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Bath supporters have their uses
By Lee Walker August 13 2002
Have you heard the one about the Englishman, Scotsman, and the Bath supporter? The tale of how Lee Walker became a Tigers supporter.

I've read with interest the accounts by others on this site of how they became Tigers fans, and I think my own story will add to many of the rather convoluted routes. Having spent the first 18 years of my life in the blessed county that is Leicestershire, you would have thought my account would be straightforward story of father passing on his passion to his son, but you'd be mistaken. My family were never that interested in rugby; football and cricket were of prime interest to the males of my household. I ought not admit this but I still find enjoyment in these sports. I'd watch a rugby international or highlights of a Tigers match if they were on TV but that was the extent of it.

However when I went to university at Sheffield I started palling around with a bloke from Edinburgh who happened to be born in the Leicester Royal Infirmary (during a match he claimed) and consequently followed Tigers fortunes. He suggested going to see them play live. So one day in the 1993/94 season I went along to watch Tigers vs. Bath with my Scottish friend and another mate from uni. (I'll call him Harry to protect his pride), who said he just fancied seeing a bit of live rugby.

We got there nice and early so decided to have a liquid lunch in the Victory while we read the match program. It was at this point that my suspicions about Harry were first aroused. He seemed to be rather too knowledgeable about the opposition. But I concluded that this was just a demonstration of his general interest in the game. However, once the game began (we sat in the members - the last time I did so I've been a Terrace Tiger ever since) Harry really showed his true colours by unzipping his coat to reveal, yes you've guest it, a Bath top!! I couldn't believe that he'd managed to keep this 'perversion' secret. The good natured humour of the Welford road crowd came to the fore as I was admonished by those surrounding us for bringing a 'Barf' supporter to the game, but they all seemed to find it funny.

So that is how a Scotsman and a Bath supporter introduced me to the Tigers.

But once I'd gone I was hooked; going to as many games as I could when I was back home for the vacation. However it wasn't until 1998, when I was gainfully employed in Cambridgeshire, that I had the time and finances to become a season ticket holder. The previous year I had spent at Reading surrounded by Bath supporters who delighted in our defeat to Brive in the European Cup. I missed the match in Paris but made it to the Millenium Stadium to watch last years final. What a stadium that is, what an occasion and what an atmosphere? It will live long in my memory, and my being there is partly thanks to a Bath supporter who took me along to a match 8 years previously. God bless him!

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