This Tuesday I watched a fabulous game of football. It was exciting, fast paced and full of talented players. What’s more, I actually saw the game live and didn’t watch it on the television.
The game took place at Twerton Park as Bath City hosted a Blue Square Bet Premier tie against Kidderminster Harriers, who were in the Football League just a few years ago.
City were fantastic and a joy to watch. There was not a diving, overpaid, cheat on the pitch. It was real football.
At full time, I was thrilled with the deserved 2-0 win. Unfortunately, my happiness was only shared by a small number of Bath’s residents, as the total attendance for the evening was a pitiful 742. For top level non-league football, that is disgraceful.
Last season Bath City had tremendous success in the FA Cup, with victory over Grimsby Town, resulting in a home tie against Forest Green Rovers. This game attracted 3,325 fans. The Play Off Final in May, where City beat Woking 1-0 to earn promotion, saw almost 5,000 supporters pack into Twerton. Where the hell have they all gone?
Queuing to get into the Woking game. Did they all get lost?
There is absolutely no excuse! The Forest Green and Woking games prove that people know that Bath City exist and where they play. The vast majority of football fans have a Sky Sports subscription of some sort, costing in excess of £50 a month, so the entrance fee to Twerton Park (which is dwarfed by Premier League prices), cannot be a problem.
A major factor why Tuesday night's gate was so low
It is sad to say, but I believe the vast majority of football fans in Bath are pathetic glory supporters, happy to sit in their armchairs watching a club play in a city they have no connection with that is over 200 miles away from where they live. They come crawling out of the woodwork every time they get a sniff of success at Bath City, claiming to be ‘lifelong, die hard supporters of their hometown club’.
The typical Bath football fan was summed up the other week, when some Manchester United supporter moaned that his house might be painted blue – it made the front page of the pissing local newspaper!
Like all football clubs, Bath City needs the fans ALL the time, week in week out, or there won’t be FA Cup runs and promotions. Do the people of Bath want a football team or do they want a Sky Sports subscription?
For the first and almost certainly last time ever, I thought I would run a competition on my blog – mainly because I am bored and have nothing else to write about.
Look at yesterday’s Blackpool blog. I am featured in one of the photos. Let me know which one and you may win a prize *.
* but probably not.
In this world of political correctness, I was a little surprised to hear a somewhat stereotypical view from Sky Sports’ Martin Tyler, during the Newcastle-Stoke game this afternoon.
When commenting on the performance of Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones, Tyler piped up “Players from the Caribbean seem to have that lazier approach to things”
OK, this was hardly a ‘Big Ron’ moment, but it does make me wonder what goes on in Tyler’s head. Perhaps he thinks everyone from the Caribbean lives in a Malibu commercial?
Yesterday I got the coach up t’north to watch Bath City play Fleetwood Town.
We left very early in the morning.
Everyone was very tired, due to the early start
We stopped on route at the motorway service station
The travelling fans made their presence known
While in the service station, I noticed Wayne Rooney’s poor baby had become locked inside a ‘claw machine’
We arrived very early, so decided to get off in Blackpool. The famous tower was not as good as I thought it would be
The amusements pier was a very dangerous place and full of con-artists trying to rip you off
The theme park looked good. Pity it was miles away.
I then spotted the 2p machines. Luckily for my wallet, I only had time to spend 40p in them
No doubt the most exciting moment of the day was when I saw Superman ontop of a building
We planned to get a tram to Fleetwood
But it never turned up. We had to make do with a bus, which was full of northern chavs
We eventually got to the ground, where the Man City/Chelsea game was being shown on the biggest TV in the world
Fleetwood’s ground is called Highbury. Their goalscorers yesterday were Vieira and Wright. It was just like watching Arsenal!
Whenever they scored, Captain Pugwash came on the TV
Although when Bath City scored from a penalty, the fat pirate did not appear
We lost the game, but played well. Ahead of us lay another four and a half hour trip home
At least now I can say that I have been to Blackpool… and I won’t be going back – it was shit.
About Me
So you stumbled across my blog. No doubt after searching for something bizarre on Google. Before you hit that 'Back Button', why not stay and have a read for a few minutes?
If you are after a website which gives advice on how to hack an iPhone X, download the latest Steven Seagal movie, or view nudy ladies, you've come to the wrong place and may now press 'Back'.
However, if you would like a lifestyle blog, written by a 30-something chap, living in Bath (England), feast your eyes on this.
You won't discover how to copy PlayStation 4 games. What you will find is a blog, covering life in the West Country, the highs and lows of supporting two unsuccessful football teams, while sharing a house with a wife and rabbit.
All written by a man, somewhere on the sanity-scale between normal and eccentric.
