Clark hoping for league honours
Former Roman hopes to guide youngsters to title this season
In a world long before mobile phones and social media, missing important news was commonplace.
Such an omission of modern day technology saw Billy Clark, then playing in the second tier of the English pyramid, unaware that he was being sent out on loan to the GM Vauxhall Conference for a few weeks.
At least the location was familiar. Clark had spent the previous three seasons at Twerton Park with Bristol Rovers, but a knee injury had cost him nearly two years of playing time, including the 1990 Division Three winning year. The venue welcomed two promoted sides then as Bath City reclaimed their Conference place, but by February 1991 the Romans were hovering around the drop zone and leaking goals.
They opted for a defender from one from their tenants, not that he knew anything about it.
“I found out I was being loaned out in the newspaper when I was buying some fish and chips,” Clark laughed. “I picked up a paper while I was waiting and it said that Gerry Francis was looking to loan out six of us, probably to get us off the wage bill and get us some game time.
“I was disappointed that it hadn’t been done properly, there had been no conversation.
“I had recovered from injury by then, but Geoff Twentyman and Steve Yates were playing well so I couldn’t get back in the team.”
“There was no reserve team for us at Rovers. This was the only way to get match fitness back. I was still training with them while I was on loan.
“I came to Bath expecting it to be easier than it was. It was tough – my
match fitness wasn’t there.
“I played in midfield on my debut. I was asked to just follow one of the Kidderminster players. I think he scored and set one up.
“One of my matches was an evening game at Wycombe. That’s quite a trip from Bath, we were back on the bus around ten at night, some of the lads were moaning because they had to be up for work early the next day.
“Back then when they weren’t earning great money they had to work all the time. It was quite an eye-opener.”
After three away appearances with City, Clark returned to Rovers in March to replace the injured Yates and netted in a draw with Notts County at Twerton Park.
“The atmosphere in Twerton Park, which was regularly full, was just amazing,” said Clark. “I was speaking to Geoff Twentyman recently, he said he wouldn’t have changed playing there for the world because of the memories it created.
“It was very much a non-league ground and it was an advantage for us. When we played Bristol City they didn’t fancy playing there. I think we only lost to them in our last meeting at Twerton. We had a good record against them overall.
“The pitches in those days were nowhere near what they’re like now. Twerton Park now is ten times better than it was then. It could be like a sandpit when it had dried out.
“We were always seen as underdogs too. Gerry nurtured that attitude, he kept us humble, it made us successful.”
Clark was in the Rovers side that faced Liverpool and Aston Villa at Twerton in the FA Cup. The Pirates held Graeme Souness’ men to a fourth round 1-1 draw in 1992 before losing the replay at Anfield to the eventual winners, whereas Ron Atkinson’s Villa eased to a 3-0 win at Twerton in a third round replay a year later.
“I was sent off against Villa,” recalled Clark. “I was only back in the side because Andy Tilson broke his toe at training when kicking a bench.
“In the game I dived to block the ball on the line. It hit my chest but I was sent off for deliberate handball.
“It sparked a few arguments – some fans slaughtered me, saying I cost us the tie, and others were defending me.
“The Liverpool game was phenomenal; we were unlucky not to win it. David Burrows brought down Dave Mehew when he was a clean through, red card all day long, but the referee let him off.
“It was eye-catching playing against some of those players. Kevin Richardson at Villa was incredible, he was unsung during that era. Dwight Yorke was so hard to mark, so sharp and intelligent.”
In November 1994, Clark was given an easier ride in the FA Cup in a landlord versus tenants clash that attracted 6,751 to Twerton Park.
Rovers, by then in the third tier, cruised to a 5-0 success against Conference side City, who ended the game with ten men.
“I think Grantley Dicks was about a day late with his challenge,” Clark said about the sending off. “It was probably a tackle Grantley was well renowned for. David Pritchard felt the full force of it.
“We were winning but before then it wasn’t an easy game.”
Clark remained at Rovers for their first season at the Memorial Ground before departing in the summer of 1997 to join Exeter City.
“It was the right time for me to leave Rovers,” he said. “I had the chance to join Cheltenham when Steve Cotterill was manager but I wanted to stay full-time, they were part-time in the Conference then.
“I was impressed with Steve and you could tell the club was on to something good.
“I went to Exeter but it was a bad time in my life. I’d split up with my wife and was still living in Bristol travelling to Exeter. The journeys didn’t help me.
