Bath Rugby

History

Formation and the early years (1865–1954)

Bath Football Club is one of the oldest rugby clubs in existence, having been founded in 1865 by members of Lansdown Cricket Club in Bath, for 'something to do in the winter'. This is the reason why the club colours of the two clubs are identical. With an original home base at The North Parade Ground, in Bathwick, The team then led a nomadic existence during the 1800s playing at Claverton Down, Lambridge Meadows, Taylor's Field and Henrietta Park. They then leased a plot of land at Pulteney Meadow, where today's Rec stands, with most games played against local opposition: Weston-super-Mare, Gloucester, Clifton and the "Arabs" from Bristol.

By the 1890s, Welsh clubs were starting to become regular opponents, with Cardiff and Penarth regularly appearing in the fixture list. With a traditionally lightweight pack, they would suffer regular defeats. The club played its first fixture against overseas opposition in 1907, as Racing Club de Bordelais crossed the Channel to play at the Rec. 1954 saw a first overseas tour by Bath, who beat the French teams St Claude (23–3).

Competitive competitions and the glory years (1954–1995)

The trip was repeated the following year with wins against St Claude (13–8), Dijon (14–0) and Macon (8–3) as captain Peter Sibley was the first to develop the ethos for fast, attacking rugby in the Sixties. With six-foot four-inch players such as England international back row David Gay, Peter Heindorff, Sibley had players with physique to impose this style of play. The side continued to develop Bath's reputation in the early Seventies with wins over the top Welsh sides. However, the revolution began with the arrival of coach Jack Rowell in 1978.

Rowell transformed the ethos of a club that had traditionally drawn local players. When formalised competitions started in the 1980s Jack Rowell brought premature professionalism to Bath and began to assemble a side with power and precision. The power, provided by Gareth Chilcott, and the precision of Roger Spurrell, was complemented by the quality of John Horton and winger David Trick. By 1984, the first of ten knock-out cup successes had been achieved, at the expense of Bristol. Bath dominated the Anglo-Welsh Cup final winning it four years on a trot, from 1984 to 1987. Bath, after a blip in 1988, dominated, winning it a further six times.

The formalised rugby structure was formed in 1987, and Bath dominated the early years of the first division, being crowned league champions six times in just eight years and doing the "double" four times. Bath were an unstoppable force in 1988–89 and ran away with the league title, winning the first ten of their eleven league matches. A week later, in the Anglo-Welsh Cup final at Twickenham, Bath beat Leicester 10–6 to become the first English club to do the double of winning both League and Cup. 1990 saw the last of six consecutive Twickenham final wins, with the club defeating Gloucester 48–6. 1993–94 saw the team win the Anglo Welsh Cup, beating Leicester. In May 1996, Bath Rugby and Wigan made history by playing against each other at both codes. The first match was at Maine Road, Manchester under League rules and saw Bath struggle, eventually losing 82–6. In the return fixture under Union rules at Twickenham, Bath were able to regain a measure of pride by beating Wigan 44–19.

Early Professional era (1995–2021)

Jack Rowell's departure in 1995 and rugby union becoming a professional sport in 1996 had seen Bath struggle to find consistency either on or off the field. With regular changes in the coaching staff and a steady turnaround of players, the formula that led to past successes was still being sought, albeit Bath still managed to be the first British club to lift the European Cup in the 1997–1998 season. Bath beat French club Brive 19–18 in an exciting final in Bordeaux with Jon Callard scoring all the points for Bath. Off the field, the official supporters' club of Bath Rugby was formed in January 1997.

Despite European glory, Bath slumped to sixth in the league the next season. In the disastrous league campaign of 2002–03, relegation was avoided by only a single point on the last day. Having narrowly avoided relegation and merger with rivals Bristol in the 2002–03 season, the club invested heavily in its squad, the team ended the regular season at the top of the table six points, but lost in the play-off final match at Twickenham. Bath finished 4th in the 2004–05 season and also reached the RFU Cup final, though lost to Leeds at Twickenham after a poor display. By the end of the 2004–05 season, coach John Connolly had announced his intention to return to his native Australia, having created one of the most dominant packs in club rugby.

In 2006 they defeated Leicester Tigers in the quarter finals at a sold out Walkers' Stadium in Leicester, Bath then went on to lose the semi-finals against Biarritz. As they finished 9th in the league that year, Bath were ineligible for the 2006–07 competition, instead contesting in the European Challenge Cup, the second level of European rugby. Steve Meehan was appointed the new acting head coach in the summer of 2006.

In 2008 Bath won their first trophy in ten years, beating Worcester in the European Challenge Cup. On 14 April 2010, British businessman Bruce Craig bought the club from chairman Andrew Brownsword and set out new plans for the future of the club, including a proposal to create a new club headquarters at Farleigh House and plans to create a new 20,000 seater stadium.

Mike Ford became the club's head coach in May 2013. Ford guided Bath to the 2014–15 Premiership Final, where they lost to Saracens. Ford was awarded the Aviva Premiership Director of Rugby of the Year award in 2015 while his son, George Ford, won Player of the Year. However, after a disappointing campaign that saw Bath finish 9th in the table, Mike Ford left the club at the end of the 2015–2016 season.

Decline & Resurgence (2021–)

The 2021–22 season was Bath's worst ever campaign. In October 2021, they conceded the most points of any Premiership match in their history losing 71–17 at home to Saracens. They finished bottom of the Premiership for the first time in their history, and suffered their greatest ever defeat, against rivals, Gloucester, losing 64–0 at Kingsholm. Ahead of the 2022–23 season, South African coach Johann van Graan joined Bath. Van Graan described Bath as being “broken as a club” when he arrived, but he successfully turned the team around in his first season in charge. The team's improvement in form over the course of the campaign culminated with a 61–29 win over Saracens on the final day, which saw them edge neighbours and rivals Bristol Bears for eighth in the table and a place in the 2023–24 Champions Cup.

