Gloucester Rugby

Gloucester Rugby
	File:Gloucester rugby.PNG
Founded	1873
Location	Gloucester, England
Ground(s)	Kingsholm Stadium (Capacity: 12,500)
Coach(es)	Dean Ryan
Captain(s)	Marco Bortolami
League(s)	Guinness Premiership
2006-07	1st (lost the final)
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	www.gloucesterrugbyclub.com

Gloucester Rugby are a professional English rugby union team representing Gloucester. The club plays in the domestic Guinness Premiership. They also compete in the Anglo-Welsh EDF Energy Cup and the European Rugby Cup.

The team plays out of its home stadium in Kingsholm. The club has no official nickname but they are called the cherry and whites by supporters and the media. Gloucester's fiercest rivals are Bath and Bristol with matches between the three sides being referred to as west country derbies. The club was formed in 1873 and are today amongst the most famous rugby clubs in the country and Europe.

History

1873-1981

The club was formed in 1873 after a meeting at the Spread Eagle Hotel with the announcement in the Gloucester Journal: "A football club (as rugby was then called) has been formed in this city - the season's operations begin at the Spa on the first Tuesday in next month." a team was then organised to play the College school which was actually played on the ground of the current Kingsholm.

There were 11 games played during the club's 1876-77 season, the club winning 6, losing 2 and drawing 3. Gloucester had a successful run in the coming seasons, playing 15 games in both the 1877-78 and 1878-79 seasons, winning 10, losing 2 and drawing 3 both times. In the 1879-80 season Gloucester played 17 games and lost just two. The following season was less successful, winning six of their 13 fixtures. In the 1882-83 season the team won 11 of their 14 games. The club was playing more fixtures as the decade continued, contesting 20 games in the 1884-85 season, and up to 34 in the 1891-92 season. The club left the Spa for Kingsholm when it bought an area of the Castle Grim Estate for £4,000 in 1891.

Gloucester were suspended by the RFU for professionalism as a result of the club recruiting players: the "Shewell case". The club responded by adopting a more puritanical adherence to the amateur regulations, and were reinstated. However when the Northern clubs split from the RFU to form the Northern Rugby Union (later known as the Rugby Football League) a number of Gloucester players "went North".

The 1920-21 season became famous for Gloucester when Fredd Webb skippered the club to 23 matches unbeaten at home at Kingsholm, with only the United Services and Pontypool clubs being able to defeat them at home. Gloucester defeated Newport 12 to 9 in front of 8,000 spectators. The following season was infamous for the number of footballers that were sent from the field by officials, 14 for fighting, seven for arguing, six for language and one for foul play. Leicester actually cancelled their Gloucester fixture because of this. Around the mid 1920s the media began to refer to the club as the 'Red and Whites'.

1972-1995

In 1972 Gloucester won the first ever National Knock-Out Competition. Having overcome Bath, Bristol, London Welsh and Coventry (all away from home) in earlier rounds, they beat Moseley in a Twickenham final that was marred by violence and the sending off of Moseley's Nigel Horton. In 1978 Gloucester won the first ever John Player Cup, defeating Leicester in another final noted for violent play both on and off the pitch at Twickenham.

Despite the two cup wins of the 1970s and a shared trophy in 1982, Gloucester were soon to find themselves in the shadow of Bath, the rising force from down the A46.

Bath finished runners-up in the league in 1989, but the disastrous end to the 1989/90 campaign was to be a prelude to lean years. Closing in on English rugby's first 'Double', Gloucester's last-day collapse handed Wasps the league title before a 48-6 cup final thrashing by Bath.

By 1992/93 however it was a different story. The players called a crisis meeting with club coach Keith Richardson about the perceived lack of player rewards relative to other comparable clubs. A year later, club chairman Peter Ford restated the club's traditional anti-professionalism: "We play by the rules. .. whatever anybody else does, we'll stick by the rules. If they say we can't pay players, or offer them inducements or cars or flats. .. then we won't do it."

The arrival of Richard Hill as coach would signal a change in direction.

1995-present

Professionalism finally came in 1995, but Gloucester was without a major investor, and lost ground in terms of player recruitment and revenue acquisition. But this did not prevent the club from transforming itself into a limited company.

