Gloucester RFC
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| Gloucester Rugby | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1873 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Gloucester, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Kingsholm Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 12,500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Dean Ryan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captain | Marco Bortolami | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Guinness Premiership | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | 5th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Official Website | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| www.gloucesterrugbyclub.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gloucester Rugby is a professional English rugby union team. The club plays in the domestic Guinness Premiership. They also take part in the Anglo-Welsh EDF Energy Cup and the European Rugby Cup.
The team plays out of its own stadium, Kingsholm. The club has no official nickname. However, the name Cherry and Whites is often used, due to the colours of the club's shirt. The club was formed in 1873 and are today one of the most famous rugby clubs in the country, if not Europe.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1873-1981
A team was organised to play the College school, which was actually played on the ground of the current Kingsholm stadium, though back then it was used as a playing field for the college teams. The match was a success, so subsequent fixtures were organised against both Hereford and Worcester. Although the games were lost, steps were made to form a club.
Gloucester Football Club was formed on the September 13, 1873,The club was formed in 1873 after a meeting at the Spread Eagle Hotel. 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.
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'.
[edit] 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.
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."
[edit] 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.
At the start of the 2005 season, the club chairman Tom Walkinshaw made several changes to Gloucester RFC. The name of the club itself was changed to 'Gloucester Rugby', the logo was chead to a new design based on the Gloucester City coat of arms (This was mainly due to the fact that Gloucester RFC had no ownership of this crest and as such could not prevent its use on unofficial merchandise), and the shirt was changed from the traditional Cherry and White hoops to a mostly red shirt with white strips along the side. However these changes angered many of Gloucester's supporters, and although it is argued that these changes are more in-sync with the rest of the Premiership clubs in terms of rebranding and modernisation, the .
As of the current 2006/2007 season), Gloucester has been tipped to become one of the four clubs to reach the semi finals of the Guinness Premiership, due to a spirited 32-37 near victory against the London Wasps in the closing stages of the previous season, a victory over London Irish for the European Challenge Cup, and strong play against other teams in recent Premiership fixtures.
[edit] Stadium
Gloucester play their homes matches at the Kingsholm Stadium. Kingsholm, is one of the most famous rugby grounds in England.[1] There is terracing at each end of the ground. Along the North Side of the pitch is The ‘Shed’. This part of the ground has particularly vocal supporters and can send a chill through the bones of any visiting team.
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" became the home for working class fans. 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.
[edit] Colours
The famous 'Cherry and Whites' jersey did not originally belong to the club. Painswick RFC, based in Gloucestershire and the oldest village club, are the original 'Cherry and Whites'. After Gloucester's inception, Painswick RFC sent the new club 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 abbreviation Gloucester RFC is what is displayed on each jersey, standing for Gloucester Rugby Football Club (though it should be noted that the original club name was Gloucester Football Club).
At the start of the 2005 season, much to the anger of some extremist factions of Gloucester Rugby supporters, the club chairman Tom Walkinshaw began several changes which some feel have distanced the club from its fans and its heritage. However, there are many Gloucester supporters who fully understand the direction Walkinshaw wishes to take the club. 'Gloucester RFC' are now known as 'Gloucester Rugby' and no longer use Gloucester City's Coat of Arms as the clubs crest.
The club's jerseys no longer feature the cherry-and-white hoops, instead featuring a largely red shirt with white sleves and blus-and-white strips down the sides. There is also some debate over the club's nickname. Though there is no official nickname, rumours abounded that the club was to adopt the sobriquet of 'Gloucester Lions'. Such a move was met with negative response from the Kingsholm Supporters Mutual, Gloucester Supporters group, who stated they were very concerned at the changes being mooted in respect of the possible re-branding of the club as 'Gloucester Lions' and the distancing of it from the famously known expression Cherry & Whites[1]
