By Glen Leat
August 20 2005

We've two weeks before the start of the new season. Sitting out on my patio last night shivering in the cold air it reminded me of the line all children say after 10 minutes of a long car journey, "Are we there yet?" but in my case it was "Has summer started yet?".

Well it's (almost) been and gone and we're back on to the winter sport.

Zurich has gone and Guinness is taking over the sponsorship of the league but few things ever change for the better. We've got just two season ticket games in the first seven weeks of the season and the Powergen Cup has changed to a mini-league format so that the players get even more knackered and the supporters have to cough up more cash to see their team. Well I'm boycotting these Cup(sic) games in protest at this clear attempt to draw even more water from the supporters' (cash) well. Maybe someone ought to send the powers that be a copy of the fairytale "The Golden Goose" to remind them that there are limits to what most people will pay to see rugby. I know that there are many of you who will tip up to watch Bath play in any format at any venue, judging by the numbers who travelled to Exeter and are going to Launceston. I salute you all as you are truly great Bath Rugby supporters. However you are in the minority and despite your commitment do not represent the majority of rugby followers.

For me a domestic Cup tournament should be a knockout format with teams getting one chance in each round to progress. I can cope with it in the European competition because of the money involved, the enjoyment supporters get from travelling around Europe and the fact that this has been a tried and tested format in many sports, however our domestic Cup is like the FA Cup - a knock-out: can you imagine the FA turning their competition into a mini-league? Yes, you probably can which says a lot about how sport is developing throughout the world.

Between the start of the season (18 weeks) and Christmas we have 17 games, of these: 4 are season ticket GP home games, 6 are away GP games, 3 are Powergen Cup games and 4 are HC games (2 home games being part of the season ticket). So, if you are a season ticket holder and can only make home games and not afford the extras you will see 6 live games of rugby on the Rec between September and the end of the year. That may be fine for many of you but I still hanker after the days when it was home and away on alternate weeks so I didn't have to wait too long for my next home fix(ture). Mind you I still hanker after the days when it cost £50 to be a member of Bath FC (sigh!). I also believe there is something about creating a rhythm in watching sport. With the fixture list being so disjointed it is difficult to organise one's life around the game. 

At present rugby is popular with the paying public (well in Bath anyway) but each season I meet regulars who have stopped going altogether or who pick and choose their games or believe this year could be their last. These are not fly-by-night supporters, these are folk who've been going to the Rec for 20-30 years. Is it because they have suddenly got bored of rugby? No, it's two things. Firstly the increasing cost (of tickets and travel) and secondly the disjointed fixture arrangements I mentioned above. 

This probably isn't a worry for clubs like Bath who know the non-renewers of season tickets will have their allocation snapped up by others but it is a poor and complacent business that assumes customers will always buy their product regardless of cost and treatment. Everything in life is cyclical and there will be a time when the likes of Bath and rugby in general fail to attract the crowds because they have pushed the supporters one step too far over the line of reasonable change or the country finds another sport to get behind. The supporters of Manchester United looked down smugly at their counterparts for 10 years as they swept all before them on and off the field. Suddenly things changed and they started to lose games and then championships and finally the club itself. If anyone takes the "I'm alright Jack" stance at Bath just look at Man Utd for a reminder of how the mighty can fall.

Having said all of that, I'm really looking forward to start of the new season, not just for the rugby, but to once again meet up with the many friends I have made through this great game of ours.