1954-1955 ANECDOTES

1954-1955 ANECDOTES
MANCOM 5/7/1954
Congratulations extended to Ray Douglas upon gaining the Military Cross.
Membership Tariff:-
Gent’s Reserved Stand 50/-
Lady’s Reserved Stand 30/-
Gent’s unreserved stand 2 guineas
Lady’s unreserved stand 1 guinea
Schoolboys –same as Ladies.
Ground and Enclosure 30/- (Including North Stand)
Ground Admission 1/-, plus 6d to Enclosure, plus 6d to North Stand.
Admission to unreserved West Stand 3/-.
Lady Helpers to be issued with a ticket on payment of one guinea.
1001 numbered seats to be installed in West Stand, with adequate room for Press.
Pre-season training was on Tuesdays and Thursdays, involving road work and Physical Training, under the supervision of Alf Ball, who was a P.T.I. instructor in the Army.

MANCOM 23/8/1954
Thanks given to Norman Halse and his helpers for timber work done on the Flowerpot Stands.
Mrs Cryer was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks for her gift of flags for the goal posts.
Application made for Training to start September 7th.
MANCOM 6/9/1954
The question of Players’ Expenses was left in the hands of the Selection Committee, with Management Committee retaining right to review.
West Stand opening planned for 2nd October 1954. President and Secretary of the R.F.U. invited, along with I J Pitman M.P.
* W. C. Ramsey, President of the R.F.U. present to officially open the West Stand on 2nd October 1954, the day of the Llanelli match.
The match programme contained his exhortation: “that all players will carefully read the new laws and remember that no alterations in the laws can be effective unless players are prepared to play the game in the true spirit of Rugby Football.” He reminded the reader that,
1. A game like a country belongs to those who stand by its laws and what they really mean.
2. Rugby Football is a game for gentlemen in all classes, but never for a bad sportsman in any class.

MANCOM 4/10/1954
Congratulations at success of West Stand Opening Ceremony.
Agreed, to have four extra paid stewards at 1st XV games.
Club badge donated and to be displayed in the Clubhouse.
MANCOM 8/11/1954
Confirmation of the decision to disband Supporters’ Club and hand over assets to the Bath Club. The Bath Committee very much deplored this decision and agreed that any money so handed over should be put aside in the hope that the Supporters’ Club may be resuscitated in the near future.
Alf Ball tendered his resignation as ‘Trainer-cum-baggage man’ for domestic reasons. He had been a popular figure for six or seven years, and his presence would be sadly missed by officials and players alike.
‘CARPS’ Carps.
It is recalled that Kendall-Carpenter did not relish playing in this game, and by half-time he told the skipper he had had enough. He actually asked John Roberts to call it off; the skipper was unable to accede to his request!

TOUCH JUDGE GETS A BLACK EYE
Team Secretary and touch-judge, Jack Arnold suffered a ‘shiner’ at the Gloucester match. No, it wasn’t an irate
‘Shed’ supporter: “Jack, watching the flight of the ball into touch, bumped into Roy Collins, hence the injury. Jack considers Kingsholm must be his unlucky ground. The last time he played there he was kicked in the eye.”

Football Chronicle 1st January 1955.
TEAM TROPHY GOES WALKABOUT
“A large stuffed wolf with bared fangs, looking surprisingly lifelike, has startled more than one person entering Bath’s new clubhouse on the Recreation Ground. But now it has disappeared. Rugby players are notorious for their souvenir hunts, and now the animal probably rests among other club’s souvenirs. The wolf was ‘introduced’ to the clubhouse by Gio Sidoli and Eric Hopton.”
There was considerable conjecture as to the final resting-place of our friend the wolf. Unfortunately, we can no longer ask dear old Geo Sidoli!
Contemporary comment – A GRAND OLD MAN OF RUGBY
Mr Tommy Davis who is now 83, has long been connected with Rugby at Bath, and he holds a record which few, if any, can emulate.
Last Saturday’s game at Bristol was the 126th official encounter between the two clubs, and Mr. Davis who is still as keen as ever about the game, has seen 125 of them.
The only one he missed was in the middle 20’s, when he was ill in bed, he told me at the Memorial Ground last week. When he heard that Bath had won that match, he said, he felt like getting up and celebrating immediately.

MANCOM 7/3/1955
Re Proposed purchase of the Recreation Grounds by Bath City Council.
The Recreation Ground Company sent a copy of a letter from the Town Clerk stating: “I shall be glad if you will accept this letter as an assurance on behalf of the Corporation that there is no intention on the Corporation’s part if the purchase is completed, to restrict or interfere with the rights and privileges enjoyed by the Bath F.C. under their existing lease of part of the Recreation Ground.”

NOTWITHSTANDING
It was Robin Standing’s one and only appearance for Bath. He married a Bath girl the following Monday and on the Thursday they sailed away to their new home in South Africa..
MANCOM 14/3/1955
Mr Foster proposed (and Mr Carey seconded), that an approach be made to the R.F.U. for a loan for possible purchase of the Recreation Ground by the Bath Club.
The Grounds Committee to prepare an inventory of Club’s property forthwith.

MANCOM 13/4/1955
A letter received from Somerset R.F.U. confirmed their support for any Club’s request for an R.F.U. loan.
A letter from Cartwright Taylor & Corpe stated:-
1. If the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 was still in force in 1982, a new lease could be demanded.
2. The question of surrender of the then present lease and getting another for 99 years depended on whether the landlord would agree.
3. The Club’s powers under the Landlord & Tenant Act only provided for a period of 14 years after the expiration of the then present lease.
4. An option to renew at the end of the present lease would not seem worthwhile.

Mr Arnold Ridley deputed to attend the R.F.U. Annual meeting on July 1s
.
Mr Harold Crane handed in a requisition signed by 70 members calling for an Extraordinary General meeting regarding the sale of the Recreation ground.

Mr Bevan-Jones thanked for his excellent arrangements in connection with the fixing and unveiling of the Memoria