Team Bath Football Club was an English association football club affiliated with the University of Bath in the city of Bath, Somerset. The club, formed in 1999, allowed players to combine professional football with higher education. In nine seasons, Team Bath rose rapidly through the English football league system to reach the Conference South in 2008. Still, the club disbanded at the end of the 2008–09 season following a decision by the Football Conference and The Football League to disqualify it from further promotion because of its financial structure.
The club competed in the Western League for the first time in 2000–01. Promotion that season, and again in 2002–03, gained the club entry into the Southern League. The club gained significant media exposure for an FA Cup run in the 2002–03 season, when it reached the first-round proper of the competition, becoming the first university team to compete at that stage since 1880. After five seasons in the Southern League, Team Bath was promoted into the Conference South after winning the 2007–08 Southern League Playoff Final.
Team Bath's home matches were played at the university's sports grounds for their first four seasons. In 2004 the club secured a deal to ground-share with Bath City at Twerton Park, capable of holding more than 8,000 supporters. Team Bath struggled to attract fans, and generally had among the lowest average attendances in their leagues.
History
Formation and early success
In 1999, TeamBath, the sports department of the University of Bath, set out to establish a football club that played within the English professional league structure, but also allowed the players to continue their education with studies at the university. In the 2000–01 season, the club entered the Western League, the ninth level of the English football league system. Paul Tisdale, a recently retired player who had appeared for Southampton and Yeovil Town was appointed as the team's head coach. The team won promotion from Division One to the league's Premier Division in their first season. They continued to be successful in their second year, but missed out on back-to-back promotions, finishing fourth in the league in their first season in the Premier Division. They competed in the FA Vase for the first time in 2001–02, advancing to the third round before being eliminated by Arlesey Town.
In their third season, Team Bath attracted global interest due to their involvement in the FA Cup. Playing in the competition for the first time, Bath beat Barnstaple Town 4–0 in the preliminary round to begin their campaign. They followed this up with victories over Backwell United, Bemerton Heath Harlequins, and Newport County in the early stages of the qualifying rounds. They faced Horsham in the fourth qualifying round; a place in the first round proper awaiting the victors. The match at Horsham's ground finished 0–0, and the teams returned to Bath for the replay, which Bath won 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. Their victory meant that Team became the first university team to compete in the first round since Oxford University, who were runners up in 1880. Bath drew Mansfield Town at home, and despite the offer of reversing the fixture and playing at Mansfield's Field Mill stadium, the club opted to play the match at their home ground at the university, securing permission from the local police and the city council to erect temporary seating for the match. The match, which drew a record home attendance for Team Bath of 5,469, was won convincingly by Mansfield, who were leading 3–0 by half-time. Despite two late goals from Carl Heiniger and Caleb Kamara-Taylor, Bath lost the match 4–2, and was eliminated from the cup.
The team was less successful in the FA Vase: after beating Fairford Town in a replay, Bath were knocked out of the competition by Lymington & New Milton in the second round. In the league, Team Bath won 27 of their 34 matches and were unbeaten at home to finish top of the Western League Premier Division and gain promotion to the Southern League.