Ben Arthurs Returns After Three-Month Ban

Ben Arthurs will walk back out at Clandeboye Park next month with a three–month ban behind him and a cloud still hanging over his name.

The Bangor striker has completed a suspension imposed after an anti-doping test detected a banned substance in the wake of an Irish Premiership game against Glentoran on 10 March.

The 28-year-old was stood down by the County Down club in April, Bangor confirming only that they were “unable to provide further details” while an investigation unfolded. The detail arrived on Thursday.

In a statement, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) confirmed that analysis of Arthurs’ sample produced an adverse analytical finding for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.

Under UKAD regulations, athletes can receive a reduced three-month sanction if they prove the substance was taken out of competition and not to enhance performance. Arthurs admitted ingesting cocaine “for recreational purposes within a social setting”, and an independent expert concluded the drug use most likely occurred before the day of the Glentoran game, which Bangor lost 4-0.

That opinion, and his admission, spared him a much longer spell on the sidelines.

Arthurs was provisionally suspended on 7 April, meaning the three-month ban has now been fully served. He has already rejoined pre-season training and is eligible to lead the line when Lee Feeney’s side open their 2026-27 Irish Premiership campaign against Cliftonville at Clandeboye Park on 15 August.

It will be his ninth season at the club. In that time he has climbed to second on Bangor’s all-time goalscoring list, a status that underlines both his importance and the scale of the personal misstep that has brought him into the anti-doping spotlight just as the Irish Premiership era of testing begins.

Doping control was introduced to the Irish Premiership and Women’s Premiership in 2024, in a programme jointly funded by the Irish Football Association (IFA) and the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL).

BBC NI approached both the IFA and NIFL for comment, as the league’s new testing regime confronts its first high-profile case and one of Bangor’s most prolific forwards prepares to face the crowd again.