Tom Walkinshaw became the new club owner with a majority shareholding on 29th April 1997. Richard Hill's position would soon be filled by former France captain Philippe Saint-Andre.

In Saint-Andre's first full season, a third-place finish in 1999/2000 took the Cherry & Whites into the Heineken Cup. With Phil Vickery, Trevor Woodman and All Blacks legend Ian Jones forming the basis of a formidable pack, Gloucester marched their way to the last four, where only last-ditch Leicester defending would deny them a final appearance.

Saint-Andre's acrimonious departure couldn't stop them winning their first cup triumph in 25 years in 2003, under new coach Nigel Melville.

Unstoppable in the league, Gloucester reached the inaugural Championship final 15 points clear of their nearest rival, however under the new league system Gloucester were 'rewarded' with a 3 week lay-off, while Wasps played regular rugby during the 3 weeks as a result Gloucester lost their momentum and were crushed emphatically by Wasps at Twickenham.

During the next few seasons Gloucester failed to build on the success of the 2002-03 season, failing to qualify for the play-offs 3 seasons running. Things became worse in the 2004-05 season when they failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup. Nigel Melville left the club and was replaced by Dean Ryan for the 2005-06 season.

The 2005-06 season was an improvement in the clubs fortunes, although they did not qualify for the play-offs, they were strong contenders and lost out on the last day of the regular season. They aso won silverware in the European Challenge Cup, defeating London Irish in a tense final that went into extra time. This season was also a glimps of the incredible talent Gloucester were bringing up from thier academy.

Gloucester finished 1st in the 2006/2007 Guinness Premiership table, both Leicester and Gloucester tied with 71 points, Gloucester gaining first place with more games won, having demonstrated their level of skill and vision in the Heineken Cup, against sides such as Leinster and Edinburgh despite not progessing past the group stage, Gloucester defeated the Saracens in the semi-final at Kingsholm, 50-9, to move into the Twickenham final where they faced Leicester Tigers. In this game Gloucester were beaten heavily by the Tigers with the final score being 44-16, Leicester took the title despite Gloucester toping the table at the end of the regular league.

Premier league Positions

Season	Final Position	Points
1997-1998 - Allied Dunbar Premiership	6th	23
1998-1999 - Allied Dunbar Premiership	10th	19
1999-2000 - Allied Dunbar Premiership	3rd	30
2000-2001 - Zurich Premiership	7th	48
2001-2002 - Zurich Premiership	3rd	67
2002-2003 - Zurich Premiership	1st	82
2003-2004 - Zurich Premiership	4th	63
2004-2005 - Zurich Premiership	6th	47
2005-2006 - Guinness Premiership	5th	59
2006-2007 - Guinness Premiership	1st	71

Stadium

Gloucester play their homes matches at Kingsholm Stadium.

The club left the Spa for Kingsholm when it bought an area of the Castle Grim Estate for £4,000 in 1891.

A main grandstand was erected in 1926 at a cost of £2,500, containing 1,750 seats. However six years later it would be destroyed by fire. There were plans proposed to increase the capacity of the stadium to 20,000, with seating for 7,000. It remained just that , a proposal, although the grandstand was replaced.

Gloucester opened the "sixpenny" stand later known as the Shed in 1891. Kingsholm's capacity was further increased to 20,000 in the 1930s when a grandstand was added to the stadium.

Like the clubs of the Welsh mining valleys, Gloucester traditionally drew its support and its playing strength from local working-class communities. The Shed, so-called because it looks like a cow shed, dates back to the 1950s. Gloucester's fanzine refers to it as 'the cauldron of fear'. The Shed is standing-only terracing that runs continuously down one touchline, opposite the point where visiting teams emerge from the dressing rooms. Its low tin roof amplifies the effect of a passionate support which has been mentioned by commentators sitting above it during live broadcasts.

In 2006, the club announced it would be making an extension to Kingsholm, bringing the stadium capacity up to 19,000, to cope with higher levels of spectators. It was also to comply with Premier Rugby's minimum seat number requirements.

In January 2007, the club announced that it plans to redevelop The Shed. This is to enable the stadium to become all-seating. A large amount of supporters do not want to see this happen, and a campaign under the banner of "Save Our Shed" or "SOS" was begun. Posters were held up during a protest before one game and t-shirts were made with the slogan Save Our Shed on them.

