The story of one Bath business who invested in the BBCB...
Bathonian Dave Clarke has been supporting Bath City since 1963-1964 season when his late father John – who was a supporter for 40 years – took him down to Twerton Park as an 8 year old to watch the famous Bath City v Bolton Wanderers FA Cup 3rd Round tie. Bath City were managed that season by Malcolm Allison and had the likes of local legend Tony Book, ex-Sunderland & Scottish International Charlie (Cannonball) Fleming, ex-England & Portsmouth Len Phillips, Ian MacFarlane, Jonny Cartwright and Keith Sanderson in the side that day and the game attracted a crowd of nearly 14,000 fans. First Division Bolton, who included ex-England goalkeeper Eddie Hopkinson and household names such as Francis Lee and big Wyn Davies in their team, scrambled a lucky 1-1 draw against their Southern League opponents, but won the replay 3-0 at the old Burnden Park ground in front of 28,000…..heady days for Bath City and for Dave, who says he can still remember the massive roar of the crowd when Bath City took the lead in that game, and the mould had been cast forever”
Over 50 years later, Dave is still very much a fan and now having run his successful Cannon Clarke structural waterproofing & damp proofing business in Bath for 30 years, he has decided to ‘Back the Bid’ financially to help the club achieve their target of £300,00.00 to secure the much needed ‘Supporters Society Community Buy-out’ that will hopefully begin a new bright era for the club.
Dave commented “ The club has had a very tough time financially in recent years and each season has been quite a struggle to survive, with low gates and what I can only describe as a malaise that seemed to hang over the club on the back of some very indifferent performances on the pitch, which started the year they were relegated from the Conference Premier. In fact, without current Chairman Paul Williams and some willing helpers, and little money to do it with – a small miracle in itself – and loans made to the club by various current Directors, this great club with a long, proud history would have folded long ago. Therefore, having thought about it long and hard, I decided that this Buy-out option was probably the only way the club were ever going to be able to survive long term. You will also get the added bonus of ground re-development, much wider Community based involvement – something that has been sadly lacking for years between the club and the City of Bath – and some very good & experienced business people coming onto the Board of Directors to run the club in a sustainable and business-like manner”.
Dave, who was educated at the old City of Bath Boys School, started Cannon Clarke Ltd in 1986 and employs nearly 20 staff and is one of the largest independent specialist waterproofing & damp proofing contractors in the South West. With his offices just a short trip from Twerton Park on the Brassmill Trading Estate, he does often wonder why, in an affluent City like Bath that no one has ever come forward before to buy the club in the past, but accepts that with top class international standard rugby that is available now on the Rec, the old football club really has really to take a massive back seat in the past 20 years or so because of this and crucially with no money to do much about it.
Over 50 years later, Dave is still very much a fan and now having run his successful Cannon Clarke structural waterproofing & damp proofing business in Bath for 30 years, he has decided to ‘Back the Bid’ financially to help the club achieve their target of £300,00.00 to secure the much needed ‘Supporters Society Community Buy-out’ that will hopefully begin a new bright era for the club.
Dave commented “ The club has had a very tough time financially in recent years and each season has been quite a struggle to survive, with low gates and what I can only describe as a malaise that seemed to hang over the club on the back of some very indifferent performances on the pitch, which started the year they were relegated from the Conference Premier. In fact, without current Chairman Paul Williams and some willing helpers, and little money to do it with – a small miracle in itself – and loans made to the club by various current Directors, this great club with a long, proud history would have folded long ago. Therefore, having thought about it long and hard, I decided that this Buy-out option was probably the only way the club were ever going to be able to survive long term. You will also get the added bonus of ground re-development, much wider Community based involvement – something that has been sadly lacking for years between the club and the City of Bath – and some very good & experienced business people coming onto the Board of Directors to run the club in a sustainable and business-like manner”.
Dave, who was educated at the old City of Bath Boys School, started Cannon Clarke Ltd in 1986 and employs nearly 20 staff and is one of the largest independent specialist waterproofing & damp proofing contractors in the South West. With his offices just a short trip from Twerton Park on the Brassmill Trading Estate, he does often wonder why, in an affluent City like Bath that no one has ever come forward before to buy the club in the past, but accepts that with top class international standard rugby that is available now on the Rec, the old football club really has really to take a massive back seat in the past 20 years or so because of this and crucially with no money to do much about it.