The future of football in Bangor remains unclear as the city's biggest club are still in the dark about where they will be playing their home games next season. Bangor 1876 was formed by supporters of now-defunct Bangor City FC and have been playing their home games at Treborth on the outskirts of the city.

But with the club looking likely to gain promotion to the second tier Cymru North, it is now hoped that the club could move to UEFA-accredited Nantporth Stadium. Following a meeting at the city's Crosville Club earlier this week, it has now come to light that one of the club's main backers could pull out if 1876 "jump into bed" with Nantporth CIC, who currently run the stadium.

In a letter to the directors of Bangor 1876 FC which has been made public, Watkin Property Ventures said: "We refer to our recent discussions regarding the need for Bangor 1876 to find an additional playing facility should, as expected, the club achieve promotion at the end of this playing season. The most obvious venue, following promotion, would be to play at Nantporth but as it stands there is an incumbent tenant, CIC, that is in breach of their lease with the landlord, Bangor City Council.

READ MORE: M56 bridge demolition will disrupt traffic to Eurovision and North Wales

"From public statements we have seen we understand the current debt between CIC and Bangor City Council is in excess of £60k. Susan and I committed to offer Bangor 1876 financial support at inception of the club as we recognise the need for a football club in Bangor that supports the wider community.

"This was the original reported business plan of CIC, the current tenant at Nantporth, but from our understanding they have been unable to fulfil that obligation. We understand that Bangor 1876 are now under pressure from the FAW to identify where they intend to play their home games next season.

"We understand that The Directors of Bangor 1876 have opened up a dialogue with CIC about using Nantporth for these home games, paying a fee per game to CIC and Bangor 1876 retaining the gate money. This, in an ideal situation, makes sense and keeps Bangor 1876’s overheads similar to those experienced at Treborth.

"Under normal circumstances we would fully support this proposal but we do not believe that these arrangements will benefit Bangor 1876 for anything but the very immediate short term."

What are your thoughts on the situation? Have your say in the comments section

The letter continued: "Bangor 1876 will very quickly become indebted to CIC and in our opinion it is highly likely that The Directors of CIC will hold Bangor 1876 to ransom. In our opinion if arrangements are made between Bangor 1876 and CIC it will also make Bangor City Council’s position untenable as any action the council may take to recover the debt and repossess Nantporth under the current lease arrangements could have consequences for Bangor 1876 and the wider community.

"As we see it the most sensible solution for the wider football community in Bangor would be for CIC to agree a surrender of their lease with Bangor City Council and for Bangor City Council to agree a new lease with a new company formed to act on behalf of the community as was the original CIC business plan. Why they want to continue and hold the community to ransom is very difficult to understand and it is for this reason that we regret to advise that Watkin Property Ventures are unwilling to continue our financial support of Bangor 1876 if they are involved with CIC as in our opinion it will not be for the medium or long term good of Bangor 1876 and the wider community.

"We can confirm our ongoing financial commitment to Bangor 1876 Football Club and the wider mental health initiatives we are working on together provided that you do not 'get back into bed' with the very people you left several years ago. This may appear to be a hard line and I’m sure it will lead to a lot of initial disappointment from the directors of Bangor 1876, the fans and wider community but in our opinion a stand has to be made now for the greater medium and longer-term future of football in Bangor and the wider community."

Bangor 1876 have now responded with a statement of their own, agreeing with the sentiments of Watkin Property Ventures Ltd. The club's statement said: "At yesterday evening’s meeting of Bangor 1876, a great many people expressed their disappointment that Bangor City Council has not progressed with the course of action they said they would concerning the management and running of Nantporth. The fans in attendance were generally very much in agreement with the concerns raised by Mark Watkin Jones in his letter - we now hope that Bangor City Council and the CIC will come together in order to resolve this situation in a satisfactory and amicable manner."

Nantporth CIC and Bangor City Council have been approached for comment.

READ NEXT: