{{Short description|Association football club in Wales}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Use British English|date=July 2013}} {{Infobox football club | nickname = Lakesiders | ground = [[Maes Tegid]],<br>[[Bala, Gwynedd|Bala]] | capacity = 3,000 (504 seated) | pattern_la1=_macronwyverneco24ws|pattern_b1=_macronwyverneco24ws|pattern_ra1=_macronwyverneco24ws|pattern_so1= | leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000 | pattern_la2=_macronwyverneco24ar|pattern_b2=_macronwyverneco24ar|pattern_ra2=_macronwyverneco24ar|pattern_so2= | leftarm2=555555|body2=555555|rightarm2=555555|shorts2=FF0000|socks2=FF0000 | clubname = Bala Town | image = Bala_Town_F.C._logo.svg | image_size = 195px | fullname = Bala Town Football Club | founded = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1880}} | chairman = Arwel Roberts | manager = Steve Fisher | 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 y Bala|translation=Bala football club}}) is a [[Wales|Welsh]] professional [[association football|football]] club from [[Bala, Gwynedd]], who play in the {{Welsh football updater|BalaTow}}.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> They play their home games at [[Maes Tegid]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref>
==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 F.C.|Corwen]] after two replays.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> After Bala North End, Bala South End and Bala Thursdays 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,<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> After only four seasons in the Cymru Alliance, Bala Town sealed promotion to the [[Cymru Premier]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref> [[File:Maes_Tegid.jpg|thumb|200px|A view of Maes Tegid from the corner]]
Bala Town secured European football for the first time in their history after a [[John Irving (footballer, born 1989)|John Irving]] goal in the 89th minute was enough to see off [[Port Talbot Town F.C.|Port Talbot Town]] 2–1 to ensure the Lakesiders a European place. Bala Town were drawn against Estonian outfit [[FC Levadia Tallinn|Levadia Tallinn]] in the [[UEFA Europa League|Europa League]] first qualifying round but after winning the home leg 1–0, they lost 3–1 in the reverse fixture in [[Kadriorg Stadium|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 F.C.|Rhyl]]'s [[Belle Vue (Rhyl)|Belle Vue]] stadium due to UEFA stadium requirements on both occasions, in Europe.
After finishing second in the [[Welsh Premier League|2015–16 Cymru Premier]] they followed this success up by winning their first [[Welsh Cup]], beating [[The New Saints F.C.|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.
In June 2025 it was announced that Colin Caton had stepped down as manager after 22 years at the club. Before resigning he was the longest serving manager in the Cymru Premier.<ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cx2jd83gm5go</ref>
==Stadium== {{main|Maes Tegid}}
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 UEFA Europa Conference League|2021–22 Europa Conference League]] qualifying match at Park Hall to Sligo Rovers on 8 July 2021.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
==European record== {| class="wikitable" ! Season ! Competition ! Round ! Club ! Home ! Away ! Aggregate |- | [[2013–14 UEFA Europa League|2013–14]] | [[UEFA Europa League]] | [[2013–14 UEFA Europa League#First qualifying round|1Q]] | {{Flag icon|EST}} [[FCI Levadia Tallinn|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|2015–16]] | [[UEFA Europa League]] | [[2015–16 UEFA Europa League#First qualifying round|1Q]] | {{Flag icon|LUX}} [[FC Differdange 03|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|2016–17]] | [[UEFA Europa League]] | [[2016–17 UEFA Europa League#First qualifying round|1Q]] | {{Flag icon|Sweden}} [[AIK Fotboll|AIK]] | bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–2 | bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–2 | bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| '''0–4''' |- | [[2017–18 UEFA Europa League|2017–18]] | [[UEFA Europa League]] | [[2017–18 UEFA Europa League#First qualifying round|1Q]] | {{Flag icon|Liechtenstein}} [[FC Vaduz|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|2018–19]] | [[UEFA Europa League]] | [[2018–19 UEFA Europa League#Preliminary round|PR]] | {{Flag icon|SMR}} [[S.P. Tre Fiori|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 UEFA Europa League|2020–21]] | rowspan="2" | [[UEFA Europa League]] | [[2020–21 UEFA Europa League#First qualifying round|1Q]] | {{Flag icon|MLT}} [[Valletta F.C.|Valletta]] | {{n/a}} | bgcolor="#ddffdd" style="text-align:center;"| '''1–0''' | {{n/a}} |- | [[2020–21 UEFA Europa League#Second qualifying round|2Q]] | {{Flag icon|BEL}} [[Standard Liège]] | {{n/a}} | bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| '''0–2''' | {{n/a}} |- | [[2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League|2021–22]] | [[UEFA Europa Conference League]] | [[2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League#First qualifying round|1Q]] | {{Flag icon|NIR}} [[Larne F.C.