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Bath City |
|
The Romans |
| Address: |
|
Twerton Park, Twerton,
Bath. BA2 1DB |
| Telephone: |
| 01225 423087/313247 |
| Fax: |
| 01225 481391 |
| Website: |
| www.bathcityfc.com |
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| Map of area |
Directions |
Five Day Weather |
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| Club Notes |
Bath, as one of Europe’s world heritage cities has a long and distinguished history. Founded by King Bladud in 875BC it was a centre of Roman life and later, in Georgian times, became the capital of English high society.
Bath City was formed in 1889 and played at the Belvoir Ground in East Twerton until the 1st World War. After this they played at Lambridge (now the site of Bath Rugby club's training ground), returning to their roots in Twerton in 1932. The club has been at Twerton Park for the last 74 years.
Originally the Club played in local football competitions, then joined the Western League in 1908, progressing to the Southern League in 1921. City played in the Western section of the Southern League, which they won in 1929/30 and 1932/33.
During the 2nd World War City played in a number of unofficial competitions and became the only semi-professional side to win a Football League trophy, the Second Division Northern Section Championship, finishing above Liverpool, Manchester United and Everton. After the war the Club were obliged to revert back to the Southern League.
Post-war the Club won the Southern League championship in 1959/60 and again in 1977/78, when they lost only two league matches during the whole season. In the first championship-winning season, in 1960, the Club played Brighton in the FA Cup when a record 18,020 attended Twerton Park.
In 1979 the Club became founder members of the Alliance Premier League, now the Football Conference, a league in which they remained until 1986/87. Relegated in that season they bounced back to the Conference two years later. Bath continued in the Conference until relegation in the 1996/97 season. Even this was nearly avoided when the Club won eight and drew three of their last thirteen games.
Off the field, dramatic events have taken place over the last few years. Despite ten years of ground sharing with Bristol Rovers and good FA Cup runs, City continued to spend more than they earned. In December 1997, matters finally came to a head when, faced with mounting debts, the Club’s major shareholder negotiated for the Independent Supporters Association to take over the running of the Club. In 2002, the Supporters Society (‘Trust’) was set up with the help of ‘Supporters Direct’ and in one year raised nearly £250,000 from Trust members and private shareholders to buy back the club and regain control from the majority shareholder. The club is now run with proper financial planning and the Board works closely with the Supporters Society (now the major shareholder) and the Supporters Club.
Former City player and Wales international, Paul Bodin, managed the club for 3 seasons before making way for Alan Pridham in May 2001. The club narrowly avoided relegation by winning their final 2 matches of the 2001-02 season and improved to 14th place in 2002-3. After a poor start to 2003-4, Pridham was replaced by Gary Owers. He guided City to 6th place in 2004-5, narrowly missing out on the play offs but the season’s highlight was reaching the 2nd round of the FA Cup. City beat Barnet 2-1 in the first round before bowing out 2-0 at Peterborough United.
John Relish took over as manager in May 2005 and guided City to their highest position for many years as they finished runners-up. However, a play-off defeat to Bedford extended City’s stay in the Southern League.
City have a proud FA Cup history having reached the third round proper no fewer than six times. Wins against league clubs along the way have included Crystal Palace, Exeter City, Notts. County, Millwall, Southend United and in recent years, Cardiff City and Hereford United.
CITY'S PAST HEROES
Stan Mortenson (played for Bath before and after the war), Tony Book (nine years at Twerton Park before going with Malcolm Allison to Manchester City), Paul Randall (ex-Stoke and Bristol Rovers, record goal scorer) and Jason Dodd (Southampton). |
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|
Venue
|
Matches
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
Goals
|
+ / -
|
|
Home |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
7 - 5 |
+2 |
|
Away |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 - 9 |
-7 |
|
Neutral |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 - 0 |
+0 |
|
Total
|
8
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
9 - 14
|
-5
|
|
Date
|
Comp.
|
Venue
|
Score
|
Stadium
|
Crowd
|
|
28.11.1998
|
Southern League / Premier Division |
Home
|
1 - 3 |
Victoria Ground
|
|
|
26.09.1998
|
Southern League / Premier Division |
Away
|
0 - 3 |
Twerton Park
|
|
|
13.04.1998
|
Southern League / Premier Division |
Away
|
1 - 3 |
Twerton Park
|
603
|
|
19.08.1997
|
Southern League / Premier Division |
Home
|
3 - 1 |
Victoria Ground
|
568
|
|
05.12.1989
|
Southern League / Premier Division |
Home
|
0 - 0 |
Victoria Ground
|
563
|
|
05.09.1989
|
Southern League / Premier Division |
Away
|
1 - 3 |
Twerton Park
|
591
|
|
25.04.1989
|
Southern League / Premier Division |
Away
|
0 - 0 |
Twerton Park
|
|
|
12.11.1988
|
Southern League / Premier Division |
Home
|
3 - 1 |
Victoria Ground
|
759
|
|
|