Ben Arthurs Completes Suspension and Returns to Bangor

Ben Arthurs has served his time. Now comes the hard part.

The Bangor striker has completed a three‑month suspension after an anti-doping test detected a banned substance following an Irish Premiership match in March, and he is free to play again when the new season starts.

The 28-year-old was tested after Bangor’s game against Glentoran on 10 March, a match the east Belfast side won 4-0. The sample triggered an adverse analytical finding for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) confirmed in a statement on Thursday.

Bangor moved quickly in April, suspending Arthurs while saying only that they were "unable to provide further details" as the investigation unfolded. The detail has now arrived from UKAD.

Under its rules, athletes can receive a reduced three‑month ban if they prove the substance was used out of competition and not to enhance sporting performance. Arthurs admitted taking cocaine for “recreational purposes within a social setting”, and an independent expert concluded the drug use most likely took place before the day of the Glentoran fixture.

That distinction mattered. It kept the punishment at the lower end of the scale and ensured the forward’s season would not be wiped out before it even began.

Arthurs was provisionally suspended on 7 April. By the time UKAD confirmed the outcome this week, the calendar had already done much of the work. His ban is deemed fully served, and he has quietly rejoined Bangor’s pre-season programme.

Now, instead of facing a long exile, he is eligible to line up at Clandeboye Park on 15 August, when Lee Feeney’s side open their 2026-27 Irish Premiership campaign against Cliftonville.

For Bangor, it means a proven goalscorer is back in the fold. Arthurs is heading into his ninth season with the Seasiders and sits second on the club’s all-time scoring list, a figure that underlines both his longevity and his importance to a team punching hard to establish itself at the top level.

The episode, though, will not be easily forgotten. A positive test for a cocaine metabolite carries a stigma that does not vanish with an administrative end date, especially in a tight-knit football community.

Bangor have yet to publicly expand on their stance since the ban was confirmed, and BBC NI has approached both the Irish Football Association and the Northern Ireland Football League for comment.

What is clear is this: when Cliftonville walk out at Clandeboye Park on opening day, all eyes will drift towards the familiar No 9. How Arthurs responds, on the pitch and beyond it, will shape not only his own story but a significant chapter in Bangor’s modern history.