Aqua Sulis

Bath City  1  Woking  1

National League South

Given that I consider myself to be pretty well travelled as far as the UK goes, it was quite odd that I’d never once set foot in the City of Bath.

Yes, I’ve been to Dumfries, Whitstable, Haverfordwest, Lowestoft, Penzance and even Ballinamallard, but the beautiful Bath Spa has always eluded me.

Not sure quite why, just one of those things I guess. But, with Steps 1 and 2 on the radar in terms of the completism exercise, it firmly jumped onto the radar earlier this season due to Bath City plying their trade in the National League South.

Of course, as soon as Mrs H got a sniff of it I was the best part of three hundred quid down as we were all going to make a weekend of it. Mrs H doesn’t do B&B’s, nor does she do Hotels without facilities that meet her standards, in fact, Mrs H doesn’t do anything with a hint of a budget about it.

But, it was a little treat for us all, even if it transpired we had to make our own car parking arrangements, for the price of your average B&B in Glasgow!

The Friday afternoon journey down wasn’t too bad, apart from a broken down lorry on the roundabout at the M42 entrance which caused several degrees of chaos and a delay of about forty minutes. The journey from the M4 into Bath was surprisingly straightforward and after having to take a slight detour to drop the family off at the hotel before parking up, we were sat in the Bath Brew House over the road with pints in hand.

With an early night secured, it was a relatively sprightly start in the morning and we were soon treading the pavements of Bath, grabbing a coffee and getting on board the first available entry to see the iconic Roman Baths. I must admit to being somewhat ignorant to the existence of such a place, but the sight, the history and the geology of the place is quite wondrous, even if the taste of warm spring water is absolutely vile!

With that done, it was a good old Spoons breakfast prior to the obligatory open top bus tour of the City, which took in sights such as the Crescent and the Circus, along with somewhat more historic venues such as Bath Rugby Club, where one of the great club sides of the Eighties and Nineties swept all before them!

With the touristy bit done and dusted, it was time to get the number 5 bus to Twerton and the football ground. The journey is not a particularly long one in terms of mileage, but Bath is a very busy place, and it takes time to meander down the Old Bristol Road before turning left under the railway line and up into the centre of the suburb itself.

A short walk from the bus stop and the up the slope brings you into the car park, and this is where the sheer size of what is a superb non-league football venue hits you. I’ll talk more about the stadium later, but what about Bath City FC, the club and the team?

A Southern League side for many seasons, winning it in 1978, they became founder members of the Alliance Premier League in 1979-90. They remained in the top flight of non-league football for nine seasons, with a best finish of fourth, before returning to the Southern League once again.

Two seasons later, in 1990 after a runners-up spot was secured, they were back in the top flight of what was then known as the Conference National. This time the spell lasted for seven years before the Southern League beckoned again, but on this occasion they had to wait until 2007 before promotion presented itself to them, courtesy of the championship.

Promotion came to the now Conference South, and within three years they were back in the Conference National, for just two seasons until relegation took them back to where they remain to this day.

They aren’t renowned cup fighters to be fair, the FA Trophy semi-final was reached recently whereby they lost to eventual winners North Ferriby United on penalties, whereas in the FA Cup notable Football League scalps include Grimsby Town, Barnet, Hereford United and Cardiff City, but in all honesty, the First Round Proper has not been reached since 2011.

But what a stadium, a proper old school non-league football ground, that if you recall, was once used by Bristol Rovers in the Football League when they were homeless for a spell.

The clubhouse sits outside the ground and backs onto the large main stand which sits on the top of the small car park. Underneath are the offices, dressing rooms and a shop, but once inside the stand the plastic seats give an excellent view of the pitch, despite the numerous supporting pillars that can obstruct. In front of the main stand is a terraced paddock, while heading round to the left behind the goal is an area of open terracing (the home end / Bath End) that starts quite narrowly and then widens as it reaches the opposite side of the ground.

Opposite the main stand is a vast covered terrace, which has a strange kind of slope as it moves towards the end of the pitch at the Bristol End of the ground. This is where the hard-core Romans support congregates. Another open terrace, significantly deeper than at the home end sits behind the opposite goal, and when a big crowd is in place, like today, it’s used for the away support and can be segregated. Moving round from this to the side is a much smaller seated stand that is again used for away support, and this sits to the right of the main stand, at a slight angle to the pitch.

As for the floodlights - pure porn!

After a quick pint and the purchase of a great value family ticket, we queued at the turnstiles and were in place less than five minutes before kick off. We got some seats despite a crowd of over 1700 being in place, and on a gloriously sunny day, it was time to watch two sides who in all probability, may well be meeting again in a months time in the play-offs!

The first half wasn’t a great spectacle, and it was the visitors who had the half time lead thanks to a goal in the eighteenth minute from Max Kretzschmar who capitalised on a goalkeeping mistake.

Bath got a deserved equaliser in a markedly better second period albeit video evidence does suggest that Andy Watkins was in an offside position when he found the back of the net.

The draw was a fair result, and it didn’t really make much of a difference to either side in the grand scheme of things, as Woking’s hopes of overtaking Torquay at the top took a further blow, while Bath simply consolidated a play-off berth.

The bus back to the City Centre was packed, with a number of Woking fans (nearly 300 were at the game) heading back to the Railway Station. Mrs H nearly got into a fight with an octogenarian as we neared our stop, it appears he did not like the tone in which she asked to be excused as we squeezed past to get off the bus…..anyway, had it come to blows I would have fancied her chances, she would have been at least three to one on for a knock out!

The evening was spent having a meal and a few drinks, before a lie in and a departure back North the following morning, a first visit to Aqua Sulis had been both memorable and enjoyable, not least the experience of the magnificent Twerton Park.

Ballinamallard it wasn’t…….