The new president of Bath Rugby says his big ambition is for more players to keep an affiliation with the club once they retire.
Mike Beese was a standout centre for Bath throughout the 1970s, having first made his debut as a 19-year-old in the 1968-69 season. He went on to make 316 appearances in two stints at the club.
Bristol-born Beese had a brief spell away from Bath when he moved for college and joined Liverpool, during which time he won three England caps in 1972. He returned to Bath in 1973 and stayed there until retiring at the end of the 1980-81 season.
Beese had a brief coaching tenure under Jack Rowell in the late 1980s and has been a vice-president at the club for several years. When David Trick's two-year presidency term ended this summer Beese was the man Bath turned to fill the position.
"It came out of the blue," said Beese, who turns 65 next month.
"I'd been a vice-president for a few years and never really known what that was for but I spoke to Tricky and he told me all about what the president position involves. It's a really nice opportunity, so I was delighted to do it.
"David's done a fantastic job. He has things which are part of the role but his involvement within the Foundation is because he is a past player and wants to play a part, not just because he is the club president."
With the president's official role not extending beyond entertaining opposition dignitaries at The Rec, the club has allowed the job's incumbent to make of it what they will.
Trick opted to get involved with the Bath Rugby Foundation, while Beese wants to strengthen the bonds within the Past Players' Association to accommodate those from the professional era.
Trick explained: "In its simplest form, the president is required to host visiting directors during home fixtures and receive reciprocal hospitality at away games.
"Other than this a president has no formal duties. However, as the above is a bit of a busman's holiday for me I asked if there was anything else I could do during my time as president.
"The response was, 'I could do anything I wanted within reason.' So I decided to get involved with the Foundation.
"I think Mike is keen to bring the past players closer to the club and to try and break down any feeling of 'us and them'. Us being former players, them being the current crop.
"His intention is for the president of the club also to be president of the Past Players' Association and then seamlessly merge the two."
Beese added: "It's really enjoyable meeting up with the past players and what I am hoping to achieve from my time is to get a greater contact between the older generation of past players and more recent players who have retired.
"I think when you retire you just start to drift away from it and in any employment context when someone leaves they feel no reason to stay in contact with their employers.
"But you'd like to think that is a bit different within a rugby club as it's about the team and you've been part of shaping that environment for a long time.
"There is a danger that something which was started way back in the amateur era may go. We need to get more players from the professional era integrated in it."
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