Bath, from Brisbane, departed Sunshine Coast FC in the National Premier League Queensland in 2017 at the age of 17 to join the Hornets’ junior ranks.
After nearly two years at Vicarage Road he left Watford last year to move to Spain, where he trialled for La Liga club Levante UD, fourth division sides Club Deportivo Acero and UD Montijo, and fifth division club C.F. Albuixech.
In November the 20-year-old inked a deal with lower league outfit CD Guadiana.
While the Coronavrirus has postponed the football season, Bath is continuing his development and determined to thrive in the European footballing hotbed.
“So far football has stopped the same as everywhere else but there is a possibility of the season being picked up again after this disaster,” he told The World Game.
“Guadiana have welcomed me with open arms. They are a typical Spanish club who play aggressively and with passion and purpose.
“The head coach Valentin is an ex-professional who played in Segunda A and the second coach Fernando Silva is also an ex-professional, who played for Andorra, so there is a lot to learn out of the sessions and what they have to say to us in training and matches.
“The standard is quite aggressive and technical as there are quite a lot of ex-professional players in this division. Most of the time it is just keeping possession and slowly working the attack as it is difficult to break down teams due to the tactical aspects.
“Life in Spain is treating me well. I get to do what I love everyday and that is playing football and training all the time, also learning a new culture and language.”
After spending his junior years with Narangba United, North Lakes Mustangs, Peninsula Power and Brisbane City, Bath’s development went to a new level in 2017 when he joined Sunshine Coast. There he spent time playing the club’s Under-18s, Under-20s and senior side all in the same season, before his successful trial with Watford.
“I moved to Sunshine Coast Fire were everything started to change for me,” Bath explained.
“I played for the U18s but was constantly playing two games a week, as I was pushed to the U-20s as well, which was loads of fun. I played two games, one after the other on a Saturday, then the opportunity to play for the first-team arose so I played a couple of games with the seniors at the age of 17.”
Bath impressed on trial in England enough to earn a place with Watford, but admits his time at the north-west London club was an eye-opener.
“My time there was good,” he said. “I was in Watford’s development program and it was very competitive as everyone was competing to get into the U-23s, which didn’t pan out for me.
“I grew up really fast there - it taught me to be more independent as I was living by myself. But it really set a foundation and opened my eyes to bigger opportunities, for instance playing in Spain.”
Bath, a central midfielder by trade, has been playing on both the left and right wing overseas. The Queenslander has been guided by ex-Socceroo Gabriel Mendez and is currently learning Spanish to aid his progression.
His long-term target is to one day represent Australia.
“At the start it was very hard as on the field you could only go by what you thought was right, as you don’t understand the language,” Bath said.
“But after a while I picked up on some important words to go by before startling proper lessons. My long-term goal and ambitions are to play internationally for my nation.”
