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History of ERE Part 2
By Glen Leat July 30 2006
ERE has been with us since 1991 and in this article we look at what we were publishing in the early editions following the successful low key launch of Edition One. This is the second of a series of articles remembering our fanzine when it could only be accessed by the turn of a paper page.

In the first article I made reference to the support Clive Banks and I received from Club Secretary, Clive Howard, and Club Press Officer, Ken Johnstone. By the time of the second edition another supporter of our efforts stepped up to the plate, Alan Pearey, rugby reporter for the Bath Chronicle. Alan was very encouraging and we always caught up with him at games to discuss the various bits of "inside knowledge" he picked up as a reporter. As ordinary supporters it was exciting for us to hear about the goings on within the club that we would never normally know: not surprisingly for the time Bath FC was a very political organisation with factions vying for a controlling interest.

The second edition co-incided with a game against Cork Constitution in driving rain which lasted for hours. In those days it was necessary to get on the Flowerpots some 2-3 hours in advance of a game and so we were all soaked to the skin before the players trotted out on to the pitch. Watching this game was such a miserable experience that Clive's dad had to go home at half-time or risk pneumonia. After the game ERE called for a roof to be placed over the Flowerpots and stated "Popular side regulars should be forgiven for not being over-keen on the proposed Sports Centre end "super structure". Its seems to us that for a fraction of the cost of building a few sponsors suites this protection could easily be erected for the benefit of the Club's loyal followers."

These comments demonstrated our lack of knowledge about how the new stand would actually look, and says much about the lack of PR at the time, and of course the so called "Friends of the Rec" had not raised their heads to start complaining about anything rugby related. A few years down the road, when these friends(sic) would start to organise themselves, we would be looking at retractable stands, collapsible roofs etc all of which is laughable if it weren't true.

ERE Issue 2 also talked about the lack of substitutes in rugby, as the article said:

"Rugby Union, a game of 15 players  a side with no room for substitutes. Players may be replaced if injured and can take no further part in the game but coaches are not able to change players as a tactic. All other team sports have recognised that their game can be enhanced by the added dimension of extra players but, in true fashion, the administrators of Rugby Union have failed to recognise something to benefit the game."

Lo and behold, a few years later this "extra dimension" was added but you can't help feeling it's got a bit out of hand when you see things like a whole front row being replaced after 60 minutes of every match or players coming on for the last three minutes of a game.

Flicking through the pages of the second edition I've stumbled over a "Spectator Health Warning" in respect of Les Peard, a man who can seriously ruin a game! Who'd be a ref, eh? Mind you he was totally useless in all reffing departments and drove us mad on the Flowerpots with his constant whistle blowing. And for some reason he regularly though Robbo was offside!

Clive's list in this edition focused on not so well known TV programmes, such as:

* Challenge Aneka - the Bath FC Committee give Aneka 24 hours to placate the protesters, gain planning permission and build their training ground at Bathampton - could do with her again couldn't we!

* Surprise, Surprise - Bristol win two games in a row

Clive Anderson Talks Back - and is promptly penalised another 10 yards!

So it's off to Edition Three shortly, see you soon.

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