“I dropped into non-league afterwards because I started developing arthritis in my toe. Playing parttime helped me as it gave me more time to recover.”
The Christchurch-born defender spent eight years in non-league with his playing days spent at Forest Green, Newport, Clevedon (scoring an own goal against Bath in 2007 soon before his retirement) and two spells with Weston.
His pathway to coaching began at Forest Green in 2000.
“Forest Green was one of my favourite times of my career,” said Clark. “I met some good people there like the chairman Trevor
Horsley, who is sadly no longer with us.
“I started coaching the academy in my second year there. When I moved to Newport I did some more and again at Weston when I was with the academy and later started working at Filton College with Tony Ricketts. He was my mentor.
“I was coaching Bristol Rovers’ academy at Filton. I was there when we reached the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup in 2009. We lost to Liverpool on penalties, they reached the final that year.
“We had a really good season, I think seven signed pro contracts, but that summer the club said they were making changes which disappointed me immensely and resulted in me leaving.”
Rovers’ loss was City’s gain as he was swiftly appointed to take charge of the Romans’ academy, a role which he’s held for nearly 12 years.
“John Relish approached me. It was perfect timing,” said Clark. “Sometimes things just happen for a reason.
“I met with Adie Britton and Paul Williams to discuss the job and they impressed me. I was offered the job while I was on my way home.
“I’ve enjoyed some great times. We reached the FA Youth Cup 2nd Round in 2019 which was a massive thing for Bath. It’s frustrated me
that we haven’t done better in that competition.”
Clark recalled his side’s infamous 2011 1st Qualifying Round exit to Newport when he was sent from the touchline and five were players dismissed in a 6-0 loss which caught the attention of the national press.
City’s players were punished for wearing undergarments which did not match the shorts colours and the incident still rankles with the 53-year-old nearly a decade later.
“It was a farce,” he said. “The referee later admitted to their manager that he lost control.
“The shorts were down to the players’ knees but he was trying to make one of our players change by the dugout.
“I lost it. I felt like we had a side that could achieve something but that scenario ruined it all. Our goalkeeper was sent off after the game, if it was during it would have been abandoned as we would have been down to six men.”
Another goalkeeper in Harvey Wiles-richards shone under Clark’s tutelage and after moving to Bristol City last summer, was named in their first team squad last week at Blackburn as backup to Bath-born Max O’leary.
“You could tell from a young age that he was a stand-out goalkeeper,” said Clark of Wiles-richards, who made four league appearances for
Bath City’s first team in 2019/20. “He was very confident and selfaware.
“I’m delighted for him. For him to start ahead of Ryan Clarke for a few games last season shows he was holding his own.
“He’s one of a few who have done well and are now at Bristol City. Louis Britton is scoring regularly for their under-23s and Saikou Janneh has done well on loan from them.
“We’re really proud of what they’ve achieved and look forward to seeing more of them in the future.”
The academy side resume training next week and are back in action on Saturday April 10 having been without a game in 2021. They face Champion Sports Academy at Twerton Park and are looking to build on a solid start which sees them top the South West Counties Youth League.
“We’ve got a very good group,” said Clark. “I hope we’ll get the season finished because I like to think we could win the league.
“Players like Leo Eglin and Lewis Bahadur are very exciting, they’ve been involved in the first team. I speak to Jerry about how they’ve been getting on training. The pace and tempo of training with the firsts is what catches players out, it can’t be replicated in the academy.
“Training with the first team has been brilliant for them mentally, physically and technically. It gave them a great insight into the level they need to be at and it’s a shame they won’t be able to appear for them again this season.
“Unfortunately our other players have missed a year of development. We will do what we can with our first and second year players to catch them up. It’s going to be the same for all kids across the board.”
Clark has kept himself busy by immersing himself into fitness work, including a charity bike ride for the Ben Saunders Foundation with others associated to the academy as a tribute to the former player who tragically died in August 2020 from a rare form of cancer.
“The challenge was for us to cover the distance from Bath to Paris by running, rowing or cycling,” said Clark. “We did it quite comfortably, we’re now on our way to Barcelona with it.
“I think my longest ride was about 63km which staggered me a bit. I quite enjoyed being outdoors and keep my mind switched on.
“There has been a lot of publicity for the Foundation and Tom [Ben’s father] has been brilliant with it.
“Ben was a great lad to work with, a great person to be around and it was very difficult for all of us when he passed away. I’m pleased that we are supporting the Foundation so well.”