Team Bath: 'It’s just the end of the beginning' |
A TEAM OF FORMER academy hopefuls and their 86-year-old coach might seem like an unlikely squad to take on the world. But for a moment this autumn, it looked like anything might be possible.
Team Bath, the student footballers of Bath University, caught the world’s imagination by being the first university team for 122 years to enter the FA Cup. It was a precious moment for football fans, recalling the old romance of the amateur game. For the players, on the other hand – former academy youngsters at professional clubs now reading coach education and sports performance – it was a rare chance to show what they were made of, and perhaps even return to the paid ranks of the game.
Bath’s first step in trying to emulate Oxford University’s team of 1880 was on an August afternoon in Barnstaple. For Ged Roddy, the university’s sports director and team manager, Bath’s 4-0 victory was the easy bit: “The hardest part was actually entering the competition,” he said. “It took a few years to ensure the club’s structure and its facilities were in place, and then we had to enter the county cup and the FA Vase.”
Backwell United and the quaintly-named Bemerton Heath Harlequins were brushed aside in the next two rounds before Newport County, a team two leagues above Team Bath, were knocked out at their home ground. “We’ve got many talented young players and I knew after the first 10 minutes that we could beat Newport,” Roddy insists. “With any cup run, you need a bit of luck but the players flourished because they were playing with nothing to lose.”
Luck can only get you so far, even if that’s further than Bemerton Heath. To get beyond that you need experienced hands at the wheel. Bath’s two coaches, Ivor Powell and Paul Tisdale, have experience in spades.
Powell is a sprightly 86-year-old, a former professional at QPR and Aston Villa, and coach at the university for the past 30 years. Roddy added: “It’s great that the players get to meet someone who has done so much in the game.” That Powell boasts the late Sir Stanley Matthews as the best man at his wedding can only improve his kudos on the training ground. Player-coach Tisdale played, during his career, in Rome’s Olympic Stadium, before gracing university pitches. According to Roddy: “It’s put the team in good stead in terms of their development and I’m sure the lads will recognise that in the future.”
Horsham were the next contenders to find themselves out of the Cup, in October – the prize for Bath’s students being a home tie against Second Division Mansfield Town in front of Sky’s cameras. “It was a unique day in university sport,” smiles Roddy. “There was a huge crowd and we were getting messages of support from all over the world, which was very humbling.”
Sadly, Bath’s bubble burst and their inexperience showed in a 4-2 defeat against League opposition. “We’re definitely going to enter again next season,” maintains Roddy. “Football is part of a wider sports programme at the university and we want our students to be part of a culture that applauds sporting excellence.” Football is one of 14 focus sports within the university, and athletes based at Bath won 17 medals at this year’s Commonwealth Games. Roddy is looking toward the future: “It’s just the end of the beginning. US sports programmes are much wider and it will take a decade to get to that standard. Right now, we’re spending £23m on new sports facilities.”
The cup run will have come in handy. “It generated significant income for the university,” admits Roddy, “though we spent a lot of money converting the athletics track into a small stadium for the Mansfield game.” For Roddy, it wasn’t about the money: “We never entered for financial reasons. People crave the romance of the cup, and for us it was all about achieving something no-one had done before.”
Dean Best is studying for the Certificate in Periodical Journalism for Graduates, at London College of Printing
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