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History of ERE Part 3
By Glen Leat
July 30 2006
This is the third installment of the History of ERE, a concept that has been around since 1991.At the stage we have now reached we were just starting to realise what we had taken on, the level of commitment required and the pressure we would place ourselves under to meet demand.

By Issue 3 we were starting to be totally immersed in producing the fanzine and from then on (to this day) the way I watch my rugby is very different to most people. Instead of sitting back (or standing back as it was then) and allowing my passions to run wild I am forever on the lookout for an angle on which to base a story. To some extent this has spoiled things but on the other hand when an obsession takes over there's not a lot you can do except feed that obsession. These days the obsession means I have to take a camera and dictaphone to every game with a quick rush home after the game to get the match report written before I forget too  much. No time for socialising I'm afraid. So to some of the content of Issue 3.

"We hate rugby", said Bath City's short lived fanzine, "Revenge of the Killer Penguin". We were a bit surprised at the time of the animosity of the footie boys, but then given all their hardships and the coverage the Bath Chronicle gave to our glory years it must all have been a bit too rich for them. Personally I never have more than a passing interest in the success (or not) of City but I certainly don't wish them ill. Will the supporters of the two sports ever willingly share a ground or live in harmony? I doubt it. Pleased about the former but sad about the latter.

We received an anonymous letter about a true Superfan. "Most of us think we have done well to attend all the home games in a season and if we get to a handful of away games we consider ourselves real supporters. Graham Webb makes even the most loyal supporter seem like a fair weather fan. In 1985 Graham attended Bath's game against Ebbw Vale and he continmued to watch every match Bath played until March 1991. He did not miss one match, home or away, and this included tours to USA, Holland, France twice and Australia. Clearly Graham now needs something to test his loyalty to the Club and therefore this season he has abandoned the First Team and has yet to miss a United game which, with the exception of three games, have all been away from home." Looks like a forerunner of our very own Mikes! 

The next item is laughable when you compare it with today. In summary the article said: "Membership of Bath FC is excellent value but should we get more? This season we are playing 17 away matches and the loyal supporter can expect to pay £50 in entrance fees (gosh a whopping £2.94 a game). Add this to the cost of travelling and our sport can get quite expensive. In cricket, travelling members gets preferential treatment at other grounds so why should rugby members get in a bit cheaper at other grounds? We really didn't know how lucky we were back then. Top class rugby, top players, winning games, winning trophies, getting to Twickenham (and winning) every year and all for £50 at home and less than £3 for away games.

Issue 3 saw the introduction of the salmon, which some of you may remember we managed to weave in to various stories for several seasons. This was the raffle prize and take it from me, it was a bloody big fish. If the fish wasn't collected by the winner the players took it: not to eat but to lark around with in the changing rooms. Can you imagine the mess and of course the smell?

This issue was the Christmas edition and Clive's list this time had a seasonal flavour with some presents from Santa's sack (oh er missus!), for example:

  • Welsh selectors - a year's supply of headache tablets
  • Geoff Cooke - directions from the Stoop to the Rec
  • Didier Camberaberro - more superglue for his wig

Finally we nicked one of the most famous rugby quotes of all times, which is still funny so...

... One time Welsh coach, John Dawes, decided to introduce some new codes for his flankers to follow when a new move was to be executed. When the blind-side flanker was to break the codeword would begin with the letter "P" and when the open-side flanker was to break the codeword would begin with the letter "S". One day scrum-half Gareth Edwards put the ball in and shouted "Psychology" and both flankers broke forward!

See you at Issue 4.

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