Bath City F.C.
| Bath City logo | |||
| Full name | Bath City Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | City, The Romans (Unofficial) | ||
| Founded | 1889 as Bath AFC. | ||
| Ground | Twerton Park, Bath | ||
| Capacity | 8,840 (1,006 seated | ||
| Chairman | John Reynolds | ||
| Manager | Adie Britton | ||
| League | Conference National | ||
| 2009–10 | Conference South, 4th (promoted via play-offs) | ||
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Bath City Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset. They play in the Conference National league (the fifth highest tier in English football) after gaining promotion from the Conference South via the play-offs in May 2010. Their manager (since October 2008) is Adie Britton.[1]
Formed in 1889 as Bath AFC, Bath City's history is entirely in non-league football missing out on election to the the Football League by a few votes in 1978.[2] They changed their name to Bath Railway in 1902 before settling on the name Bath City F.C.[3]
After many years playing in the upper echelons of non-league football they spent a decade in the Southern Football League after being relegated from the Conference in 1997.[4] They were promoted to the Conference South by winning the Southern League in the 2006-07 season. They have an excellent cup tradition, reaching the FA cup third round no fewer than six times. In 2004 they continued this when they lost in the FA Cup second round to Peterborough United and in the third round of the FA Trophy to Canvey Island. In 2009, City beat Football League Two side Grimsby Town in the FA Cup first round, only to lose to Forest Green Rovers in the second round.
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 5th December 1993.
Notable former players
Andrejs Štolcers
Bobby Black
Paul Bodin
Tony Book- Wilf Carter
- Jason Dodd
- Ray Drinkwater
- Charlie Fleming
- Stan Mortensen
- Florin Pelecaci
- Cliff Pinchbeck
- Alan Skirton
Paddy Sloan- Bobby Zamora
Notable former managers
Ground
Twerton Park became Bath City's ground in 1932; it is located in Twerton, a suburb of Bath. It currently has a ground capacity of 8,880 with a seating capacity of 1,006. A record attendance of 18,020 was recorded in 1960 versus Brighton & Hove Albion.
In the past it has been shared with: Bristol Rovers, a Football League club, and has hosted an epic league decider between Rovers and Bristol City; a fiercely competitive derby. 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.
Honours
Bath City's honours include the following:
- Conference South (level 6)
- Play-off winners: 2009–10
- Southern League (level 7)
- Western League
- Western League Division 2
- Champions: 1928-29
- Southern League Cup
- Non League Championship Trophy
- Winners: 1978-79
- Anglo-Italian Cup
- Somerset Premier Cup
Club records
- Best league position: 1st in Southern League 1959-60 and 1977-78 (Level 5 in old league system)
- Best FA Cup performance: 3rd round replay, 1963–64 and 1993–94
- Best FA Trophy performance: 3rd round replay, 1991–92 and 1995–96
- Secure the largest sponsorship deal in the clubs' history for the 2010-2012 seasons with Inter Payroll
Current squad
- As of 31 January 2011.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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On loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Current staff
- As of 19 January 2011.[5]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager: | Adie Britton |
| Assistant manager: | Lee Howells |
| Academy coach: | Billy Clark |
| Physiotherapist: | Dave Lukins |
| Chief Scout: | Roy Pitman |
| Kit Manager: | John Forster |
| Football Secretary: | Quentin Edwards |
References
- ^ "All Change at City". Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ "Bath City Football club". City of Bath. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
- ^ "Bath City History". Retrieved 2008-11-09.
- ^ "Football Conference 1996-97". Retrieved 2008-11-09.
- ^ "About". Bath City F.C. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
Sources
- Bath City at the Football Club History Database
- Club history
- Player lists