The Intermediate B Championship is underway
Joanna Williamson (black) - Bangor Ladies Football Club

NORTH DOWN LADIES F.C.

The Clubs first A.G.M. planned for Monday 24th October elected a Committee to set up the clubs constitution and govern all aspects of the clubs development in North Down for 2 years. The Next G.M. will be held in October 07.
First and foremost, the newly elected Committee of North Down Ladies would like to thank you for your interest and hopefully your contribution to the 2006 season, which will challenge the resources and hunger of all the players at the club.
The management and coaching staff are delighted by the efforts and commitment put in by all our members so far and hope to galvanised the spirit with the club and mould that into some success onto the pitch.
Our initial aim to firmly establish ourselves in North Down and the surrounding areas by the end of October 2006 which will bring our end of season promotional campaign to a conclusion.
In early preparation for the 2007 season which will be getting underway in late April, the Senior club will report back to training in February 07 and start a very calculated and period of Pre-Season training.
Our goals for 2006 will be realistic: a top four finish in our division will represent another huge achievement and while we can hope to do some damage in the Cup competitions, a cup final appearance will be above our expectations but not beyond them. Focus in our first year will again be on building up a reputation as a top class side and the Committee are quietly confident, will can bring success to the club in a number of areas in 2006.

BANGOR LADIES F.C.

After recent negotiations, we will hope to endorse the clubs connection and relationship with BANGOR FC by playing under their identity and putting together a media package which will be of mutual benefit to the club, the members of the club and to the main sponsors who we intend to contract up to 2008.
We have now affiliated to the sports governing body the Northern Ireland Ladies Football Association and were accepted as bona fide member of the league and the club will be playing their home matches in Bangor either Clandeboye Park Bangor or The Valentine Playing Fields. The club will be training every Tuesday at The Valentines Playing Fields in Bangor and hope to have an under 14 (Junior) Section of the club up along side the Senior Club and running next season. In April the League should get underway and we are looking forward to the challenges this season will bring.

Bangor Football Club supports North Down ladies

Our membership will officially close on June 31st 2006 with a Senior Club membership at a maximum 24, hopefully with a number of Juniors coming through the ranks, our plans for 2006 are to develop the club further and the committee are developing a structure to challenge our present coaching policies with a Coaching Committee which was effective from March 2006.
Once coming to the club, you will be expected to Register your intention to join, by filling in a Registration Form and making a payment of £10. This amount will be expected three weeks after joining the club. An additional Subscription Fee on £30 will be expected and have to be paid by March 31st in preparation for the incoming season and the expenditure of running the club. Junior Registration Fees are £5 with a Subscription of £15 in March.
Training in 2006 will take place for the Senior Section, no matter what the weather, commencing Sunday and continue every Sunday until November 30th at the Valentine Playing Fields, Castle Park Road (Cineplex end), Bangor, from 1.45 until 4 p.m.
This year’s training will cease when the club travel down to Dublin later in the year for a game against a Ladies team, followed by a FUN RUN in the 2006 Dublin Marathon
Training for the 2006 has got underway and all Seniors will be reporting for what promises to be an intense Pre-Season programme leading up to the Divisional campaigns in May.
NDLFC plan two major promotional tournaments during the 2006 season - A Invitational Knock Out 4-Team Tournament late season and a trip to the Republic towards to the end of our first ever competitive season.

Northern Ireland Ireland’s Football Association

The Senior Squad will be selected in March 2006 and the Divisional Campaigns will get underway in May.
The North Down First XI are scheduled to compete in the Intermediate B Division along with Carrick Rangers, Knockbreda, Larne, Wellington, Belfast Banks, PSNI and Ards Raiders.
The Divisional Cup will also get underway in June with the quarter finals.
The first round of the Premier Cup will take place in May when we face Carrick Rangers away.
All members of the club should have a fixture list which were handed out by the second week in April.
Northern Ireland’s biggest growing sport - ladies football, has finally returned to Bangor, after an absence of five years, bringing the ‘beautiful game’ back to the town.
Although there have been a number of ladies football clubs associated with the town, the most previous one was North Down Star who were formed in 1997, and in its short four year history, made quite an spectacular impact in the sport with a 3rd division title and league cup triumph in 1999 which subsequently secured promotion to the second division in 2000, where the young side, also cleaned up with another equally impressive league championship and cup double success, gaining them access to the top flight in Northern Ireland - the First Division, but the club sadly folded at the end of the following 2001 season - after 4 years in the sports governing body The Northern Ireland Women’s Football Association.

Northern Ireland Ireland Womens Football Association

Ladies football though, has gone from strength to strength in the NIWFA, who have continued to enjoy a massive growth in popularity.
Consequently at the start of the 2006 season in May this year, there were over forty five ladies clubs spread geographically all over Northern Ireland.
With the sport rapidly losing its negative stereo type image, it is now widely accepted globally as a entertaining and legitimate sport, with both the Ladies European Championships and World Cup qualifying rounds being screened by Sky TV and more recently: Arsenal Ladies 5-0 thrashing of Leeds on Bank Holiday Monday by the BBC1, underlining it’s popularity and the growing interest in the game.
With the emergence of more and more young players wanting to play football, particularly over the last few years, the trend has been set in a lot of local primary schools which have seen the sport thrive with enthusiasm with kids welcoming it as part of the physical education programme.
This pattern has progressed and is reflected in the secondary education sector, with many modern curriculums introducing ladies football to be on a par with more traditional female related sports like netball and hockey.
In North Down, it is worth noting that school football teams are now interactive with other regional Education Boards with competitive leagues featuring local teams from Glenlola Collegiate, Sullivan High and Bangor Academy, along with neighbouring Regent House, Movilla High School, Strathern, Dundonald High, Castlereagh College and Our Lady and Saint Patrick’s - all who have both after school classes and Northern Ireland representatives within their ranks.
The formation of a local side, will give more young talented players the opportunity to get involved in the game of football. Players can now start to train and sign up for the Bangor club, in preparation for the start of 2007 season in April next year, when the team, who have already confirmed a local venue, will affiliate and compete competitively in the N.I.W.F.A. as BANGOR LADIES - The offical ladies Section of the Irish League side.

Northern Ireland Ireland Womens Football Association

Behind the scenes in this initiative is former North Down Star player Paula Dougherty, who captained the Bangor based side, during its most successful years. Paula, a highly motivated and experienced sportswoman, has long established links with a number of local clubs and is most prominent as a longstanding member of Bangor Netball Club. Paula plans to set up a committee in order to make sure the affairs of the club are up and running within the next few months.
With two neighbouring ladies football clubs in Ards and another in Portaferry, the time seemed right to establish a ladies football club in Bangor to represent the whole of North Down and give local players the opportunity to play the beautiful game, whether just for fun, fitness or at a competitive level.
Training will start next weekend (3rd Sept.) and be held every Sunday at The Valentine Playing Fields, Bangor (Cineplex end) - with a programme of coaching which will concentrate on the three elements of the modern day footballer: Physical - cardia vascular conditioning; tactical - team formations, offsides, principles of attack and defence; and finally technique - skills, shielding, heading, passing etc.

For more information and details please contact
Andy Craig, Club Coach 07732 277854
Club Secretary Paula Dougherty on 07789 965547
Or come down to the training - New Players Always Welcome.
EMAIL PAULA DOUGHERTY