How I faced the Tebbit test when Bath faced Tamworth

On Saturday, in Bath, I was asked by two different people, if I was struggling with the ‘Tebbit test’.

For those who don’t remember, former Tory hard-liner Norman Tebbit said that all those people who move to a new country should, in effect, support their adopted home in sporting terms as a sign of commitment to their host nation.

I always thought that this was hokum as I have friends and relatives in countries such as Australia and America who love their new abodes but are still fiercely pro-British. And so if they are allowed to ‘fail’ the test why can’t those people coming into the UK?

However, the question of split loyalties was what I still faced in a sporting sense on Saturday when the wonders of football saw me attend a match featuring the team of my adopted community, Bath City, against the team from my home town who I have followed for decades – Tamworth FC.

It has been said that men are more likely to change their wives than their football teams but I’ve always believed that when you arrive in a new area you should at least try and support the local clubs – without, crucially, abandoning your original ones.

It meant that on arriving here I immediately became a Bath Rugby follower (although that is easy as I didn’t have a rugby club before) and I duly adopted Bath City as my local football team.

But, on Saturday, as Bath ran out against Tamworth, I realised that you can’t change your heart and although I stayed as neutral as possible throughout and cheered chances at both ends, I knew that ultimately you can’t ever leave your true sporting love.

What I also realised – as I’ve always passionately believed – is that football at non-league level really is a joy and I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Twerton Park as much for the camaraderie and fun amongst both sets of supporters as for the action on the pitch.

As someone who began his association with non-league football by selling programmes at Tamworth FC’s ground and then spending more than a decade reporting both home and away on the club for my old local paper, I had the pleasure of travelling all around the country and meeting so many people whose main passion for their home town was manifested in their local football team.

The grounds weren’t always beautiful (and the football certainly wasn’t) but there is a real spirit about grassroots sport that makes all the shenanigans of the multi-millionaires in the Premiership seem like a different, and far less pleasant, world.

So, my overriding thoughts about Saturday’s game were all positive. I realised how much I liked and admired Bath City and their fans and I realised again that, once the seed of love for a team is planted inside you, that love never dies. As the chant goes Tamworth FC 'I'll love you til I die...'

You’ll notice, incidentally, that I haven’t mentioned the score of Saturday’s game and that is because I genuinely think I was the only person in the ground who didn’t care who won. Put simply, I just didn’t want either side to lose.

So did I fail the Tebbit test? Possibly.

But did I remember again how much I love non-league football? Definitely.

A sensible reason to do a crazy thing - climbing Kilimanjaro

Every so often a charity comes along that really captures the imagination and far exceeds its original ambitions.

Live Aid was a classic example of a cause that raised millions of pounds – as well as a great deal of awareness – and now the Help For Heroes charity has done exactly the same.

I was reminded of the remarkable impact of this charity on Tuesday morning when The Bath Chronicle business breakfast featured Chris Kane, a solicitor from Withy King, who explained how he and 40 other people (the majority of whom are from Bath) will soon be heading to Africa to climb Kilimanjaro.

Chris had been recruited to the trek by Bath Rugby favourite David Barnes and it was clear that the motivation to support Help For Heroes was one that has really spurred him on.

The reason Help For Heroes has been such a phenomenal success – and phenomenal is not too big a word as it has raised nearly £100m in just under four years – is that the charity has no interest in the rights or wrongs of wars and conflicts but cares passionately about the young men and women who are sent away, in our name, to take part in battles and often come back seriously injured.

The Government does do a lot to help, of course, but to give these people the first class treatment they truly deserve requires vast sums of extra money – and the public has seen that and responded.

Chris spoke very eloquently about the charity and its work but, as so often happens, it was the power of the images he showed in a special film which really told the story. We saw young men – some of whom looked barely old enough to vote – bravely coming to terms with losing limbs or being scarred for life.

These physical images were easy to convey but what the film also highlighted was the huge psychological damage conflicts can produce. This was a fact most vividly brought home when Chris revealed that more servicemen and women who fought in the Falklands have committed suicide since that conflict than died in the war itself.

Help for Heroes was set up by South West couple Bryn and Emma Parry to help every one of our returning serviceman, and so each time someone puts a pound in a box it can help make those folk realise their sacrifice was not in vain.

So I wish Chris, David and all the rest of their team every success on their epic journey which begins a fortnight today in the heat of Tanzania.

For all of them it will be a life-changing experience and I hope they take comfort from the fact that it could also be a life-changing – and possibly life-saving – experience for many of the servicemen and women their superb efforts will support.

Find our more about the climb at http://www.axawealthclimb.co.uk/, follow its progress on Twitter (@axawealthclimb), or sponsor Chris at www.bmycharity.com/ kilimanjaroJune2011.

In praise of Bath City

This first appeared in the Bath Chronicle of May 13

Let's face it, this has been an amazing week.

