Early Bird Season Ticket offer ends Wednesday (29/5/17)
A reminder that the deadline for Early Bird Season Tickets is this Wednesday 31 May.
With Gary Owers signing a new two-year contract and bringing in a high calibre of new players as well as confirming some key retentions, the season is shaping up to be an exciting one on the pitch, with the aim of a top-five finish.
So sign up now to make sure you’re with us every kick of the way, save an extra 5% against the full season ticket price and get these brilliant benefits:
This is an exciting time and we want you to be part of it. So please take a moment now to join us as a season ticket holder in one of three easy ways:
VASS of Bath is the new City shirt sponsor (25/5/17)
Following the Bath City FC shirt sponsorship draw, in the TR Hayes Premier Lounge at Twerton Park on 24th May, Bath City Football Club are delighted to announce the winner of the draw was VASS of Bath – Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Seat specialists – who are based at Brassmill Enterprise Centre in Bath. Owner Andy Selmam was delighted with the news of his win with his company name which will be displayed on the front of Bath City’s first team home and away shirts for the coming season.
Second prize was won by Stokes Masonry (Bath) Ltd who will have their name on the back of the shirts for next season. Third prize was won by Newbridge Auto Centre who will have their company name on the shorts. Other prize winners were Total Bathrooms and Bath Building Society.
The club would like to thank the 61 entrants in the draw and look forward to their further involvement in the coming season. All entrants will be part of the new Bath City FC Sponsors Club for season 2017-2018.
Player and pre-season friendly news (25/5/17)
Miles Welch-Hayes is the latest player to commit to Bath City for the coming season. Miles spent a very successful period at the Club last season making 23 appearances and became a firm fans favourite after joining us in December following Dan Ball’s injury. The 21 year old defender was a target signing for last season and played against us in a pre-season friendly. Following his release by Oxford United, Gary Owers was able to persuade Miles that he would be best placed to further develop his career at Twerton Park, despite interest from other clubs. It will be great to see Miles back in a City shirt.
The first pre-season fixtures at Twerton Park have been arranged and we are pleased to welcome Reading U23’s on Tuesday 18 July, League Two side Cheltenham Town on Thursday 20 July, both 7.30pm kick offs, and League One side Bristol Rovers on Wednesday 26 July with a 7.45pm kick off. In addition, we will make a visit to the seaside to play Western League Clevedon Town on Saturday 22 July and across the border to Gloucestershire on Saturday 29 July to play Southern League side Yate Town, both 3pm kick offs. Details of further fixtures will follow together with admission prices.
Election candidates set for Twerton Park clash (24/5/17)
Bath City FC will host a hustings of Bath’s prospective parliamentary candidates on the evening of Wednesday 31 May at Twerton Park. Local people will be able to grill Conservative MP Ben Howlett, Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse, Labour’s Joe Rayment and Green candidate Eleanor Field on their goals, policies and plans for Bath.
Bath City general manager Carole Banwell said: “As a democratic community-owned club, we are proud to host this important fixture in the General Election campaign. We look forward to welcoming people from across Bath to Twerton Park for a spirited and lively debate.”
Inspired by Bath City FC’s recent conversion to community ownership, part of the hustings will see candidates give their views on whether local people and community groups should have greater input and control over local issues. The event will be moderated by Greg Ingham, chief executive of local media company MediaClash and chair of Creative Bath. Doors open at 6.45pm with the hustings kicking off at 7.30pm. A cash bar will be available.
City sign striker Lucas from Bristol Rovers (23/5/17)
Following on from two new signings last weekend, Bath City is pleased to announce the signing of Jamie Lucas following his release by Bristol Rovers. The 22-year old striker has had limited opportunities at Rovers during their rapid promotion success but has developed in loan spells at Weston-super-Mare, Gloucester City, Boreham Wood and Woking. He has shown he has an eye for goal and had an outstanding record at this level while at Weston.
Manager Gary Owers sees Jamie as a young, hungry player who wants to score goals saying, “there was interest in him from several clubs but he wanted to play at Bath”.
We look forward to welcoming him once pre-season commences and to seeing him in a City shirt.
City announce double signing (20/5/17)
Bath City Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of defenders Anthony Straker and Darren Jones from Aldershot Town and Newport County respectively as Gary Owers begins to develop his squad for the forthcoming season.
Anthony is a defender who has spent a large part of his career at Aldershot in two spells, whilst also playing for Southend, York and Motherwell as well as representing Grenada. He was offered a new contract at Aldershot and on signing Gary said “I have worked with before, know him well and there will be a few surprised that we have managed to sign him”.
Darren is a strong and experienced centre half who has played for Forest Green Rovers, Hereford, Aldershot, Shrewsbury and most recently Newport. “He is a player I have known for many years and had kept an eye on his situation. When he announced his retirement from the fulltime game I saw an opportunity and he will be a great addition to the squad”.
We welcome both players to the Club and wish them a successful time with Bath City FC.
Gary is continuing to hold talks with players about joining the Club and a further player announcement will be made on Monday.
Gary Owers Commits to Bath City promotion bid (18/5/17)
Gary Owers, the popular Bath City FC manager, has committed his immediate future to the Romans by signing a new two-year contract that will see him stay at the club at least through to the end of the 2018/19 season. Gary is in his second spell at the club, having returned last season to successfully see off the threat of relegation. This season has seen a further significant improvement in fortunes with City always comfortable and generally on the fringes of the Play-Off places.
