WHILE Bangor’s season may not have ended with a victory, there was no sense of disappointment from manager Lee Feeney.
The Seasiders defied the odds, and the pre-season predictions, by avoiding relegation and retaining their place in the Premiership for next season.
The magnitude of the achievement should not be understated in a changing Irish League landscape, which now includes four full-time teams.
Bangor, guided by Feeney, have risen from intermediate football to compete with much better resourced teams this season, and they can now look forward to back-to-back seasons in the top division for the first time since the mid-1990s.
Feeney is aware of the scale of what his side has achieved this season, but the pragmatic manager looks back at the disappointing defeats, rather than the outstanding victories he oversaw.
“After 38 games, over the course of the season, I can look back and be delighted with what we achieved overall,” reflected the former Linfield forward.
“I can’t pinpoint one moment that stands out for me over the season. I’m the type of person that remembers the games that have annoyed me, where we should have done better or things went wrong.
Taking a more optimistic approach, he added: “Those results will have helped us because we have learned a lot this year and that will help us to improve for next season.
“Achieving our goal of staying in the division with four games to go allowed us to enjoy the final couple of weeks of the season, rather than having to deal with the pressure of must win games.
“We wanted to stay up and we did that with games to spare, which was very pleasing. The celebrations after the final whistle against Crusaders, when we secured our status, will stick with me, and it showed how much it meant to the players and supporters.
“On Saturday, I didn’t think we played badly at all. It was another game in the split where we have gone toe-to-toe with the opposition, but unfortunately, we have conceded some silly goals and not taken enough of the chances that we have created.”
While Feeney and his squad can look forward to another top-flight campaign, the Bangor boss was also looking back at the careers of Michael Halliday and Robbie Garrett, who announced their retirement following Saturday’s full-time whistle.
Halliday, now a month away from a 47th birthday, joined the Seasiders in 2018 and went on to secure three promotions, as he returned to the Premiership, where he had successfully spent much of his career with Glentoran and then Crusaders, for one last season.
Former-Linfield man Garrett was signed by Feeney in 2024, and he looked to the experienced midfielder to help his side to go on and win the Championship.
The impact that both players made at Clandeboye Park is undoubted and Feeney was full of praise for both Halliday and Garrett.
“It will be a big loss for us and a big void that we to have to try and fill,” admitted Feeney.
“The two boys are such big characters and personalities. They get so much respect from their teammates and we have all learned so much from them both.
“As people, they are both unbelievable. I cannot speak highly enough of them as human beings outside of football and I have made two friends for life with both Michael and Robbie.
“It has been an honour to manage them, and it is an honour that they have finished their careers with Bangor. They could have left to go and play more football elsewhere, but they wanted to contribute in the Premiership and that speaks volumes.”
