In this moment, we are all facing uncertain times as we look to deal with the impact of COVID-19 in the UK. The impact of this pandemic clearly reaches well beyond our sport, and will have a lasting effect on every one of us.

Society is in every sense retracting as government measures kick in to try and delay the spread of coronavirus. Despite the unprecedented measures we have been touched by the spirit of our supporters, our community and our city as we all join together and look to help each other and those who are most in need. I can also say that staff at the Club have been amazing over recent weeks and days.

As of Monday, this week (16 March 2020), all Gallagher Premiership matches and secondary competitions have been suspended for five weeks. There is no money flowing into the league until games are played again. Like you, we desperately want to come together and enjoy rugby at the Rec, but we cannot confirm when that will be.

We are of course working closely with Premiership Rugby to obtain information from them regarding the current season and we will share this with you as soon as we can.

In line with the actions taken by other Premiership Clubs, we find ourselves having to make difficult decisions that can help safeguard the stability of our Club and the game in these testing times. We are engaged in ongoing conversations with players and staff, and this will continue into the early part of next week. Tough choices will have to be made, and actions taken however we are quite rightly focused on how we best look after our people and our players, so that when we all emerge from this crisis, which we will, we do so together.

We would like to apologise to all of you who had already secured tickets to the original fixtures and were due to attend. We will communicate with all of you soon and thank you for your humility and patience as we all navigate this period of uncertainty.

Many of you know that we had planned to launch our 2020/21 season tickets next week. It goes without saying that our season ticket renewal window will also be postponed, and it is appropriate that we do not review this until there is greater clarity on the current season. Please rest assured that when we feel it is the right time, we will be in touch with all of the information you need.

In terms of our people… like you, all of our playing, support and corporate staff are navigating uncharted waters as we adapt our training and working conditions to the latest government and sports governing body advice. All of our staff have been amazing in this respect and we have instigated home training programmes for players, with a skeleton staff now working at the Rec as most of our staff base themselves at home.

As we settle onto the new routine of ‘coronavirus life’, and with the pending closure of schools which we appreciate will impact many of you, rest assured we are reviewing new ways of working and how we can communicate and engage with you as we all work through these strange and unprecedented times.

One final message, from the heart and from everyone at the Club, please take care of yourselves and each other.

Tarquin McDonald
Bath Rugby Chief Executive

An Open Letter to our Supporters

Related News