Drink Up Thy Zider!

Last night while I was unsuccessfully trying to publish part 2 of my account of the Havant & Waterlooville match (the Internet connection died mysteriously in the middle - I'll have it out tonight), my fellow Bath City fans were at Twerton Park enjoying a concert by the famous West Country band, the Wurzels. This was a fundraiser put on by the club, and open to the public. As the Wurzels are well loved throughout the region over 200 people showed up.

Most people in England know the Wurzels for their song I've Got a Brand-New Combine Harvester, but Bath City fans have another song dear to their heart. At most matches we sing Drink Up Thy Zider (translation: drink your cider. I should point out to my American readers that cider in England is not fancy apple juice. It is not only alcoholic, it will have you rolling around under the table very quickly if you are not careful).

The reason we like Drink Up Thy Zider so much is that it is one of the songs we sing from the terraces when we are cheering the Bath City players on. Of course, we've adapted our own words to fit the occasion. They go like this:

Drink up thy zider, drink up thy zider,
For tonight we'll merry be,
We'll all go down to Yeovil, and do the bastards over,
The corn's half cut and so are we.

Or something like that. I've never actually gotten to the bottom of what the last line is. That's how it was written up in the Supporter's Song Book for the Grimsby match.

These aren't the original words as the Wurzels are not ancient enemies with Yoevil Town the way Bath City supporters are. Here is a clip of the end of last night's concert. If you listen carefully you can hear the Bath City supporters shouting out their own version of the lyrics.