The two cities have been playing each other for over 128 years – the first meeting was on Saturday 27^th October, 1888 – but it has been seven years since the Rec was last witness to a competitive game between the two neighbours.

Lots has happened on and off the rugby pitch in that time, so we thought that leading up to the game on Thursday night we’d take a stroll down memory lane and remind ourselves of some of the global events that have taken place…

2010 saw one lucky person became the biggest single lottery winner in UK history, with their lucky ticket winning them £113 million! President of the United States, Barak Obama, won his second term in office in 2012 and Gangnam Style became the first video to reach one billion views on YouTube.

In 2013, there was alarm for wine drinkers around the world after a report warned the world face a wine shortage, and 2014 gave us the wettest winter on record in the UK.

30^th May 2015 saw Alastair Cook become England’s leading run scorer of all time in test cricket, whilst Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that for the first time 1 billion people logged into Facebook.

We’ll be bringing you more facts over the coming days with a little help from some of the players, so keep an eye on @bathrugby and facebook.com/bathrugby.

Make sure you’re there for this momentous derby game, and book your tickets today!

You can book online here, over the phone on 0844 448 1865, or in person at the Ticket Office.

Bath Rugby v Bristol Rugby – European Rugby Challenge Cup, Thursday 20^th October, kick-off 19:45.

Bath Rugby v Bristol Rugby - a derby seven years in the making

Related News