By Glen Leat
February 13 2004

With a week's break away from supporting our beloved Bath it's perhaps a reasonable time to reflect on what the numbers show we have achieved so far this season by comparison with previous seasons.

After finishing next to bottom for the past two seasons it is well worth looking at a table of our position since the leagues started way back in 1987. With six Number Ones, three Number Twos and two Number Threes one would be hard pressed to challenge Bath Rugby over domestic honours but this table also acts as a good reminder that we've experienced seven seasons since the Championship pennant flew proudly above our clubhouse. There was a time when that pennant fluttered alongside the Blue, Black and White flag so often that supporters could have been forgiven for thinking it was another Bath flag.

As supporters we've beaten ourselves (and many players) up good and hard in recent years about a lack of success, yet since our last Championship win we've been in the top three four times our of seven attempts: in football terms that would be considered to be very successful. Our problem is that we were spoilt rotten between 1988 and 1996!

Another stat I like to consider on a season by season basis is our winning percentage rate. As you will see we've taken a real hammering of late but this season has seen the overall rate increase by a couple of percentage points by comparison with the end of last season.

Season 87/88 88/89 89/90 90/91 91/92 92/93 93/94 Games Played 11 11 11 12 12 12 18 Bath Wins 6 10 8 11 10 11 17 Win % 54.5 90.9 72.7 91.7 83.3 91.7 94.4 Season 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00 00/01 Games Played 18 18 22 22 26 22 22 Bath Wins 12 15 16 13 15 15 14 Win % 66.7 83.3 72.7 59.1 57.7 68.2 63.6 Season 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 Total Games Played 22 22 21 * * * 302 Bath Wins 7 7 18 * * * 205 Win % 31.8 31.8 85.7 * * * 67.9

 

Looking through last week's match day programme, which I must say continues to be an excellent read, it is worth highlighting Olly Barkley's personal figures. A lot of comparisons have been made between Olly and Mike Catt so let's look at their comparative figures:

These stats show just how much Catty has contributed to our cause, and much of this was during a time when he carried an average team. Catty may be coming towards the end of his Bath career but he (and we) can reflect on a magnificent career at The Rec - and all because Glawster passed up his services.