2" | UEFA Europa League

| 1Q

| {{Flag icon|MLT}} Valletta

| {{n/a}}

| bgcolor="#ddffdd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–0

| {{n/a}}

| {{Flag icon|BEL}} Standard Liège

| {{n/a}}

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–2

| {{n/a}}

2021–22

| UEFA Europa Conference League

| 1Q

| {{Flag icon|NIR}} Larne

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–1

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–2

2022–23

| UEFA Europa Conference League

| 1Q

| {{flagicon|IRL}} Sligo Rovers

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–2

| bgcolor="#ddffdd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–0 {{aet}}

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 2–2 {{pso|3–4}}

2024–25

| UEFA Conference League

| 1Q

| {{flagicon|EST}} Paide Linnameeskond

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–2

| bgcolor="#ffd" style="text-align:center;"| 1–1 {{aet}}

| bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 2–3

;Notes

PR: Preliminary round
1Q: First qualifying round
2Q: Second qualifying round

Current squad

{{updated|3 February 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefaconferenceleague/clubs/2600717--bala/squad/|publisher=Bala Town F.C.|access-date=5 July 2022|title=Og-title-uefaeuropaconferenceleague-team-squad }}