BUSINESS OF SPORT with an outstanding group of people who all contribute to making matchday something special , no matter what their role , and it ’ s a real honour to be part of giving people a special experience and some escapism every couple of weeks . We ’ re all climbing the walls by the end of August each year , desperate to get a game on !
Can you give us an update on the new stadium project ? This is a frustrating one for all of us , no matter how we ’ re connected to the Club . Whilst we ’ re proud to sit at the top of the fans ’ favourite rugby stadium poll ( did I mention we pipped Leicester to the top spot ?!), we know that the facilities at The Rec aren ’ t close to what they should be . I do think we make the best of a challenging situation and we love our character-filled stadium , but we ’ d love to be able to redevelop .
In a nutshell , there is a legal challenge ongoing which needs to be resolved but we ’ ve been working hard in the background so that we ’ re not working from a standing
“ We were recently voted the best rugby ground in the world in a fans ' poll ( The Rugby Paper ) which was brilliant , but we want to push that bar even higher this season .”
start if that goes in our favour . Nobody ever suggested that building a stadium in the middle of a World Heritage city would be easy and it ’ s really important to us to deliver something which is an exceptional experience for our fans but protects everything that is so wonderful about the city of Bath .
Will there be any changes at The Rec this season ? We need to be quite conservative about making big changes at the ground whilst we wait on the decision about a redevelopment , but that doesn ’ t stop us wanting to make smaller changes where we can .
We ’ ll be looking to change up the hospitality offering a little and provide our guests in the Premier Lounge with something slightly different . We are always looking to make a difference to our food and beverage options , in particular our primary ale will now be Tribute having signed a new deal with St Austell Brewery .
Visitors to the main bar in the Clubhouse should see a real difference too – it ’ s having a bit of a facelift . Come and have a look on matchday . Tickets are on sale eight weeks ahead of all the games . Don ’ t tell me you didn ’ t expect me to put in a sales plug !
How has Bath Rugby been working in the community ? Our Grassroots work goes from strength to strength across our whole catchment area and we ’ re particularly proud of the wider schools work we ’ re doing in partnership with the Bath Rugby Foundation . Working together means that we can do more than use the
power of sport to inspire the next generation to exercise more , we can help build their confidence and their life skills too . It ’ s at the heart of everything we stand for .
If you had one message for the Bath community , what would it be ? Can I have two ? The first would be to get behind us if you can when we get plans really moving for our stadium development . We love being a key part of our city 365 days a year and we need the support of the wider community of Bath to make the redevelopment happen and keep us in the heart of the city .
The second would be to encourage people to take a look at what our charitable arm , the Bath Rugby Foundation does . Every year it has an extraordinary impact on the lives of about 4,000 young people who have had the toughest of starts and helps empower them to succeed in life .
LET US ENTERTAIN YOU THIS COMING SEASON ...
UPCOMING HOME FIXTURE LIST www . bathrugby . com
THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2022 9