It's been a week of high drama, shock results, dreams being shattered, dreams coming true and thousands of people being involved in the same communal event. No, for once, I'm not talking about the wonderful world of politics - I'm talking about that equally enjoyable modern drama: football.

Sunday turned out to be a red letter day for the beautiful game. The Premiership placings were (somewhat predictably) decided but none of those games could have been as tense and enjoyable as the one I witnessed along with thousands of others at Twerton Park.

For, on Sunday, Bath City, playing in front of their biggest crowd for some 16 years won a special play-off final which means that they have earned the right to play in the highest echelon of non-league football next year. It's the first time they will have tasted those dizzy heights since, ironically, Tony Blair came to power in another major political upheaval in 1997. And I'm sure they are looking forward to the experience every bit as the then fresh-faced Mr B did.

I've often thought it must be quite tough to be a fanatical football fan in such a rugby-dominated city as Bath. We are all, of course, quite rightly proud of the achievements of Bath Rugby - especially at the moment with their thrill-a-minute performances since Christmas - but Bath City are every bit as key to our sporting fabric as our rugby heroes. And it was wonderful that on Sunday they were in the limelight and had thousands of people at Twerton Park cheering them on. The fact that Bath attracted nearly eight times their usual gate was proof that this is a city which can sustain a big football club as well as a big rugby one.

For those who don't know too much about the complexity of non-league football, Bath will next year be playing in the Blue Square Premier Division which is, in effect,League Division Four. Most of the clubs who play in it - including many ex-league sides - are full-time and have large gates, large bank balances and lofty ambitions. In non-league football terms they really are the big boys and Bath are now proudly among them once again. Hallelujah.

The great thing about winning promotion is that, unlike say winning a cup, winning promotion gives you a season-long prize. Next season City fans will be visiting nicer grounds and watching better football week in week out. And theyn willl love it.

I am thrilled for everybody involved in this great football club. I'm thrilled for the players, the management, the club volunteers and the staff. But, even more, I'm thrilled for the fans.
Players, however loyal, come and go, but once you are a fan of the team, that stays with you for life, and so the loyal Bath City fans will now have their faith rewarded with a chance to have a weekly taste of the cream of non-league football.

So, well done Bath City. You are the pride of our community again and you have thoroughly deserved the smiles that were so evident on every face at around 4.10pm on that remarkable Sunday afternoon.

My application for role as Speaker

Dear Gordon,

I would like to apply for the position of Speaker as I understand the role is soon to be vacated.

First of all forgive me if I have sent this to the wrong person but I know you are the ‘top banana’ in these things and having seen your winning smile on You Tube recently I sense you are a kind man who will treat my application seriously.

I think honesty is the best policy – particularly in the light of what many of your naughty colleagues have been up to! – so let me say straight away that I don’t actually fully understand what the Speaker does.

I suspect (to be even more honest) that hardly anyone in the country really does know what this odd job is all about but in recent days everyone seems to have been talking about the role with great gravity as if it is the cornerstone of world civilisation.

That sort of ‘kudos’ sounds good to me and can’t harm the old CV, hence this application. (And hey, the perks don’t seem bad either!).

I was also further encouraged to apply when I heard on that programme where Jeremy Paxman just sneers at everyone (and boy has he been going into sneering overdrive of late!) someone say that The Speaker is the third most important person in the country after The Queen and The Prime Minister.

Now, I know that is a bit ridiculous – had this guy never heard of David Beckham, Simon Cowell, Peggy Mitchell, Katie Price or Susan Boyle I wondered? – but nevertheless I feel as I am unlikely to become a monarch or indeed the PM any time soon this may be the perfect chance for me to finally hit the ‘big time.’

Clearly I am not an MP which may (in itself) be considered a bit of a disadvantage but I do sort of like politics (I have every one of the West Wing DVDs and I love The Thick Of It) and I am sure I can say ‘order, order’ and act statesmanlike as well as the next man (particularly if the ‘next’ man is called Michael Martin!)

I can’t deny I would also like a crack at a bit of power to get over some of my personal concerns.

For example, if we can get a man to the moon and create peace in Northern Ireland how hard can it be to give Bath Rugby an extra 15 per cent of space in our city centre? And I would also like the chance to persuade you and every other MP that not everyone in Bath actually lives in the Royal Crescent and so yes, we do need Government investment in our schools and health service as well thank you.

But, fear not, I won’t be parochial and I will take an interest in the whole country – yes, even Bristol.

I will also make sure that unlike the last bloke I really will crack down on MPs’ expenses.

I will, for example, ban MPs from having moats wider than the sort children put around sandcastles, I make sure that the only horse manure MPs can use is what they have personally collected themselves from nearby farms (local manure for local people I say!) and I will also ban Hazel Blears.

Above all I can be fair (well, sometimes), impartial (apart from at sporting events) and I am sure I will look very good in black gowns.

