Bath City F.C.

Bath City

Full name	Bath City Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Romans, The Stripes
Founded	1889; 132 years ago (1889) (as Bath AFC)
Ground	Twerton Park
Capacity	3,528 (1,006 seated)[1]
Chairman	Nick Blofeld
Manager	Jerry Gill
League	National League South
2020–21	National League South (season curtailed)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. Formed in 1889 as Bath AFC, the club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently compete in the National League South, English football's sixth tier.

They play their home matches at Twerton Park, wear black and white striped shirts, black shorts, and white socks and are traditionally called "The Romans" or ‘The Stripes". Their current manager is former player Jerry Gill.

Bath City's history is entirely in non-league football, missing out on election to the Football League by a few votes in 1978 and again in 1985.^[2] The club have a good history with the FA Cup, reaching the Third Round no less than six times, and have beaten league sides including Crystal Palace (in 1931), Cardiff City and Millwall.^[3]

History[]

In 1889 Bath City were formed as Bath AFC and began to play at the Belvoir ground. In 1908 they commenced playing competitive league format football, joining the Western League Division Two. For the 1921–22 season they moved up to Southern League, English section. Here they remained until the Second World War when they were by chance accepted to join the temporary Division Two Northern Division competing with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Everton, finishing the eventual champions, thereby becoming the only semi-professional side ever to win a Football League trophy. After the War they were forced to resume playing in the Southern League which they won in the 1959–60 season. A year later they were runners up in the same league.

Over the next thirteen years they were three times relegated into and again promoted from the Southern League Division one. In the 1977–78 season they won the Southern League title for a second time. For the next season they fell short of election to the Football League by a narrow margin [1] so they became founder members of the Alliance Premier League, now the Conference National. They finished runners-up at this level in 1985 but champions Wealdstone did not meet Football League stadium capacity requirements, so Bath City were allowed to apply for election to the Football League Fourth Division (the election system was in its penultimate season before the introduction of automatic promotion and relegation). They narrowly missed out on election to the Football League.

In 1989 however they were relegated back to the Southern League but were promoted back next season. Here they remained until they were relegated once more to the Southern League in 1997.

They narrowly missed out on promotion to the Conference South in the season 2005–06 season finishing second in the Southern League and lost to Bedford Town. However the following season they won promotion as winners of the Southern League in their second season under manager John Relish.

They finished in 8th position in the Conference South in the 2007–08 season. In the same season they developed a local arrangement to establish a junior footballing set-up called Bath City Youth. This set-up is now being developed into a football academy and in October 2008 manager John Relish moved aside from managerial duties to concentrate on creating this. He was replaced by his former assistant Adie Britton.

On 9 May 2010 Bath City won the Conference South Play-off final against Woking 1–0 and returned to the Conference Premier for the first time since 1997.

On 25 November 2010 Bath City's away game in the Conference against Histon was televised on Premier Sports where Bath City won 2–1 making it Bath City's second live televised football match after the FA Cup Tie v Hereford United shown on BSkyB on 5 December 1993. Their 3rd live televised match was in 2011 when Bath city lost 3–1 a.e.t against Dagenham and Redbridge on ESPN. However, ESPN did not play the extra time, instead cut back after the end of the match.

In the 2011–12 season, Bath City had a terrible run of bad results, therefore being relegated from the Conference National, needing 17 points from the remaining five fixtures to stay up. They were the first football club in the top five divisions of England to be relegated. They are currently playing in the Conference South following this relegation.

The club's performances have been mixed since, with the club just three points from the play-offs in the 2013/14 season. They did have success in the 2014/15 season, reaching the semi-final of the FA Trophy, beating Dover Athletic, Altrincham FC and local rivals Bristol Rovers, en route to losing on penalties to eventual winners, North Ferriby United.