Bath finished the 2023/2024 regular season in 2nd place, their highest finish since 2015. After defeating Sale Sharks in the semi-final, Bath competed against Northampton Saints in the Premiership Final, where Bath suffered a narrow 25–21 defeat.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/08/premiership-final-northampton-bath-rugby-union|title= Alex Mitchell try earns Northampton title as 14-man Bath are denied|date=8 June 2024|work=The Guardian|access-date=10 June 2024}}

In December 2024, Bath defeated Saracens 68–10 to inflict them with their worst defeat in Premiership history. That same month, owner Bruce Craig submitted a planning application for a new 18,000 capacity stadium. In April 2025, after a 55–19 victory over Newcastle Falcons, they secured top spot in the regular season for the first time since the 2003–04 season. After a disappointing Champions Cup campaign, in which they finished fifth out of six in their pool, Bath qualified for an away Round of 16 fixture in the Challenge Cup. They defeated Pau away from home, then beat Gloucester at home in the quarter-final and Edinburgh away in the semi-final. Bath defeated Lyon 37–12 in the final to win the Challenge Cup for the second time in their history. In June 2025, they defeated Bristol Bears 34–20 at home to advance to the Premiership final for the second year in a row. In the final, Bath defeated Leicester Tigers 23–21 to claim their first league title in 29 years. This was the third leg of a historic treble, having already won the Premiership Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup that season. A victory parade was organised for the following day, attracting thousands of supporters. The players were carried in two open-top buses over Pulteney Bridge and up Milsom Street, before heading towards Bath Abbey and ending at The Recreation Ground, where a ticketed party was held.

Stadium

Main article: Recreation Ground (Bath)

The Recreation Ground

In November 2009 the new chief executive, Nick Blofeld, stated the club was seeking a mostly seated stadium for 20,000 to suit modern professional rugby, with potential for future expansion, containing "restaurants and cafés, hospitality suites, conference facilities and good food and beverage outlets and other potential retail outlets". The charitable status of the Rec had prevented progress, but in 2013 the Charity Commission recommended a scheme to allow the club's former training ground at Lambridge to be exchanged for an extended footprint on the Rec, free from the charitable rules.

The club submitted proposals for an 18,500-seat stadium, intending to apply for planning permission in 2014.

The First Tier Tribunal limited the land on the Rec available which put the club's development plans on ice, and as a consequence the club received planning permission to extend its capacity to 14,000 on a temporary basis for the following two seasons to cover their 150th anniversary celebrations in 2015. After further successful planning applications, the club was able to increase its capacity by 1,000 for the 2016/17 season onwards – taking the capacity to 14,500 spectators for home games.

The works took place during the 2016 off-season and saw the West Stand partially demolished and improved facilities provided, including bars, food outlets and toilets. The new four-year consents enabled Bath to focus on a permanent redevelopment solution for the Rec, without on-going debate around temporary stands. Permanent development proposals were intended to be brought forward long before the expiry of the four-year period.

An updated decision in December 2016 from the Charity First-Tier Tribunal relating to a revised Scheme for the governance of the Bath Recreation Ground, including the use of the Recreation Ground site, was said by the club to "re-open the door to redevelopment at the Rec", and in 2023 a planning application for a new stadium was submitted which was revised, amended and resubmitted in January 2025. A final decision by Bath & North East Somerset Council's planning committee is awaited, but the revised application has achieved the support of a number of key organisations including the Bath Preservation Trust and UNESCO. This will see a stadium that seats 18,000.

Twickenham Stadium

Between the 2016–17 and 2018–19 seasons, Bath Rugby played an annual home fixture at Twickenham Stadium. The fixture; dubbed The Clash was normally played around Easter and formed part of a five-year deal to host games at Twickenham. The 2017 match had an attendance of 61,868, and the 2018 match had 60,880 spectators.

Kit

Between 2020 and 2023, the kit was supplied by Macron.

Castore have been the preferred kit supplier since the start of the 2023–24 season.

Seasons

Key

• Pts = Points
• Pos = Final position
• Div 1 = Division 1
• Prem = Premiership Rugby
• PS = Pool Stage
• R1 = Round 1
• R2 = Round 2
• R3 = Round 3
• R4 = Round 4
• R5 = Round 5
• R6 = Round 6
• R16= Round of 16
• QF = Quarter-finals
• SF = Semi-final
• RU = Runners Up

Honours

Players

The Bath Rugby squad for the 2025–26 season is:

Senior squad

Senior Academy

Source:

** Denotes Senior Academy players listed as a Scholar player with the University of Bath rugby programme.*

Rugby World Cup

The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup, whilst playing for Bath, players in bold won the tournament.

Past club captains

Captaincy for the entire season only is counted, individual games are not included.

• 2022– England Ben Spencer
• 2019–22 England Charlie Ewels
• 2017–19 England Matt Garvey
• 2016–17 England Guy Mercer
• 2011–16 England Stuart Hooper
• 2010–11 South Africa Luke Watson
• 2009–10 South Africa Michael Claassens
• 2008–09 England Michael Lipman and England Alex Crockett
• 2005–08 England Steve Borthwick
• 2003–05 Wales Jonathan Humphreys
• 2002–03 England Danny Grewcock
• 2001–02 United States of America Dan Lyle

British and Irish Lions

The following are players which have represented the British and Irish Lions whilst playing for Bath:

Management

References

References

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