Rovers Return

When City's pre-season fixture list was announced the most attractive looking entry was tonight's meeting with Bristol Rovers. Not only are Rovers a League One team (three levels above Bath City) but they are also a local rival. There are close ties between City and Rovers as well, as Rovers were tennants at Twerton Park during most of the 90's after a fire destroyed most of their home ground. If nothing else, a big crowd of 'gasheads' (as Rovers fans are known) was expected.

Rovers' pre-season fixture list read rather differently from City's, though. They list Torquay United on 18 July, Cheltenham Town on 21 July, Crystal Palace on 24 July, and a Liverpool XI on 3 August. No mention of City, and matches with fellow league clubs Cheltenham and Palace right before and after our match. It became clear to everyone that the Bristol Rovers side that was going to show up at Twerton Park tonight would be made up of youth players and reserves.

So clear was it, in fact, that not many people showed up. The attendance was not to announced but I would guess 250 at the most. For me, after an absence from Twerton Park of nearly three months, I was just glad to be there and didn't really care who City was playing. The late July sun was shining bright when I arrived, and I celebrated the new season with a purchase of my first Bath City replica shirt. I wandered over to the 'popular side' terrace to watch the teams warm up and grab a cup of tea in a styrofoam cup from the 'tea bar.' Twerton Park has a wonderful view of the centre of Bath, and on a warm summer evening with the blue sky above and a nice cup of tea in hand, it is hard to beat.

Despite following football closely for a couple years now, I don't feel qualified to execute a decent match report on this blog. There are people who do it much better at the Bath Chronicle, and especially 'Kelstone Kopite' on the Bath City forum. Although with each match I am able to understand the intricacies of the play much better, large sections of play can still pass me by in a bit of a blur. I'm sure my 'vision' of the pitch will improve with time, but I really mean for this blog to be about being a football fan as much as about the football itself, so for now I'm going to stick to writing about being a fan.

The non-league experience is supposed to be more intimate, and tonight there were two such moments that I will remember especially. One was at the beginning of City's warm up session. Matt Coupe, one of our excellent defenders, gave me a friendly nod when he saw me standing in the terrace. Oh sure, I was the only fan there at the time, but it was not just a perfunctory nod. He recognized me. In all my years of following sports, I've never had a player on a team I've supported recognise me. Matt and I had had a short conversation last season before an away match against Eastleigh. He had noticed my accent and wondered how City had acquired an American fan. Not being used to talking to players, I was a bit tongue tied and must have come across like an inarticulate dork. I suppose even inarticulate dorks are memorable. Despite our conversation six months previously, I still was taken aback, and I instinctively looked behind me to see if he was nodding to someone else. Someday it may seem normal to be on acquaintance terms with the players, but I hope it does not happen too soon.

The second moment came at half-time. I bought a small portion of chips (fries) and was wandering over to my regular spot on the terrace. In the same general area one of the club directors I know named Phil was chatting to Ken Loach. Most Americans will not know Ken Loach, but he is a famous film director in Europe. He has won the Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and he has recently released a very well received film called, 'Looking for Eric' about the legendary Manchester United player Eric Cantona. Ken is a dedicated City fan, and a former director himself. I see him at most matches, but I have always adopted an air of non-challance, as if I saw famous film directors on a regular basis and had grown bored with the concept. It is, of course, a complete act. So Phil and Ken are chatting and Phil waves at me and says hello and I wave back and then Ken waved at me too! Now, I really did not think that Ken Loach could be waving at me. Sure, he might have a vague recognition of me from seeing me on the terraces in previous matches, but it could be nothing more than that. I was so sure he could not be waving at me, in fact that I ignored him. There could be nothing more embarrassing than returning a wave of a famous film director that was meant for someone else. But then, Ken waved again! A bit tentatively, of course, because I had just ignored him, but there was no doubting it now. I said hello to him too. Then Phil took one of my chips, and so did Ken Loach! I shared my chips with Ken Loach! This required a brief hiatus so that I could text this information to several people I know.

This should not have been very surprising, really. By all reports Ken is a very kind and generous person. He has given City incredible support over the years. Last year he convinced Hollywood star Robert Carlyle to host an 'Evening with Robert Carlyle' in the clubhouse as a fundraiser, and just last month brought Eric Cantona (ERIC CANTONA!!!) to Twerton Park for a similar event. If he is going to do that, then he is the sort of nice guy who is going to say hello to a fellow fan, especially when we have both made the effort to turn up for a friendly against Rovers' reserve unit on a Wednesday night. Still, it made me a bit giddy.

The match itself was a very relaxing experience. For once, I was not worried about whether City won or lost. I was hoping to familiarise myself with the new signings, and hopefully get some reassurance that a good squad was coming together. The first half saw Rovers get two goals, both of them after City's defense had momentarily lost its shape. Other than those two lapses, City's defense held up well against the higher league opposition. There were some excellent tackles, especially from new signing Sido Jombarti. 'Sid' has a long legs that look too fragile for the rough and tumble of non-league play, but several times he effortlessly wound them around the ball from a prone position to relive a Rovers mid-fielder of the ball. He was probably the most impressive of the new players on the pitch, but there was a ex-Rovers veteran called Browning who showed a lot of leadership in mid-field and a promising looking local striker named Jamie Tayor, recently of the Swindon Town youth team. The second half began with a lot of substitutions and the balance of play shifted. In fact, City managed to mostly keep the ball in Rovers' half except for a few fast breaks. Actually scoring goals has a struggle for City in the last few seasons, and tonight was no exception. With only a few minutes of regular time left, though, returning striker Darren Edwards chipped the ball over the Rovers' keeper to give his team a respectable 2-1 scoreline. All in all, I, like most other City supporters I suspect, felt reassured by the performance of our team.

And Ken, if you are reading this, my name is Ned and you can have my chips any time!