Bangor City: Former Welsh champions spared relegation at appeal

Bangor City have been spared relegation to Welsh football's third tier after a 42-point deduction was halved.

The three-time Welsh champions were issued with multiple charges for alleged breaches of FAW rules in May.

The Citizens appealed against what they described as a "humiliating" deduction that would have seen them relegated.

But, after submitting fresh information, an appeal panel reduced the sanction to 21 points with Hollywell Town relegated instead.

Bangor survive on goal difference as Hollywell suffer for finishing third from bottom of the Huws Gray Alliance.

The Citizens have also been fined £700 over the charges that included fielding ineligible players.

The original 42-point punishment would have seen them relegated for the second successive season over off the field issues.

The Citizens were demoted from the Welsh Premier League at the end of the 2017-18 season after being refused a domestic licence.

Last week the club staved off a High Court winding up order for the third time in 12 months.

At court in London, counsel for HM Revenue & Customs said the latest tax debt - said to be £2,856.36 - had been paid and asked for the winding up petition to be dismissed with costs.

Judge Mark Mullen agreed and dismissed the petition.

Two petitions were also dismissed in the summer of 2018 after Bangor City Football Club Ltd settled debts.

Bangor City FC Supporters Association (BCFCSA) voted in favour of forming a new club in May, concerned by the way Bangor was being run.

The new club - called Bangor 1876 - was confirmed last week as being granted permission by the FAW to begin life in the fifth-tier Gwynedd League next season.

In a statement, the Football Association of Wales confirmed that the points deduction has been reduced, with a secondary charge carrying a nine-point penalty removed.

Bangor remain under a transfer embargo.