Without an away game to write about or a poor result to moan about, the secretary of the Bath City Supporters Club, Dan Tanner, has kindly written me a piece on the club's current playing and financial situation! Enjoy.
So with over a quarter of the season gone and only one win, this is the worst run City have been on post World War Two; even Corporal Jones would be panicking. With the bubble burst and the fighting sprit waning, it looks like the rise and rise of Bath City over the last 7 years is grinding to a halt. Labour said that the age of boom and bust was over, how wrong were they, and it seems that City’s boom years are on the verge of busting.
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| Building Charlie's/Randalls'- The Club Bars |
The thing with City’s busts is they not over in a couple of years. The last relegation from the Conference in 1997 led to 3 good years in the Doctor Martens Premier league however, this was followed by 4 seasons hovering just above relegation. Then, after 7 seasons in the Doc Martens league it lead to an unofficial relegation. The reorganisation of the Non league pyramid meant City had to finish at least 13th in the 03/04 season, to automatically move into the newly created Conference South. But, even with 4 victories in the last 4 games with Scott Partridge firing 8 goals in 3 games, it could only get City into the Conference 2 playoff Semi Final against Dorchester. An early Partridge goal continued City’s impressive form but, a poor start to the second half saw City lose 4-2. The defeat meant Southern league football is where City would battle out their trade for the following 3 years. A championship winning season in 06/07 after coming 2nd the previous year started the rise back up to the top level of Non league football. Amassing a total of 91 points scoring 84 goals and conceding 29 City won the league by 13 points. This led to a 3 year stint in the Conference South where City would then find themselves in a playoff final against Woking. A crowd of 4865 witness a tense and surreal 1-0 victory, resulting in City’s return to the top flight of Non league football, after a 13 year absence.
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| Kaid Mohamed scoring the penalty that put Bath City in the Conference Premier. |
The old cliché is that a week is a long time in football so after 676 weeks out of the Conference Premier, things had changed lot. The likes of Luton, Wrexham, York, Cambridge, and Grimsby now awaited City instead of Halifax, Stalybridge Celtic, Farnborough, and Hednesford United who were City’s opponents in the 96/97 season. Moreover, with such an array of ex league clubs now fighting it out to get back into league football, the financial environment of the conference has changed dramatically. Of what would have been a competitive budget 13 years ago, City’s now measly weekly budget of around £6000 doesn’t come close to some of the other teams in the league, who easily pay 3 even 4 times that amount. This puts City’s first seasons achievement into contexts. It was a miracle, not only were we competitive but, finishing 10th made us the best part time team in England. Yet, even with one of the smallest budgets in the league City struggled with the financial burdens of top flight non league football, too such an extent that radical reform was needed within the club. Whether these changes will bear any fruits only time can tell but, with football becoming more and more expensive the battle may already be lost. Football is no longer a game for supporters to watch, it is a business that exploits supporters.
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| Histon vs Bath City- Live on Premier Sports! |
City will pay around £250,000 on wages this year compared to teams like Lincoln who will pay in the region of£1 million and Newport around £700,000. At the moment Lincoln are 1 point above the relegation zone and Newport find themselves 4 points adrift from safety. Is it therefore, any surprise that City are currently bottom of the table??? Nevertheless, this does not justify the poor start to the season, scoring 7 goals and only winning once in the league is unacceptable.
Many supporters are resigned to relegation back to the second tier of non league football but, what will that lead to??? Will it lead to further relegation, mid table obscurity, a return back to the Conference Premier, or even the end of the club completely??? The club are at a pivotal part in its history, will the boom continue or will there be a bust??? If there is a bust how bad will it be??? It is a question that no one can answer and that is the beauty of football, anything is possible.
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| From Darlington... |
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| to Basingstoke? |
The worrying aspect is it’s hard to stop a rot, even when you get rid of the rot its effects can cause long term damage that take ages to repair. I do question whether the rot has entered Twerton Park and whether the rot is ‘success’. The quote success breeds success is correct but, success also breeds greed. Have the high expectations of the fans, management and players been the downfall to our season??? Having high expectations has added extra pressure this season. Last season nearly everyone expected to be relegated therefore, there wasn’t much pressure, meaning we could go out and enjoy the game. This season it feels different, there’s expectancy for City to being winning games and beating the teams that two years ago we could only dream of playing let along beating. But, whatever happens, boom or bust the most important factor is that there is still a club for the future generations. We must not be greedy and jeopardise the future of the club. It will be a hard ride this season no one is denying that. If City does lose their conference premier status it will be the end of a journey but, it will be the beginning of a new one.
A huge thanks to Dan for writing this. You can find him on twitter at: @DJRTanner
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