|Larne]] | bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–1 | bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| 0–1 | bgcolor="#ffdddd" style="text-align:center;"| '''0–2''' |- | [[2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League|2022–23]] | [[UEFA Europa Conference League]] | [[2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League#First qualifying round|1Q]] | {{flagicon|IRL}} [[Sligo Rovers F.C.|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|2024–25]] | [[UEFA Conference League]] | [[2024–25 UEFA Conference League#First qualifying round|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|25 May 2026}}<ref>{{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 }}</ref> {{Fs start}} {{Fs player|no=1|pos=GK|nat=ENG|name=Joel Torrance}} {{Fs player|no=3|pos=DF|nat=ENG|name=Louis Hall}} {{Fs player|no=4|pos=DF|nat=FRA|name=Nelson Digbeu}} {{Fs player|no=5|pos=DF|nat=ENG|name=Will Bell}} {{Fs player|no=6|pos=MF|nat=ENG|name=Dominic McGiveron}} {{Fs player|no=7|pos=MF|nat=GNB|name=[[Lassana Mendes]]}} {{Fs player|no=8|pos=MF|nat=ENG|name=Nathan Burke}} {{Fs player|no=9|pos=FW|nat=AUS|name=Jacob Tarasenko}} {{Fs player|no=10|pos=FW|nat=WAL|name=John Owen}} {{Fs player|no=11|pos=MF|nat=WAL|name=Liam Higgins}} {{Fs player|no=14|pos=MF|nat=ENG|name=Joshua Samuels}} {{fs mid}} {{Fs player|no=16|pos=DF|nat=ENG|name=Jack Walls}} {{Fs player|no=17|pos=FW|nat=IRL|name=Olamide Ibrahim}} {{Fs player|no=21|nat=ENG|pos=FW|name=Charlie Fisher}} {{Fs player|no=22|nat=SCO|pos=FW|name=Cameron Ferguson}} {{Fs player|no=23|pos=DF|nat=WAL|name=Ross White}} {{Fs player|no=27|nat=ENG|pos=MF|name=Samuel Billington}} {{Fs player|no=28|nat=WAL|pos=DF|name=Callum Roberts}} {{Fs player|no=29|pos=MF|nat=USA|name=Taner Dogan}} {{Fs player|no=30|nat=USA|pos=GK|name=Leif Hunter}} {{Fs player|no=44|pos=DF|nat=WAL|name=Harry Dean}} {{Fs player|no=77|pos=FW|nat=WAL|name=Luca Beck}} {{Fs player|no=99|pos=FW|nat=EGY|name=Hussein Mehasseb}} {{Fs end}}
<!--===Out on loan=== {{Fs start}} {{Fs end}}-->
==Notable former players==
*[[David Artell]] - Former [[Gibraltar national football team|Gibraltar international]] *[[David Edwards (footballer, born 1986)|Dave Edwards]] - Former [[Wales national football team|Wales international]] and Premier League footballer *[[Mark Jones (footballer, born 1984)|Mark Jones]] - Former Wales international *[[Kenny Lunt]] - Over 370 appearances in the English Football League *[[Chris Venables]] - Multiple Cymru Premier Golden boot award winner
''For all players with a Wikipedia article see [[:Category:Bala Town F.C. players]].''
==Honours== {{Incomplete list|date=May 2022}} *[[Cymru Premier]]: **Runners-up (3): [[2014–15 Welsh Premier League|2014–15]], [[2015–16 Welsh Premier League|2015–16]], [[2021–22 Cymru Premier|2021–22]] *[[Welsh Cup]] **Winners (1): [[2016–17 Welsh Cup|2016–17]] *[[Welsh League Cup|Cymru Premier Cup]]: **Winners (1): [[2022–23 Welsh League Cup|2022–23]] **Runners-up (2): [[2013–14 Welsh League Cup|2013–14]], [[2014–15 Welsh League Cup|2014–15]] *[[Cymru Alliance]] **Winners (1): [[2008–09 Cymru Alliance|2008–09]] **Runners-up (2): [[2006–07 Cymru Alliance|2006–07]], [[2007–08 Cymru Alliance|2007–08]] *[[Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Premier Division]] **Winners (1): 2003–04 *[[Cambrian Coast Football League]] **Winners (2): 1958–59; 1962-63 *[[NEWFA Challenge Cup|North East Wales FA Challenge Cup]] **Winners (4): 1971–72, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08 *[[NEWFA Junior Cup|North East Wales FA Junior (Horace Wynne) Cup]] **Winners (1): 1996–97
==Managerial history== *Colin Caton (2003–June 2025)<ref>{{cite web |title=Colin Caton departs Bala Town after historic 22-year tenure |url=https://faw.cymru/cymru-leagues/news/colin-caton-departs-bala-town/ |publisher=Football Association of Wales |access-date=3 June 2025 |date=3 June 2025}}</ref> – 880 matches *Steve Fisher (June 2025<ref>{{cite web |title=New Chapter at Maes Tegid begins! |url=https://www.balatownfc.net/post/new-chapter-at-maes-tegid-begins |publisher=Bala Town FC |access-date=11 June 2025 |date=10 June 2025}}</ref>–)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website| https://www.balatownfc.net/}}
{{Cymru North}} {{Welsh Premier League}}
[[Category:Bala Town F.C.| ]] [[Category:Cymru Premier clubs]] [[Category:Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Premier Division clubs]] [[Category:Sport in Gwynedd]] [[Category:Bala, Gwynedd]] [[Category:Cymru Alliance clubs]] [[Category:Welsh National League (North) clubs]] [[Category:Welsh Cup winners]] [[Category:Cambrian Coast Football League clubs]] [[Category:Cymru North clubs]]