Bath Football Club - 150 Years Celebrations 2016

Brian Jenkins

During the 2015-2016 season Bath Rugby held a number of events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Club.

8th AUGUST 2015 – Family festival of Rugby at Farleigh.

A free day of activities for all the family to enjoy. Supporters were treated to a behind the scenes tour, a question and answer with the Head Coach Mike Ford. Nathan Catt, and Leroy Houston joined in the tag Rugby.

10th September 2015 – Hall of Fame Dinner

Bath Rugby inducted the first member into it’s newly created Hall of Fame. A stunning Black Tie Dinner was celebrated at Farleigh House.

A panel was set up to elect candidates for the Past Players Hall of Fame.

Those initially elected were Frank Soane, Ronald Gerrard, Jack Rowell, Jon Hall, Jeremy Guscott and Roger Spurrell.

11th September 2015 – Afternoon Tea with Mary Berry

A unique 150th Anniversary afternoon tea at Farleigh House saw players past and present go head to head in a baking competition like no other!

12th September 2015 – Captain’s Run and Barbeque

Over the course of the weekend, a trio of events at Farleigh House celebrating Bath Rugby closed with an uproarious Captain’s Run and Barbecue.

Gareth Chillcott told of his first international appearance and his times playing rugby for Bath. Supporting Gareth was David Trick ( Club President) who spent the evening avoiding answering awkward questions. ( Unsuccessfully).

Bruce Craig (Club Chairman) joined in the fun along with players fresh from the Captain’s run.

150 Anniversary Giveaways – (Throughout the season)

As part of the anniversary celebrations and as a way of saying “thank you” to our loyal season ticket holders, Bath Rugby held a series of “giveaways” throughout the 2015/2016 season.

Legends Question and Answer Sessions: At each home match day a Bath Rugby Legend will be regaling supporters in the “Swift Half” with tales from their Illustrious careers, and giving an insight into the “behind the scenes” of the club in their day. Each week will focus on a player who played in a different position in a team.

9th NOVEMBER 2015 – Bath United v UK Armed Forces

Bath United played a UK Armed Forces team in a special Remembrance Rugby Match on the 9th November at the Recreation Ground.

No tickets were issued for the match. A suggested £5.00 donation was asked for at the gate, All proceeds of this special commemorative game went to the Royal British Legion.

March 2016 – Past, Present and Future Exhibition

An Exhibition organised by the Past Players Association was held at the Bath City Council Library. Memorabilia was put on display.

MARCH 2016 – Bath Rugby Heritage Website

After 3 years of preparation the Bath Rugby Heritage website was released to the general public for the first time.

The website was launched at the Exhibition in the City Library. A team of past players and volunteers worked with the support of Bath Rugby to produce the website of the club’s heritage from 1865 to the present day.

Aspects of the website , History, People, Match Reports, Match day Programmes, Topics, Season Records, Photo Gallery,The Club.

20th May 2016 – Past Players 150th Anniversary Golf Day and Dinner

The Past Players 150th Anniversary Golf Day at Bath Golf Club proved a resounding success with eight teams of former players joined by Matt Banahan, Rhys Priestland and Chris Cook.

The winning team of Phil Hall, Chris Neal, Colin Brint and Chris Cook beat the team of Matt Perry, Rhys Priestland and John Monahan – on countback – both with scores of 85 points. Third place went to Phil Scilly, Roger Elliott, Tim Carson and Dai Richards. Scrum-half Cook also won the nearest-the-pin prize, while Tim Beddow won the longest drive.

In the evening, at the 150th Anniversary Dinner at Graze, eighty-four Past Players were joined by Stuart Hooper, Priestland, Cook, Managing Director Tarquin McDonald and Business Development Director Matt Powell. A brilliant evening of fun and reminiscences, plus great food and refreshments, was enjoyed into the early hours (with thanks to the generosity of Great Western Wine and Bath Ales).

Mike Beese, former President, welcomed Past Players spanning 64 years from Dan Hinchley and Cliff Weston in 1952 to Stuart Hooper in 2016 (with the latter’s retirement meaning he now joins this group).

Thanks were given to all Past Players who had served the Past Players Association over many years and a group, led by Geoff Pillinger, who continue to devote time creating the Bath Rugby Heritage database and website.

Jeremy Guscott and Roger Spurrell received applause as representatives for all six inductees into the Bath Rugby Hall of Fame, which was launched at the inaugural 150th Anniversary celebrations at Farleigh House the previous September. Beese lauded Guscott and Spurrell for the profound effect the duo had on Bath Rugby – in their own unique ways.

Stuart Hooper presented the prizes to the winners from the Golf Day, before Matt Perry coaxed anecdotes from Past Players from the 1950s to the present day, including some unprintable stories by Brian Jenkins and tales between Jerry Guscott, Phil de Glanville and Mike Catt.

“It was fantastic to be able to get all these players, who have represented the Club, down the years, together for two great occasions,” said Tarquin McDonald. “Bringing the past and present players together in such a way has been really beneficial, and something we will continue

This page was added on 18/10/2016.