Community ownership[]

In June 2015 "Big Bath City Bid" was launched by filmmaker and Bath fan Ken Loach to turn the club into a community-owned, ‘one member one vote’ club, in an effort to develop the club and clear its debts.^[4][5] In September 2016 the appeal achieved its £300,000 target to turn the club into a community-owned asset.^[6] The community ownership received backing from around the world, including ex-Manchester Utd footballer, Eric Cantona.^[7] On 5 May 2017, the club completed its transition to community ownership, and the major shareholder is Bath City Supporters Society Ltd with 54.6%.^[8][9]

COVID-19 pandemic[]

On 16 March 2020, the National League Board announced the suspension of all National League football until at least 3 April, due to the rapidly developing COVID-19 pandemic.^[10] On 31 March, the suspension was extended indefinitely^[11] and, on 22 April, all remaining league matches were cancelled.^[12] Following a vote by National League member clubs, it was agreed that final league tables would be compiled on an “unweighted points per game” basis and that end of season play-offs would proceed.^[13] City finished in 4th place, the club's highest league finish since 2012.^[14] Supporters donated £53,025^[15] to the club to help cover the extra costs of participating in the playoffs, such as COVID-19 testing for all players and backroom staff. City were beaten 2-1 by Dorking Wanderers in the play-off eliminator at Twerton Park.^[16]

The 2020–21 National League South season did not commence until 6 October 2020, following confirmation of financial support from the UK Government to compensate clubs for having to play 'behind closed doors'.^[17] The club established a livestreaming service, allowing supporters to remotely watch games played at Twerton Park.^[18] The season was disrupted by a number of fixture postponements caused by positive COVID-19 tests within the City squad and National League South opponents.^[19][20] On 22 January 2021, with increasing uncertainty about continued financial support for National League member clubs, the National League Board announced that the National League South would be halted immediately for a two-week period.^[21] On 18 February 2021, following a vote by National League member clubs, National League South was declared null and void with immediate effect.^[22] City were in 18th position at the time, having played thirteen games.

European record[]

In 1977 and 1978, Bath City were one of six clubs to represent England in the Anglo-Italian Cup, a now defunct European football competition. They qualified as the English finalist in both tournaments but lost to Lecco (1977)^[23] and Udinese (1978)^[24] respectively. During the group stage of the 1977 tournament, the club recorded impressive victories over Parma and Bari.

Season	Competition	Round	Date	Opposition	Home	Away
1976–77	Anglo-Italian Cup	First stage	27 April 1977	Bari	2–1	N/A
			30 April 1977	Turris	2–0	N/A
		Second stage	22 June 1977	Parma	N/A	1–0
			25 June 1977	Teramo	N/A	0–4
		Final	29 June 1977	Lecco	N/A	0–3
1977–78		First stage	22 March 1978	Arezzo	5–0	N/A
			25 March 1978	Paganese	2–0	N/A
		Second stage	20 June 1978	Udinese	N/A	1–3
			25 June 1978	Treviso	N/A	2–0
		Final	28 June 1978	Udinese	N/A	0–5

Stadium[]

Bath City play their home games at Twerton Park, Twerton, Bath, Somerset, BA2 1DB.

Twerton Park became Bath City's ground in 1932; it is located in Twerton, a suburb of Bath. It currently has a reduced ground capacity of 3,528,^[25] with a seating capacity of 1,006. A record attendance of 18,020 was recorded in 1960 versus Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup.

Between 1986 and 1996, Bath City shared Twerton Park with Bristol Rovers, who were a Football League club. It has also hosted Team Bath, who were a full-time professional team playing in the Conference South until their resignation at the end of the 2008–09 season.

On 21 August 2008, Bath City's chairman Geoff Todd stated that "the club held talks with Bath Rugby over a possible ground share at the Rec" meaning in the future, Bath City could move to the Recreation Ground. At the end of the 2011–12 season the club offered the naming rights to Twerton Park for just £50. The offer drew 167 entries from as far afield as the US, Australia, Norway and Singapore which raised £3,850 for the club. Businesses made up 58 of the entries with only a handful of the remaining personalised entries being deemed unsuitable. The winning entry drawn at random was The Mayday Trust, a charitable organisation that helps to rehome vulnerable people.

