PICTURE BY Wynne Evans shows Arriva Bangor’s cup double winners of 2018/19.
TWO successful clubs are set to return to the local footballing scene in the 2022/23 season.
Both Arriva Bangor and Trearddur Bay have announced their intentions to make a comeback next season via their social media pages.
Arriva, aka the Busmen, enjoyed great success at Sunday League level under founder and manager Kevin Jones before joining Saturday football via the Anglesey League in 2017/18.
And the good times continued when they made that move too as the club won the Elias Cup (3-2 on pens after a 2-2 draw with Bodorgan) and the Benllech Car Boot Trophy (6-4 v Caergybi) in its first season in the AL.
They then reclaimed the Benllech Car Boot Trophy at Llanfairpwll with a stunning 3-2 win against league champions Bryngwran Bulls (After Extra Time) in 2018/19.
After covid-19 put and end to the 2019/20 season early, Arriva decided to take a break this season with manager Jones taking to the field as a referee.
However, they now look to be back on track ahead of the next campaign – and will most likely play at tier five level.
Their biggest star during their time in the AL of course was goal machine Scott Hughes (now with Bethesda Athletic in North Wales Coast West Division One).
The striker, who has netted 16 goals for Pesda this season, banged in over 150 goals in just two-and-a-half seasons in Saturday football during his time at Arriva.
Fellow returning club Trearddur Bay need no introduction of course having been one of the most successful clubs on Anglesey in years gone by.
They lost recently appeared in the Gwynedd League in 2019/20 under the name Trearddur Bay Bulls having joined forces with 2018/19 Anglesey League winners Bryngwran Bulls.
However their best days came under the Trearddur Bay United name. First formed in 2008, the club went on to win 12 trophies in the decade that followed.
They won the prestigious NWCFA Junior Cup (2-1 v St Asaph City) in their first season of existence before lifting the Elias and Dargie cups a season later.
In 2010/11 they won the Anglesey League and moved on up to the Gwynedd League. United also won the Dargie Cup and the Thomas and Williams Cup to land a memorable treble.
Upon moving up to the Gwynedd League, they won the Gwynedd Cup in their first season before going unbeaten in the league to be crowned champions in 2012/13.
In 2015/16, they were crowned Welsh Alliance One champions.
Bay then decided to resign from the Welsh Alliance League for the 2018/19 season due to a player shortage before making a return under the Bulls name a season later.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the club will return to action next season with Nick Dumbarton coming in as manager.
They have also announced the experienced brotherly duo of Mel and Dan McGuinness to their coaching team for 22/23.
It will be great to see two great clubs such as these back up and running. Good luck to all involved at both!
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