Mr Brown, I know this is a tough time for you (I have to keep replaying that You Tube video to remind me what it was like when you actually even smiled) but I believe by making me Speaker you can remove one big obstacle from your life. You can then return to dealing with issues that are obviously easier for you like, err, the economy.


Best wishes from your next third most important person in the UK . . .

Sam

Saluting Bath's people of 2008

As readers of the Bath Chronicle will have seen in our New Year's Day edition we have just unveiled our first ever 'People Of The Year'


The idea was to honour the people, companies and organisations who we felt had made the most dramatic impact on Bath and the surrounding towns and villages during 2008.


Of course it would have been impossible to salute everyone from our great community but we think the 70 individuals, eight events, eight companies, 11 arts shows, six sports teams and six local bands we featured represents a pretty good snapshot of just some of the 'best of Bath' in 2008.


The initial reaction to our mini ‘New Year Honours’ from nominees implies the idea has been well received so our planning for the 2009 awards begins now. And the great thing is - every single citizen/company/sports team/band etc has a chance to be nominated!


For the record, the winners of our two biggest awards – the man and woman of the year – were Grenville Jones for his work in taking the City of Bath Male Choir to TV stardom and his fantastic achievements with the Golden-Oldies and Gitte Dawson for her brilliant leadership of the King Bladud Pigs project. They are pictured here.




Elsewhere we chose winners in various categories such as Bath Rugby, Ben Rushgrove, Great Western Wine, Carol Spalding, Mike Whitaker, Susie Wright, Nicholas Coombes, Ann Garner, Martin Tracy, Paul Mattausch-Burrows, The Volt, Charlie McDonnell, Dan Biggane and the irrepressible and much-admired Loraine Morgan-Brinkhurst.


There is no room to list all the runners-up but you can find them in the Chronicle or at our website (http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/) and we truly believe all our 100 plus nominees were fully deserving of cheers.




The 2009 awards nominations are now open!

My predictions for Bath in 2009

This is an edited version of my column from the Bath Chronicle printed on January 1 2009

Bath's crystal ball....

It is time, once again, for me to delve into my crystal ball and wonder what the year ahead will mean to Bath . I have done my Nostradamus act in my Bath Chronicle column for two or three years now and had a pretty good ‘success rate’ at predicting things to be honest.

That is with one major exception.

So, let me start there.

For the past two years I have predicted that the arguments about The Rec would be solved and we would finally have a decision about the permanent home of Bath Rugby. And on both occasions I have been wrong.

Well, adopting the totally unproven theory of ‘third time lucky’ I am going to do it again.

For I am now more confident than ever that another Christmas will not pass before we know for definite where Bath Rugby will finally be able to lay their hat.

There has been much to-ing and fro-ing behind the scenes and I detect that we are within touching distance of a decision. My head and my heart still wants Bath Rugby to stay at The Rec but if there is even a hint of any more long-term delays, I think they should move – simple as that.

The club needs to secure its position once and for all – and I am predicting that in 2009 it will do so.Still with Bath Rugby I am also predicting even more good things on the pitch. Our newly crowned Chronicle Team of the Year had a fantastic 2008 and are rightly seen as the most entertaining team in club rugby in the UK.

Next year we would love to see them win another trophy – either a league title or cup, I am, not fussy – and I am predicting they will do so. Still with sport, I am confident TeamBath will secure a play-off spot in their league and don’t rule out a late surge from Bath City either. They have been a bit inconsistent in recent months but when they are good they are very good, and don’t be surprised if they make a charge into the play-offs in the months to come.

Away from the sporting field, I think no one is denying that 2009 could be a very tough year for our city in economic terms. Dire warning follows dire warning on the national news programmes, but Bath has a lot of its business infrastructure right and also has the spirit and the management skills to really hit back. We will be launching our own campaign shortly to lead that fight but no one should deny that 2009 will see a fair bit of upheaval.

Above all, we will all need to keep our nerve . . .

What will help Bath is that there are a couple of major improvements to the city which will come to fruition. SouthGate will open its doors for the first phase of shops in the autumn (and I predict it may even be earlier, looking at the speed of the work being done) and before then we will see the new bus station up and running. The debate about the ‘busometer’ will grow again at that time I imagine, but I predict few will be disappointed with the station which should be first class.

Elsewhere I believe that the longest running Bath soap opera – the Western Riverside project – will FINALLY begin. There have been more stops and starts than in a tennis match over this, but I believe we are tantalisingly close to the end of the fifth set now, and I am predicting that in 2009, the Bath Western Riverside project will kick off. I am also pretty certain that despite the fantastic community-led opposition to it, the Bath Transportation Package will also hit the road but I wouldn’t rule out some late compromises to try to bring more of the public on board.

So there is my snapshot of 2009 predictions. I believe the year will be economically tough but on the plus side, The Rec will be sorted, Western Riverside will begin, SouthGate will open, we will have a great new bus station and our main sports teams will all have something to cheer about. See, 2009 doesn’t look so bad now, does it?

Happy New Year everyone......