The club released plans to redevelop the ground and local area, containing a new grandstand, 3G pitch and housing in a bid to secure the immediate financial future of the club.^[26] In March 2020, the plans were rejected.^[27]

In August 2020, it was announced that Bristol City Women would play the majority of home games at Twerton Park during the 2020-21 FA Women’s Super League season.^[28]

Mascot[]

Since the 2010–11 season, the club mascot has been Bladud the Pig, named after the legendary king of the Britons who is said to have founded the city of Bath and kept a herd of pigs. At the club's home games, he can frequently be seen waving to the crowd, performing press-ups and entertaining younger supporters. In 2019, Bladud the Pig won the Mascot South West Grand National.^[29]

Rivals[]

Due to the lack of other large football clubs in Somerset, Bath have had few main local rivals. Though, historically, Bath's main rivals were Yeovil Town F.C., Weymouth, Newport County A.F.C. and Trowbridge Town FC. The four clubs have been moving in opposite directions in league standings over recent years, being as many as five divisions apart from one another during the 2013–14 season. Newport, were promoted to the Conference Premier for the 2010–11 season, and now participate in the Football League Two, three leagues above Bath. However, Yeovil's subsequent decline means that as of the 2019–20 season Bath currently sit just one tier below.

As of recent years, Bath have forged rivalries with Chippenham Town F.C. and Weston-super-Mare A.F.C., due to the proximity between the clubs, both based on location and league positions.

Both Bristol Rovers and Bristol City aren't considered rivals, having never competed against each other in the league, and have formed friendly relations with the Romans, often sending youth players on loan.

In addition to the two Bristol clubs, Bath have formed a friendly relationship with Italian side Calcio Lecco. The clubs played against each other in the 1977 Anglo-Italian Cup Final, with the Italian side triumphing. This did not sour relations, with fans of both sides celebrating the 40th anniversary of the game in 2017 with a supporters match held in Lecco's Stadio Rigamonti-Ceppi ground.^[30]

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 18 September 2021^[31]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Ryan Clarke 2 MF  ENG Joe Raynes 3 DF  ENG Dan Ball 4 DF  ENG Ben Gerring 5 DF  ENG Jack Batten 6 DF  WAL Callum Wood (on loan from Bristol City) 7 GK  ENG Alex Fletcher 8 MF  JAM Omar Holness 9 FW  ENG Cody Cooke 10 MF  ENG Tom Smith

No. Pos. Nation Player 11 MF  ENG Elliott Frear 12 DF  ENG Eddie Jones 13 GK  ENG Will Fuller 14 MF  ENG Ryan Harley 15 MF  ENG Lloyd James 16 MF  ENG Tom Richards 17 MF  AUS Marlee Francois (on loan from Bristol City) 18 MF  ENG Josh Owers (on loan from Bristol City) 19 FW  WAL Momodou Touray (on loan from Salford City) — GK  ENG Archie Matthews (on loan from Birmingham City)

Out on loan[]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG Harley Wilkinson (on loan at Clevedon Town)

Club captains, players of the season and top scorers[]

The following table shows players who have previously been selected to be club captain, have been named the Supporters' Player of the Season and have received the Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals (all competitions) in a season.^[32][33] The table is in chronological order and begins from the 1984–85 season:

