A match made in hell

By Ed King
Beleaguered Bath supporter

Just when most Bath and Bristol fans thought their season couldn't possibly get any worse, it did.

But in the crazy world of professional rugby, bizarre decisions should come as no surprise - we've come to expect it.

Will Bath's badge look slightly different this time next year?

Bath co-coach Brian Smith was painfully close to the mark when he said that reality TV and soap operas were nothing compared to working at the Rec.

You could not have scripted it - a week before Bath faced Bristol in the mother of all relegation battles, the clubs owners decide to get into bed with one another.

The timing could not have be worse, yet it appears likely it was planned to coincide with Sunday's game at Ashton gate, a 21,000 sell-out.

The main protagonists appear to be Malcolm Pearce, one-time Bath benefactor and now Bristol boss, and Bath's owner Andrew Brownsword.

Both are millionaires who deserve credit for backing two ailing West Country clubs to the tune of £15m in total.

Pearce's hope that Bristol could regain their perch at the top of English rugby now seems optimistic - the club are haemorrhaging money and the fans are staying away.

Down the road at Bath Brownsword has come under increasing, and often unjustified criticism, for his handling of the club - in particular the appointment of Michael Foley and Brian Smith.

HAVE YOUR SAY As a Bristol supporter of 15 years, the last thing I want to see is my club disappear. Val Utteridge, Chippenham Join the debate

Nice, hardworking blokes who no doubt one day will hit the heights of international management - but experienced Premiership coaches?

So Pearce wants in, Brownsword out - but who will benefit apart from the owners?

Surely not Bristol fans, whose club will be merged and moved to Bath, where the new team will play most of their games.

Their club would go the same way as London Scottish and Richmond, when the pair decided to form a team with London Irish.

The Irish remain in the Premiership - their partners lie deep in the National leagues.

Bristol is a proud club with strong traditions - one of which is a fierce rivalry with Bath, whose fans are accused of wearing Barbours, driving 4x4 and eating prawn sandwiches.

And Bath - titans during the 1980s and 1990s, the first club to win four back-to-back league titles, the first British club to win a European Cup - why on earth would we want to join forces with Bristol?

How many Bristol fans will travel to the Rec, or 'Wreck' as they call it, to watch the Wessex Wanderers, Bath Shoguns or whatever awful name the team gets called?

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If I were a proud Bristolian I'd prefer to travel to Kingsholm and support Gloucester than be seen supporting the home team at Bath.

Who knows what it would do for Bath, except perhaps save us from relegation.

Most fans have no desire for their small city to be merged into the vast Bristolian metropolis - they are proud of the area's heritage and the club provides a focal point for those feelings.

West Country rugby has always been based on local rivalry, hence the sell-out crowd at Ashton gate last weekend.

The ground was a 20,000 sell-out not because Bristol and Bath fans love each other, but because the fans want to see their team put one over the locals - bragging rights for the next week.

That, after all, is why we watch sport.

It's not always the winning that counts, or how fancy your stadium is - what matters is the pride you feel when your team runs out onto the pitch.

Personally, I'd rather watch a Bath side in division one next year than witness the emergence of a West Country Frankenstein.