With community ownership now concluded and greater financial stability, Gary has been given an enhanced and competitive playing budget for next season with the aim of stepping up a gear in the hunt for promotion. Speaking about the new deal as he put pen to paper at Twerton Park, Gary offered, “I am pleased to commit to the next two years and the hard work begins now to build a squad capable of achieving a top five position. I feel I have been given a reasonable opportunity to better our position in the League with a significant improvement in the budget. It is up to me to spend it wisely and it is exciting times for the club with the community buyout and hopefully the start of a successful period in the club’s history. ”
Chairman of Football Paul Williams, added, “We’re absolutely delighted to continue what’s already been a fruitful relationship with Gary. When we brought him back last year he worked wonders to turn around a difficult situation, while this year we’ve already seen great progress on a tight budget. With the new community ownership now a reality we’re pleased to be able to give Gary the resources to make a proper challenge for the play-offs and can’t wait for the new season!”
Gary Owers’ contract extension is the latest development at Bath City following hot on the heels of the club becoming community-owned earlier this month.
With Gary committed to the Bath City promotion challenge and new player news coming soon, the club has extended the Early Bird Season Ticket offer until the end of May to enable as many fans as possible to get behind the team and watch them every kick of the way. We already have more season ticket holders than last season, so there’s a groundswell of support for the new era. Join them and save yourself up to £64! You can view the options and purchase tickets at https://bathcityfcshop.com/collections/match-ticket-bundles
Following discussion with the players since the season ended, Steve Phillips, Stuart Fleetwood, Lee Marshall and Josh Hutchinson have been released. Chas Hemmings is also leaving, as he is unable to give full commitment because of his work. We wish them all the best for the future and thank them for their time at the Club.
Jack Batten has accepted the offer of a new contract and joins Frankie Artus, Nick McCootie, Billy Murpy and George Rigg who are already signed for season 2017/18. An offer has been made to Andy Watkins to sign again for what would be his fifth season at the Club. Discussions are ongoing with Naby Diallo and Marvin Morgan. Dan Ball will be working on his fitness and return for pre-season training as can Sekani Simpson and Shaquille Hunter.
Our loan players, Max O’Leary, Miles Welch-Hayes, Axel Andresson and Shawn McCoulsky have returned to their parent Clubs and go with our thanks and best wishes in their future careers.
Bath City FC completes transition to community ownership (5/5/17)
Just under two years after fans launched the Big Bath City Bid to raise funds to buy the city’s football club, this week the Supporters Society at last became the club’s majority shareholder and a new board has been installed subject to formal League ratification.
Having raised over £350,000 in the autumn and following extensive legal process, the Society has bought £300,000 of new shares issued by the Club, lent a further £50,000 and opened a new line of credit for working capital to underwrite operations for the next three-five years. A new board has been formed, headed up as Chairman by Nick Blofeld, former CEO at Bath Rugby, with Paul Williams remaining from the previous board as Football Chairman. The Society’s six members of a nine-person board include the addition of new blood in the form of Sally Harris as Community Director, Martin Powell as Supporter Liaison Officer and Jon Bickley in the role of Sales & Marketing Director. Shane Morgan as Director of Operations continues as incumbent Society representative, while John Reynolds and Andrew Pierce continue from the previous board, providing continuity of knowledge and experience at the helm. One Society position is still to be filled as former appointee Nick Thompson has recently moved away from the area.
As well as clearing debts to a number of individuals, the financial restructure sees all remaining debt re-scheduled on five-years, interest-free terms, giving the club a stable platform to begin its turnaround plan. A key foundation of the plan is a redevelopment on the site of the main stand and half the car park, that will provide a new grandstand and property to realise sufficient funds to clear all remaining debts as well as providing ongoing income streams. The club is actively working on this project and will be consulting in due course on the redevelopment.
Following the success of the fund-raising in the autumn, the new structure has already been running in parallel with the previous board, notching up a number of developments including:
Commenting on the completion of the deal, Chairman Nick Blofeld offered: “We’re delighted that after over two years of hard work, fund-raising and negotiation we’ve completed this refinancing and that the people of Bath and wider community now hold a majority stake in Bath City Football Club. With a firm financial footing and citywide engagement, we’re already seeing a burst of creative energy that is invigorating the club. The possibilities are huge for this football club at the heart of our community and we’re excited to get things moving.”
Paul Williams, Chairman of Football, added: “I’m really pleased to reach this stage of the process that gives us the stability to plan for success on the pitch, while new resources and finance enable us to build the business off the pitch and make it sustainable for the long run. One of the most tangible things fans can see is that we’ve approved an enhanced playing budget for next season that will enable Manager Gary Owers to plan and recruit for a serious tilt at promotion.”
Martin Powell, Chairman of the Supporters Society and the Club’s new Supporters Liaison Officer, concluded: “We are absolutely thrilled to see this dream become a reality. The Big Bath City Bid has finally delivered a community owned club that enables fans to elect directors and to take hands-on roles in the day-to-day and strategic running of the club. We couldn’t be more pleased.”
On 9th June the club will celebrate this momentous event with “Bidfest”, a party to celebrate the success of the bid and to toast the future of Bath City FC as a community-owned club.