Season	Club Captain	Player of the Season	Golden Boot	Goals
1984–85	Dave Palmer	Dave Mogg	Garry Smith	16
1985–86	Jeff Sherwood	Jeff Sherwood	Dave Singleton	16
1986–87	Dave Palmer	Paul Bodin	Paul Bodin	27
1987–88	Dave Palmer	David Craig	Paul Bodin	14
1988–89	Dave Palmer	Micky Smith	John Freegard	27
1989–90	Dave Palmer	Chris Banks	Paul Randall	51
1990–91	Dave Palmer, Chris Banks	Paul Randall	Paul Randall	22
1991–92	Chris Banks	Ian Hedges	Paul Randall	26
1992–93	Chris Banks	Richard Crowley	Richard Crowley	13
1993–94	Chris Banks, Nicky Brooks	Dave Mogg	Paul Adcock	23
1994–95	Nicky Brooks, Ian Hedges	Dave Mogg	Dean Birkby	19
1995–96	Nicky Brooks, Ian Hedges	Rob Cousins	Graham Withey	13
1996–97	Nicky Brooks, Ian Hedges	Mark Harrington	Mike Davis	21
1997–98	Nicky Brooks, Colin Towler	Ian Hedges	Mike Davis	23
1998–99	Colin Towler	Mike Davis	Martin Paul	30
1999–00	Colin Towler	Colin Towler	Martin Paul	30
2000–01	Colin Towler	Jon Holloway	Martin Paul	19
2001–02	Colin Towler, Gary Thorne	Gary Thorne	Adrian Foster	21
2002–03	Gary Thorne, Gary Kemp	Andy Williams	Jason Eaton	16
2003–04	Steve Jones	Matt Coupe	Scott Partridge	18
2004–05	Bobby Ford	Jim Rollo	John Williams	19
2005–06	Bobby Ford, Jim Rollo	Gethin Jones	Scott Partridge	23
2006–07	Jim Rollo	Chris Holland	Scott Partridge	18
2007–08	Jim Rollo	Matt Coupe	Dave Gilroy	26
2008–09	Jim Rollo	Chris Holland	Dave Gilroy	22
2009–10	Jim Rollo	Adam Connolly, Lewis Hogg	Darren Edwards	25
2010–11	Lewis Hogg	Sido Jombati	Lee Phillips	16
2011–12	Jim Rollo, Gethin Jones	Sekani Simpson	Sean Canham	11
2012–13	Gethin Jones	Jason Mellor	Charlie Griffin	20
2013–14	Andy Gallinagh	Dave Pratt	Dave Pratt	18
2014–15	Andy Gallinagh	Dave Pratt	Dave Pratt	22
2015–16	Andy Gallinagh, Steve Phillips	Dan Ball	Dave Pratt	10
2016–17	Frankie Artus	Andy Watkins	Andy Watkins	14
2017–18	Anthony Straker	Luke Southwood	Jack Compton	12
2018–19	Anthony Straker	Robbie Cundy	Ross Stearn	14
2019–20	Ryan Clarke		Tom Smith	17
2020–21	Ryan Clarke	N/A	N/A	N/A

Notable former players[]

Bath City have a long list of notable former players, including one of the best English players. During World War II, Stan Mortensen relocated to the south and played for the Romans 45 times, scoring 27 in the process. Other notable players to turn out for the Stripes include Bobby Zamora, Tony Book, Paul Bodin, Alan Skirton and Charlie Fleming.

Club staff[]

The current manager is Jerry Gill, who was appointed in October 2017.^[34] Gill previously played for the club between 1990 and 1996, making over 200 appearances.^[35]

Backroom staff[]

As of 22nd June 2021^[36]

Position	Name
Manager	Jerry Gill
Assistant Manager	Jim Rollo
Physiotherapist	Steve Lock
Sports Scientist	Vacant (TBC)
Goalkeeping Coach	Mark Harrison
Sports Therapist	Toby Wellington
Sports Masseur	Omar El Bezra
Academy Coach	Billy Clark
Scout	Mike Ford
Kit Manager	Simon Jenkins

Board of directors[]

As of 21 December 2020^[37]

Position	Name
Chairman	Nick Blofeld
Football Chairman	Paul Williams
Community Director	Joy Saunders
Sales & Marketing Director	Jon Bickley
Commercial Director	Matthew Falk
Director of Operations	Shane Morgan
Director	Andrew Pierce
Director	John Reynolds

Managerial history[]

From 1967 onwards:

Years	Manager
1967–1970	Arnold Rodgers
1970–1971	Johnny Petts
1971–1972	Joe O'Neil
1972–1973	Dave Burnside
1973	Roy Bence
1973–1975	Bert Head
1975–1976	Jack Smith
1976–1979	Brian Godfrey
1979	Mike Burns
1979–1980	Bob Boyd
1980–1982	Stuart Taylor
1982–1988	Bobby Jones
1988	Paul Gover
1988	Harold Jarman
1988–1999	Les Alderman
1989	Jeff Evans
1989–1991	George Rooney
1991–1996	Tony Ricketts
1996–1998	Steve Millard
1998–2001	Paul Bodin
2001–2003	Alan Pridham
2003–2005	Gary Owers
2005–2008	John Relish
2008–2012	Adie Britten
2012–2016	Lee Howells
2016–2017	Gary Owers
2017–	Jerry Gill

Shirt sponsors[]

