Twerton Park
Twerton Park is a football stadium in the Twerton suburb of Bath, England. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of Bath City. From 1986 to 1996 Bristol Rovers played there following their departure from Eastville. The stadium has a capacity of 3,528 people, with 1,066 seats.
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| Location | Dominion Road, Twerton, Bath, BA2 1DB |
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| Capacity | 3,528 (1,006 seated)[1] |
| Record attendance | 18,020 |
| Field size | 101 x 69 m[2] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1909 |
| Opened | 26 June 1909 |
| Tenants | |
| Bath City (1932–present) Bristol Rovers (1986–1996) Team Bath (1999–2009) Bristol City Women (2020–present) | |
| Website | |
| www | |
History
The ground was opened on 26 June 1909 as Innox Park on land that had been donated by Thomas Carr. The opening ceremony involved a parade of scholars, the singing of hymns and a speech by the chairman of the parish council.[3]
Twerton Park became Bath City's ground in 1932. A record attendance of 18,020 was recorded in 1960 versus Brighton & Hove Albion. The ground has also hosted Team Bath, who were a full-time professional team playing in the Conference South until their resignation at the end of the 2008–09 season.
At the end of the 2011–12 season the club offered the naming rights to Twerton Park for just £50. The offer drew 167 entries from as far afield as the US, Australia, Norway and Singapore which raised £3,850 for the club. Businesses made up 58 of the entries with only a handful of the remaining personalised entries being deemed unsuitable. The winning entry drawn at random was The Mayday Trust, a charitable organisation that helps to rehome vulnerable people.[4]
Talks have been held in the past between Bath Rugby and Bath City about sharing a ground, as the former team wish to move away from their home ground Recreation Ground, although nothing has amounted from this. Following the resignation of Chairman Manda Rigby, she claimed that the club needed to move away from Twerton Park to "sustain their finances".[5]
Redevelopment
Twerton park is currently being prepared for redevelopment, with the club in discussions with private investment company Greenacre Capital who wish to build purpose built student accommodation on the adjoining land.
The agreement is for Bath City to give up part of their land to Greenacre, in exchange for the latter to build the club a new grandstand and facilities, which will include affordable housing, a sports bar, gym, offices and community space.[6]
The club also plan to convert the playing surface to a third-generation (3G) synthetic surface.
References
- Information Bath City F.C.
- Bath City FC Information
- Byrne, Stephen & Jay, Mike (2003): Bristol Rovers Football Club, The Definitive History 1883-2003. ISBN 0-7524-2717-2
- "Bath City's football ground to become Mayday Trust Park". BBC. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- "Question mark over the future of Bath City FC's Twerton ground". Bath Chronicle. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- "Bath City Redevelopment Plans" (PDF). 19 February 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.