A suggested compromise is for the club to replicate the design of Northampton RFC’s ground, Franklin's Gardens, where terracing runs in conjunction with a large seated area. There has been no confirmation yet regarding the development of the Shed side of the ground.

Modernisation

At the start of the 2005 season, the club chairman Tom Walkinshaw began several changes to modernise the club in order to keep up with rugby's rapidly advancing professionalism, whilst the majority of fans support the need to modernise the club some fans are concerned that the club is losing touch with its heritage and traditions. 'Gloucester Rugby Football Club' has now been renamed as 'Gloucester Rugby' and, due to copyright issues, no longer use Gloucester City's Coat of Arms as the clubs crest (as the crest didn't belong to the club, and as such with no copyright, unofficial merchandise was freely available).

Colours

Gloucester's traditional colours.

The famous cherry and white hooped jersey did not originally belong to the club. Painswick RFC, based in Gloucestershire and the oldest village club, are the original 'Cherry and Whites' (although they didn't use the nickname). After Gloucester's inception, Painswick RFC sent the new club their congratulations and best wishes and loaned them 15 of their jerseys, but the Gloucester club never returned them. However in 2003 to celebrate Gloucester's 130th anniversary, Gloucester returned the favour and gave Painswick RFC 15 Gloucester jerseys.

The club's new jerseys no longer feature the cherry-and-white hoops, instead featuring a largely red shirt with white sleeve's and blue-and-white strips down the sides, nor does the new kit include the traditional navy blue shorts and socks, with the new kit becomeing all red. On the release of this new jersey there was a large amount of disappointment in Gloucester Rugby Clubs decision to move away from the hooped design, a design generally associated with traditional rugby shirts, as this was a dramatic move away from the classic Gloucester design. However the majority of fans have now accepted the new design. After the new Gloucester shirt was released Cotton Traders, who supply Gloucester Jerseys, released a classic plain cherry and white hooped Gloucester Jersey, albeit an unofficial jersey which is not associated with the club, however many of the fans who disapproved of the new original design were able to purchase this classic design instead.

For the 2007 season, Gloucester will release a new home shirt. It is rumoured to be made by RugbyTech, and is likely to be released in August. No image of the new kit has been released at this point.

Nickname

Throughout Gloucester Rugby Clubs history the club has never had an official nickname, the first unofficial nickname for the club was 'the elver eaters', although that name is distant memory mused over by the club oldest and longest supporters, the classic 'cherry and whites' nickname, which has become synonymous with the club, was created by the media in reference to the clubs colours and was happily accepted by the clubs fans. As recently as 2004 the club unofficially supported the nickname and even used it in merchandising and advertising campaigns such as 'the future's bright, the future's cherry and white'.

However, in a sudden u-turn, in 2005 the club declared that it wished to disassociate itself from the cherry and white nickname. Suggesting, amongst other reasons, that the club wished a more intimidating nickname be used, rumours suggested that the club was in favour of re-branding as the 'Gloucester Lions', although this was never confirmed. In response to the rumours the Kingsholm Supporters Mutual (KSM), a supporters group set up by the club in 2003, stated they were 'concerned' with the suggested changes declaring that the name 'cherry and whites' was synonymous with the club. Other fan suggested nicknames such as the "meteors' or 'javelins' in reference to the city's aviation links were met with similar negative responses. 'Old Spots' was also discussed at some length.

The issue of the clubs nickname has created split opinions amongst it supporters. There are some who would like to see the 'cherry and whites' nickname made official and who see the club suggesting that a colour isn't intimidating as ludicrous, pointing out that probably the most intimidating team in the world are the New Zealand All Blacks, who don't seem to find having a colour nickname crippling. Many fans don't see the need of having an official nickname and are happy to simply use 'Gloucester', but regardless of the clubs official nickname the majority of fans in general have, at the very least, a fond affection for the 'cherry and whites'.

The media continues to refer to Gloucester as the 'cherry and whites' and the club itself has said no more over a possible name change, while the 'cherry and whites' nickname is likely to never become official the club will probably be forever referred to as the 'cherry and whites'.