‘The atmosphere was very intense, just warming up’
Luton Town rubbed shoulders with Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal until the early 1990s.
In October 2006 they were in the second tier with Leeds and Burnley among their fixtures that month.
At the same time, Bath City competed in the Southern League. That month saw them face Cheshunt and Yate Town.
Four years later, three successive relegations had seen the Hatters plummet out of the Football League amid financial ruin, while a revitalised Bath City enjoyed two promotions and were back in the Conference Premier for the first time in 13 years. They were happy to be there – Luton were not.
On October 30 2010, the clubs met at an expectant Kenilworth Road greeted by an attendance of 7,003, the highest recorded for a Bath City league match since 1964, largely there to relive Luton’s past glories. This first competitive meeting between the sides coincided with Luton’s 125-year anniversary.
It also fell on the day that Bath City captain Jim Rollo made his 400th start for Bath City. Having played at Luton in the 1980s as a 12-year-old for a school tournament, his experience over 20 years later was a bit different, including the arrival at the stadium.
“We had to walk through the streets with the fans,” Rollo laughed. “We went up Luton High Street a few times and ended up in a housing estate with a dead end. We stopped the coach, got the equipment off and walked. They must have been wondering what was going on.
“You can always tell when there’s a big attendance when you finish your warm-up 15 minutes before kick-off and notice how many people are already in the ground. The atmosphere just after warming up was pretty intense. Leading the team out to 7,000 people was remarkable. Coming out the tunnel in that corner of the ground where their fans were most vocal stands out. I remember it very vividly.
“I remember growing up when Luton were in the top flight with their artificial pitch, which I played on as a kid. I knew about how big a club they were. The last time I played there was a Tuesday afternoon reserve game in the 90s in front of about 70 rather than 7,000.
“I went for the pre-match photo with their captain George Pilkington, who looked about 6’10, thinking it could be an interesting afternoon for set-pieces.”
Danny Crow capitalised on a Ryan Robinson error to give the
Hatters a 15th minute lead before Rollo’s fears over set-pieces were realised on 27 when Pilkington headed home Andy Drury’s corner.
Taiwo Atieno made it three seven minutes later and Marley Watkins was carried off before the break to complete a miserable first half for the Romans.
“There were a few occasions when I was at Bath when we had to work really, really hard to make sure we didn’t lose by a big score,” said Rollo. “This was one of them.
“We dug in in the first half but struggled. Gethin [Jones] came off at half-time and we brought on Joe Burnell for his debut, we needed that experience. He won man-ofthe-match for his 45-minute display. He made a huge difference.
“The other ex-bristol City lads were great. Alex Russell was a big influence on how we played. He demanded the ball in midfield, he kept the ball really nicely.
“Scott Murray’s enthusiasm and energy despite being at the end of his career was infectious, his quality when he got on the ball was excellent.”
Substitute Lee Phillips pulled one back on 65 minutes, ending his 13-match goal drought with a fine finish after Burnell’s pass split the Luton defence open.
“Lee had a point to prove,” said Rollo. “He was disappointed at being left out. His hold-up play was always exceptional.
“We won the second half 1-0. While it was disappointing to lose it was pleasing to get back into it and avoid a hammering.
“Their fans weren’t too happy at the end. I think they were expecting after such a strong first half that they’d score another three or four.
“Even though it was a loss it was quite enjoyable. The spirit was never down – we had some good characters in the dressing room. We went on a decent run before Christmas which was good for us considering the standard of the league.”
A six-match unbeaten run helped kick-start Bath City’s season as they eventually finished an impressive tenth, seven places and 21 points behind Luton, whose promotion bid ended in a play-off final defeat to AFC Wimbledon on penalties at the Etihad Stadium.
They finally escaped in 2014 and are enjoying their third season back in the Championship, playing Hull and Huddersfield instead of Histon and Hayes & Yeading. While they’d rather forget about their five years out of the Football League, the memories of playing such calibre of opponents for Bath will always remain and act as inspiration for a return to the National League one day.