Bath City on the BBC Archive

I've been having a skim through the newly released BBC archive, and came across this little gem of an interview in the run up to our League election bid in 1978. There's some great shots of the half-built Bristol End terrace, too…

https://bbcrewind.co.uk/asset/613a21f9d916f300205fbee0?q=bath%20city%20fc

Superb! What a find. Learn something new every day - I’ve heard a lot of people talk about the former grass bank at the Bristol End but assumed the current layout had been in place since pre-1978.

Brilliant clip. And that’s the old press box where the Family Stand is now.

Well that was superb to see. Have to admit I was shocked by the crush barriers on the Popular Side, when did they change to the longer ones we have today? I naively assumed the barriers there were the original ones, but clearly not!

What a gem

As a footnote to the vote Brian Godfrey was being interviewed on here’s a link to the history of the old pals act re-election to the League…

http://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=3506

It shows that 1978 was by far the closest we got to election. Of course we missed out to Wigan who replaced Southport in a second vote. As with the recent Tory leadership votes, supporters of the eliminated club would have transferred their votes to either Southport or Wigan so the latter should be eternally grateful to us!

And look what happened to Altrincham in 1980…

Jon_BOA wrote:Well that was superb to see. Have to admit I was shocked by the crush barriers on the Popular Side, when did they change to the longer ones we have today? I naively assumed the barriers there were the original ones, but clearly not!

I would guess the early 90s. I’m sure footage from the Fulham cup game was filmed from the old main stand and the barriers weren’t like the current ones. I’ll have to hunt it down again though. That and the roof on the pop side wasn’t complete. Not sure if the 87 storm damaged it or if Rovers needed certain upgrades?

That's a great clip!  Got me wondering when I actually watched a game at Twerton Park for the first time.  It was either a Boxing Day game (City Res 0 Chippenham 0 I think? - mid to late 70's) or an opening game of the season (not sure of the opposition, possibly Stafford?)  - can remember Stuart Taylor at centre half and Phil Brake on left wing and maybe a Risdale up front? - no stripes, all white shirts.  Pretty sure the grass bank was at the Bristol end for the Chippenham game but not sure about the second one.  Maybe someone can help me out.

We played Stafford in our first home game of the 1981/82 season. Drew 1-1, Risdale scored.

Struggling to find the Chippenham reserves game though. Having a look through the book now.