Could Bath City become next supporter owned club?

Plans are in place for Bath City to become the next supporter owned club.   However, fans need to raise £1.4m to acquire the club, pay off creditors and provide enough working funds for next season.  Former chairman Mandy Rigby is owed £170k.

Plans are in place for Bath City to become the next supporter owned club.   However, fans need to raise £1.4m to acquire the club, pay off creditors and provide enough working funds for next season.  Former chairman Mandy Rigby is owed £170k.

She thinks that the club will not succeed while it continues to play at Twerton Park (used at one time by Bristol Rovers).   However, are the problems more fundamental?   Bath is in a big rugby area and the city’s club plays in the Aviva Premiership.   The city’s population is only around 90,000, and I know from a friend who lives there that many inhabitants are interested in the arts rather than football.

For a while the city had two teams with the university sponsoring Team Bath.   It progressed through the non-league system, but the football authorities, conservative as ever, were not too keen on US-style college sports and made it clear that there would be a limit to the progress that would be allowed.

Many take inspiration from the great success that FC United have had in raising funds for their new stadium.   However, they are in a major city and many Manchester United supporters treat them as a second team.   AFC Wimbledon and Portsmouth have managed to compete in League 2 without being real promotion contenders.

However, a supporter owned club still has to balance the books.   Even at non-league level, players demand a lot in terms of wages relative to the money coming in.   If you don’t pay them enough, you won’t suceed on the pitch and attendances fall.