Period	Kit Supplier	Shirt Sponsor
1985–1987	Umbro	Avon Graphics
1987–1988		Diners
1988–1989		Beazer Homes
1989–1990	Spall	Rajani
1990–1992	Umbro	Design Windows
1992–1993	Activity	Bath Advertiser
1993–1996	Vandanel
1996–1997		Bath Chronicle
1997–1998	ICiS
1998–2000	Vandanel
2000–2002	Branded	Technic-Cal
2002–2003		Bentley Jennison
2003–2006	Errea	Bath Chronicle
2006–2007		John Crick
2007–2008	Sports Italia	Tilley's Bistro
2008–2010	Joma	SN Scaffolds
2010		Inter Payroll
2010–2014		Moore Stephens
2014–2015	Jako	Tilley's Bistro
2015–2016	Errea	Midland Car Company
2016–2017		Sitec
2017–2018		Vass of Bath Ltd
2018–2019		Bristol Airport
2019–2020	Bristol Sport
2020–2021	Errea	BWW Communications
2021–Present	Errea

Records[]

• Highest League position – 4th in Football Conference (1984–85)
• Best FA Cup performance – 3rd Round Replay v. Bolton Wanderers (1963–64) and v. Stoke City (1993–94)
• Best FA Trophy performance – Semi-finals v. North Ferriby United (2014–15)
• Highest home attendance – 18,020 v. Brighton & Hove Albion FC (9 January 1960)
• Most appearances – 515, Dave Mogg (1982–1988; 1992–1997)
• Most goals scored (overall) – 216, Charlie Fleming (1958–1965)
• Most goals scored (in a season) – 51, Paul Randall (1989–90)
• Most League goals scored (in a season) – 37, Charlie Fleming
• Record transfer fee paid – £16,000 to Bristol City for Micky Tanner (1988)
• Record transfer fee received – £80,000 from Southampton FC for Jason Dodd (1989)

Most appearances[]

As of 21 December 2020^[38]

#	Player	Period	Appearances
1	Dave Mogg	1982–1988; 1992–1997	515
2	Tony Ricketts	1979–1986; 1988–1996	506
3	Tony Gough	1956–1957; 1963–1970; 1972–1974	502
4	Jim Rollo	1997; 1999; 2002–2012; 2013–2016	484
5	Dave Palmer	1980–1993	445
6	Dave Singleton	1981–1993	415
7	Paul Gover	1971–1982	398
8	Keith Brown	1981–1986; 1989–1993	394
9	Tony Book	1956–1964	387
10	Sekani Simpson	2006–2016; 2016-2017	383

Most goals scored[]

As of 21 December 2020^[39]

#	Player	Period	Goals
1	Charlie Fleming	1958–1965	216
2	William Hyman	1900–1902; 1903–1907; 1908; 1910–1911	134
3	Martin Paul	1996–2001; 2005; 2007–2008	115
4	Paul Randall	1989–1993	112
5	Graham Withey	1980–1982; 1986; 1986–1988; 1991–1993; 1995–1997	109
6	Len Pickard	1955–??	95
7	Dave Singleton	1981–1993	93
8	Dave McCulloch	1944; 1946–1949	88
9	Ernie Coombs	1933; 1934–??	84
10	Jimmy Newman	1950–??	83

Honours[]

Bath City's honours include the following:^[40]

• Conference South (level 6)
  • Play-off winners: 2009–10
• Southern League (level 7)
  • Champions: 1959–60, 1977–78, 2006–07
  • Runners up: 1929–30, 1932–33, 1961–62, 1989–90, 2005–06
• Western League
  • Champions: 1933–34
  • Runners up: 1913–14, 1934–35
• Western League Division 2
  • Champions: 1928–29
• Southern League Cup
  • Winners: 1978–79
  • Runners up: 1949–50, 1958–59
• Non League Championship Trophy
  • Winners: 1978–79
• Anglo-Italian Cup
  • Runners up: 1976–77, 1977–78
• Somerset Premier Cup
  • Winners: 1929–30, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2007–08

References[]

Sources[]

• Bath City at the Football Club History Database
• Player lists

External links[]

• Official website
• Bath City Youth FC website Archived 14 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine