| Full name | Gloucester City Association Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Tigers | ||
| Founded | March 5, 1883 (as Gloucester) | ||
| Ground | Whaddon Road Cheltenham (groundshare with Cheltenham Town) (Capacity: 7,066) |
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| Chairman | Nigel Hughes | ||
| Manager | David Mehew | ||
| League | Conference North | ||
| 2010–11 | Conference North, 14th | ||
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Gloucester City Association Football Club ( /ˈɡlɒstər ˈsɪti/) is an English semi-professional association football club currently based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in South West England, via groundshare agreement.
The club was established in 1883 as Gloucester, they became Gloucester City in 1902, but were briefly known as Gloucester YMCA from 1910 to 1925, before retaining their previous name. The club has competed in the Conference North since 2009, having been promoted from the Southern Premier League at the end of the 2008–2009 season. It spent a record 70 years within the Southern Football League from 1939 until 2009. It secured promotion after a famous Playoff final win against Farnborough.
In July 2007, the club was considerably affected by the Gloucestershire floods with their Meadow Park stadium under 8 feet of water. The floods have meant the club has been in exile away from Gloucester since 2007. The club are currently playing their home games at Cheltenham Town's Whaddon Road, after spending the previous three seasons sharing at Cirencester Town's Corinium Stadium and Forest Green Rovers' New Lawn stadium in Nailsworth.
The current team manager is David Mehew, a position he has held since 2008. The club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA.
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The club was formed on March 5, 1883 as Gloucester,[1] but the first recorded match came during 1883–84 when a scratch team representing Cheltenham played a match against Gloucester in 1884.[2] Gloucester's first competitive game was on Saturday 26 October 1889 in the 1st Round of the Gloucestershire FA Junior Challenge Cup beating Clifton Association Reserves 10–0 at Budding's Field.[2]
The club became members of the Bristol and District League which subsequently became the Western League. The recommendation that led to the idea of establishing the Bristol and District League was on the suggestion of Gloucester AFC player Percy Stout. Although Gloucester AFC did not participate in the inaugural season of 1892–93, Percy was a member of the Gloucester team that played in that historic first league match the following season away to Bedminster on Saturday 30 September 1893 losing 2–3. During this era the club was noted as 'The Gloucestrians' and 'The Citizens' in local media.
After the end of the First World War in 1918 most of the players who had been with City joined Gloucester YMCA. By 1925 they had assumed the name of Gloucester City once more and become founder members of the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League. In 1934–35, after winning both the Cup and League, City turned semi-professional, joined the Birmingham Combination and moved to a new stadium in Longlevens in which the club stayed for the next 26 years.
They won the Tillotson Cup for being the best club in the Combination, and then had former Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Reg Weaver blow away all records with his stunning tally of 67 goals in the 1937–38 season.
In 1939 the club played in the Southern Football League for the very first time, albeit in a restricted wartime competition as they took part in the west section.
After the war City rejoined the Southern League and went on to become the League's Longest serving members. For three consecutive seasons, 1948–51, the club reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup, each time losing to League opponents: Mansfield Town (1–4 away), Norwich City (2–3 home) and Bristol City (0–4 away). The attendance record was set at Longlevens in 1952 when Stan Myers scored both goals to beat a Tottenham Hotspur side 2–1 in front of 10,500 spectators, a side which included the superstars of the day such as Alf Ramsey, Ted Ditchburn, Charlie Withers and Les Medley.
In the early years the competition was fierce and it was no surprise that it took until the 1955–56 season for Gloucester to taste success. A famous Southern League Cup final win against Yeovil Town in which City had lost the first leg 4–1, only to beat Yeovil 5–1 in the second leg to win their first Southern League honour.
In 1964 the club moved grounds again, from Longlevens to the massive Horton Road stadium, closer to the centre of Gloucester, which could possibly held over 30,000 people if full. Although Gloucester City were promoted to the Southern Football League Premier Division in the 1968–69 season, it was generally a barren spell in the club's history.
In the 1981–82 season a sixth place finish was enough to clinch a place in the reformed Premier Division. They were also runners-up in the League Cup, going down 1–2 to Wealdstone, who included future England captain Stuart Pearce in their ranks.
Despite Kim Casey scoring 40 goals, the club were relegated to the Midland Division in 1984–85, after 3 seasons in the Premier Division. It is generally seen as one of the lowest moments in the club's history.
In 1986 the club moved grounds again, this time to the Hempsted area and Meadow Park. The Horton Road ground became a housing estate which now boasts the names of City legends: (Stan) Myers Road, (Dicky) Etheridge Place and (Ron) Coltman Close amongst others.
In 1988 chairman Geoff Hester wanted to appoint a new manager and after an exhaustive search found his man: former Aston Villa and Wales player Brian Godfrey. The new manager went about trying to assemble a squad capable of fighting their way out of the Midland Division.
Players such as Lance Morrison, Steve Talboys, Wayne Noble and Brian Hughes were among those who walked to the Championship, but the most important signing came just before Christmas when Chris Townsend joined from Cheltenham Town. Despite being a very competitive league and although a look at the final table would suggest that City strolled to the title, it was actually the penultimate game of the season at King's Lynn's The Walks Stadium that saw them crowned Champions.
The next big achievement of the Godfrey years was the famous FA Cup run to Cardiff City. Mangotsfield United (4–0), Barry Town (2–2,2–0), Folkestone (1–0) and Dorchester Town (1–0) all came and went before City suffered heartbreak in the replay after being 2–0 up at Ninian Park with just five minutes to go. The club was beaten 1–0 in the replay at Meadow Park.
In the winter of 1990, Gloucester saw its worst snow in many years and when the thaw came the River Severn overwhelmed all the local flood plains. The knock-on effect of the flood saw incredible scenes at Meadow Park as the pitch was submerged under four feet of water, and the whole ground was out of commission for over a month. The first game back at Meadow Park, however, saw City defeat Gosport Borough 9–0.
The 1990–91 season was one of the most exciting ever seen at the club. It all started when Geoff Hester stepped down as Chairman and was replaced by Les Alderman, a Bath based businessman. Godfrey had held on to most of his squad from the previous season, and had been able to add several quality players to it. Jeff Sherwood (£15,000 from Yeovil Town), Derek Dawkins, Keith Knight (£7,000 from Reading), Jason Eaton (£10,000 from Bristol City), and Steve Fergusson and Brendan Hackett (£25,000 from Worcester City) were just some of the signings that bolstered the squad. Due to the previous season's Cup exploits City had been made exempt until the fourth qualifying round where they faced Farnborough Town away and lost heavily 1–4. Little did they know then what an important part Farnborough would play in the season.
As the season climaxed, the Tuesday before the end of the season Gloucester City had needed to beat VS Rugby at home to go top of the table, but could only manage a 2–2 draw, so it was all on the last day of the season at the Victoria Ground, the home of Bromsgrove Rovers.
Farnborough headed up to Atherstone needing to win, and went 0–1 down in the first half to the delight of the thousand travelling City fans. Just when the City game looked as though it might end in stalemate, substitute John Freegard got his head to Jeff Sherwood's long free kick and minutes later had won. In the meantime Farnborough had scored, but it wasn't enough. City fans were on the pitch celebrating the Championship and promotion to the Conference, but all they had heard were premature radio reports from Atherstone; Farnborough had actually scored a winner three minutes before the end of the game and they were promoted instead of Gloucester City.
Into the 1991–92 season, one that promised to start where the previous one had left off, and the bombshell hit City that Les Alderman had left the club. The squad was ripped apart: major players were released for derisory sums, some went unpaid and took the club to the FA, and forced a transfer embargo. Brian Godfrey was sacked and replaced by his assistant Steve Millard. Millard only lasted three months in what was a disastrous spell. In February Godfrey was re-appointed to the hot seat and started to turn things around again. The club survived the next few seasons under the guidance of Chairman George Irvine. The club had crippling debts and were about to fold when former Moreton Town owner Keith Gardner stepped in.
Gardner appointed former Cheltenham Town and Trowbridge Town boss John Murphy as the club entered the most exciting period in their history. The whole 'Meadow Park' area into a footballing centre, and he had a great idea to develop the ground into an all-seater stadium and add a leisure centre, ice rink and all weather pitch. His ambitions were matched on the field too, after seeing the club get by with local players, talent was brought in from further afield and the Tigers became a force to be reckoned with. Dave Porter only played a handful of games but will be remembered for the part he played in the 1–0 victory over rivals Cheltenham Town at Whaddon Road in 1994. However it soon became apparent that Murphy didn't have what it took to turn a good side into Champions and was sacked in March 1996. Former West Ham United and Bristol City striker Leroy Rosenior took over and had to virtually rebuild the team from scratch after most of the players walked out in the wake of Murphy's dismissal.
Dale Watkins was signed from Rushden and Diamonds for the 1996–7 season, with Adie Mings from Bath City and record signing David Holmes being persuaded back after the Murphy furore. This formed one of the most potent front lines in non-league football and it was no surprise to see the Tigers beat all comers. Despite having to play manager Leroy Rosenior in goal against Kingstonian in their first game in the FA Trophy, City managed to reach the semi final before being beaten by Dagenham & Redbridge after a dramatic replay. The cup run proved to be a thorn in the side for City as they had to play three games a week to claw back games in hand and eventually lost out to Cheltenham Town in the race for second spot (after Champions Gresley Rovers had been denied promotion due to the state of their ground).
City struggled to keep their heads above water and the club's weekly playing budget was slashed. Considering that the club had seen just four different managers in the 1990s, the turn of the century saw another three come and go. First Brian Hughes tried his luck in a move that was very popular among the majority of the supporters. He didn't last as the playing budget was cut and this proved to be the catalyst that saw the club relegated. Then Tommy Callinan took over in a player-manager role, and left at the end of the 2000–01 season. The third to try his hand was Chris Burns, who remained manager until January 2006. He was tempted back to Meadow Park from Forest Green Rovers and brought with him a largely untried bunch of young players to fit in with the very limited wage structure. It took the side a while to find its feet, and they had some real setbacks too (namely the 1–7 home defeat at the hands of Bedworth United), but gradually began to look the part.
As the management bandwagon rolled on, just before Christmas 2000 Meadow Park was struck another hammer blow when the River Severn burst its banks for the second time in a decade. This time the flood water did more damage than before because it reached just under seven feet high, and also managed to get inside the changing rooms ruining whatever stood in its way. The club was unable to hold matches at the ground for more than six weeks as the environmental health inspector ruled that due to the filthy content of the water, Meadow Park wasn't fit for public population.
The lack of revenue for the club almost saw it go under and it meant that due to non-payment of players several walked out on the club. This was added to a contract dispute with ex-squad-members, and meant that the club couldn't offer contracts to players.
However, in November 2001 ex-director Colin Gardner returned to the club to take over the chairmanship. Working hand in hand with the Supporters' Club, together they settled with ex-players and lifted the contract restraints imposed by the FA. On the pitch things were looking up with new manager Chris Burns moulding his former City youth team into a force to be reckoned with. A mid table finish surprised many, especially those that had suggested that City would finish in the bottom two.
If ever the feeling that the club was bouncing back, then the 2002–03 season proved it. Off the field, a deal was struck between the club and Eamonn McGurk, where the latter bought the ground and took on the majority of the clubs debts. Financially, the club made a trading profit for the first time and were within reach of wiping out all of the historical debts. To add to the upturn, on the field Burns' young team upset a lot of the more fancied challengers, brought on some of the younger players and reached the quarter finals of the FA Trophy. The run included memorable victories away at league leaders Merthyr Tydfil, then two wins at Conference sides Woking and Southport. Aylesbury United of the Isthmian League proved to be too big of a challenge, however, and City bowed out. In the league, a fifth placed finish was a remarkable achievement.
The 2003–04 season saw further progress with the Tigers finishing second in the Western Division and gaining promotion to the Premier Division. At the end of the season, Colin Gardner stepped down as the highly respected chairman, and Ken Turner took over in an acting capacity. Chris Burns resigned as manager in January 2006, Neil Mustoe took over as caretaker-manager until the permanent appointment of Tim Harris from Merthyr Tydfil was made.
In July 2007, Gloucester City's home, Meadow Park, was affected by the Gloucestershire flooding that engulfed the county. The club was hit with almost 8 feet of water, almost submerging the crossbar. This astonishing picture, featured in The Sun, Sky News and the BBC shot the club to national attention both in the media and football supporters across the Country. This caused many of the club's supporters to start a donation fund to help the club.[3] In the first game after the flooding occurred, Western League side Frome Town donated £300 to the fund. The club's home friendly against Bath City was changed to Bath's Twerton Park with all gate receipts going to the fund.
The club's first season of exile was at Forest Green Rovers New Lawn Stadium,[4] despite the loss of a stadium and revenue stream the club finished a creditable 6th in the league, just outside the Playoffs.[5]
The club's second season of exile at Cirencester Town proved to be one of the greatest in the history of the club. The club finished 3rd in the Southern Premier League thus qualifying for the Playoffs. In the Southern League Playoff semi-final Cambridge City were beaten 3–1 at the Corinium Stadium. They went on to play Farnborough in the final at Cherrywood Road and won 1–0 with Matt Rose scoring the crucial goal, ending a 70 year continuous association with the Southern Football League, and gaining promotion to Conference Football for the first time.[6] A quite remarkable achievement considering the club's predicament.
In a controversial decision, the F.A. placed Gloucester City in the Conference North for the 2009–10 season.[7] The reason given was that Worcester City, despite being considerably further north than both Gloucester and Cirencester, was given a guarantee after being moved to the Conference South the previous year against its will that it would not be moved back to the North for three seasons without its consent. Worcester City refused to consent to an early move back to the North, thus forcing Gloucester to take their place. The club finished 18th in its maiden Conference North season.
Near the end of the club's maiden Conference North season, new F.A. ground regulations meant that Cirencester Town's Corinium Stadium would not be suitable for use in the following season meaning if the club failed to find a suitable new home, it would be forcibly relegated.[8] It was announced in March 2010 that the club would be groundsharing with major rivals Cheltenham Town for the forthcoming two seasons.[9] Gloucester City Council provided £20,000 towards helping this agreement,[9] heralding a new era in co-operation between the club and the council, and with Cheltenham Town.
Due to promotion and relegations dictating, the club will play the 2010/11 season, once again, in the Conference North.
On November 21st, 2010 against Chelmsford City, Midfielder Tom Webb became the club's all time appearance holder,[10] beating Stan Myers who had broken the record 50 years previously.
| Dates | Ground |
|---|---|
| 1883–1895 | Buddings Field |
| 1895–1896 | Avenue Road Ground |
| 1896–1897 | Co-operative Field |
| 1897–1898 | Buddings Field (2nd) |
| 1898–1902 | Avenue Road Ground (2nd) |
| 1902–1913 | Buddings Field (3rd) |
| 1913–1925 | Llanthony Ground |
| 1925–1926 | Avenue Road Ground (3rd) |
| 1926–1927 | Buddings Field (4th) |
| 1927–1933 | Sutgrove Park |
| 1933–1936 | Bon Marche Ground |
| 1936–1964 | The Ground at Longlevens |
| 1964–1986 | Horton Road Stadium |
| 1986–2007 | Meadow Park |
| 2007–2008 | The New Lawn, Nailsworth[4] |
| 2008–2010 | The Corinium Stadium, Cirencester[11] |
| 2010–present | Whaddon Road, Cheltenham[9] |
Throughout its history, the club has played at many grounds in Gloucester and the surrounding region of Gloucestershire.
In the late 1800s the club played at Buddings Field near the city centre for 16 non-consecutive seasons, they then moved to the Avenue Road Ground on Tuffley Avenue for another non-consecutive 6 seasons. During this period the club also played at Co-operative Ground on India Road.
In 1910, Gloucester YMCA played at the Llanthony Ground in Hempsted for, believed to be only a stones throw from Meadow Park. During this period the club played multiple games at Gloucester R.F.C. and the Kingsholm Stadium.
In 1928 the club moved to Sutgrove Park, which is now the site for the Ribston Hall High School. They moved once again in 1934 to the Bon Marche Ground on Estcourt Road for two seasons.
In 1935, the club moved to The Ground in Longlevens. It spent the next 26 seasons at the stadium, where the club's all time record attendance was set: 10,500 at home to Tottenham Hotspur in a friendly.
In 1964 the club moved to the massive Horton Road stadium, a huge bowl which if fully developed could've held over 35,000 spectators. The club stayed here until 1986 until the move to Meadow Park in Hempsted.
The club had played at Meadow Park since 1986. The ground had a total capacity of 4,500 with a 560–seat stand.
Following the floods of summer 2007, on 22 July, Meadow Park was almost 8 feet under water. A combination of a lack of insurance due to previous flooding, this was the third time in less than ten years that the stadium had been flooded, and contamination by sewage water, the club had no choice but to abandon the ground for the foreseeable future.
During the club's exile period away from the City it played at Forest Green Rovers the New Lawn in Nailsworth for one season.[4] They spent the following two seasons at Cirencester Town's ground The Corinium Stadium.[11]
The club's attempts to relocate back to the city have been scuppered on multiple occasions. A groundshare with local county league side Quedgeley Wanderers, who play around 4 miles outside of the city boundaries in Quedgeley, was rejected in November 2007 after the Wanderers' board and the local parish rejected the proposal.
Hopes of a groundshare with Gloucester Rugby Club's Kingsholm stadium was also rejected by their multi millionaire owner Tom Walkinshaw. Gloucester Rugby Club also rejected plans to move to a new purpose built 20,000 seater stadium in a derelict area of the city nicknamed "The Triangle" near to the railway station. Both the rugby and football club were earmarked to use the facility.[12]
Other options spoken about for a ground was at Blackbridge, a former athletics ground in an area around 3 miles outside of the City centre called Podsmead. Any news regarding this possible switch soon went quiet, with the main area of concern being poor access roads and a spate of vandalism already occurring in that district.[13]
Another option was a shared new purpose built stadium in Javelin Park, an area in-between Gloucester and Stroud off Junction 12 of the M5 motorway.The ground was to be used by the football club and Stroud rugby club. However in the end the rugby club decided not to pursue the proposal, and the area is now being lined up to have a incinerator instead.[14]
After the one season at Forest Green, the club moved to Cirencester Town and spent two seasons there, culminating in promotion to the Conference North.
In November 2008 local MP and supporter Parmjit Dhanda spoke in the House of Commons regarding the search for a new home for the club in the city hoping for a successful outcome.[15]
For the 2010–11 and 2011–12 season, the club will play its home games at rivals Cheltenham Town's Whaddon Road stadium,[9] due to League legislation meaning Cirencester Town's Corinium Stadium was not up to a good enough standard. Not finding a stadium suitable would have meant immediate relegation for the Tigers.[8]
Plans to return to Meadow Park are now the forerunner for the clubs return to Gloucester in the future.[16]
On February 16, 2011 it was announced that the club are applying for planning permission in early March 2011 for a brand new community stadium at Meadow Park, incorporating flood defence measures.[17]
On December 29th 2011 Gloucester City Council formally validated plans for a new stadium in Gloucester
(Bold = Presently at club)
| # | Name | Career | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Webb | 2000–present | 468 | 26 |
| 2 | Stan Myers | 1950–1960 | 413 | 26 |
| 3 | Neil Mustoe | 2002 - present | 372 | 9 |
| 4 | Gary Kemp | 1990–1999 | 368 | 28 |
| 5 | Lee Smith | 2000–2011 | 364 | 76 |
| 6 | Rob Coldray | 1954–1969 | 348 | 108 |
| 7 | Frank Tredgett | 1949–1959 | 328 | 2 |
| 8 | Chris Burns | 1996–2005 | 315 | 41 |
| 9 | Bobby McCool | 1965–1974 | 297 | 57 |
| 10 | Neil Griffiths | 1998–2005 | 274 | 22 |
(Bold = Presently at Club)
| # | Name | Career | Goals | Appearances | Goals/Game Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Causon | 1930–1936 | 195 | 194 | 1.005 |
| 2 | Rob Coldray | 1954–1969 | 108 | 348 | 0.31 |
| 3 | Reg Weaver | 1937–1946 | 103 | 84 | 1.226 |
| 4 | Jimmy Cox | 1999–2006 | 96 | 245 | 0.392 |
| 5= | Karl Bayliss | 1985–2004 | 92 | 243 | 0.379 |
| 5= | Doug Foxwell | 1972–1988 | 92 | 264 | 0.348 |
| 7 | John Evans | 1976–1982 | 85 | 265 | 0.321 |
| 8 | Enos Drew | 1931–1938 | 79 | 252 | 0.313 |
| 9 | Lee Smith | 2000–2010 | 76 | 364 | 0.209 |
| 10 | Andy Hoskins | 1997–2004 | 74 | 170 | 0.435 |
As of 3 July 2011
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For details on former players, see Category:Gloucester City A.F.C. players.
| Job title | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | David Mehew[18] |
| Assistant Manager | Adie Harris |
| Head Physiotherapist | Craig Barden |
| Assistant Physiotherapist | Ade Tandy |
| Club Doctor | Dr. Bob Byrne |
| Kit Man | Lee Randall |
| Youth Development Manager | Kenny Blackburn |
| Development Team Managers | Ben Symons/Warren Evans |
Pre 1931, the term Manager was interchangeable with the term Secretary, thus the difference is noted.
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Cheltenham Town – This is the No.1 rivalry for City fans. The near proximity of Cheltenham to Gloucester has led to the rivalry being competed for more than a century, in local and regional divisions. The first of these matches were played in 1898 and since then 212 matches have been contested between the clubs. However, recently matches between the two have declined due to Cheltenham Town's rise in the English football league system. This could have been Gloucester City if they had beaten Salisbury City on the final day of the 1996–97 season, however City lost 3–1 and Cheltenham were promoted due to champions Gresley Rovers' ground not being to a sufficient standard for Conference football. The last league game between the two was in 1997. Since the 2010–11 season, Gloucester City have been ground-sharing at Cheltenham Town's Whaddon Road stadium.
Merthyr Tydfil – Despite the 60–mile distance between the two, Merthyr Tydfil were historic rivals of the Tigers. City played Merthyr Tydfil more times than any other team, bar Cheltenham Town, having played 127 times. The clubs' first contest was in 1946 and since then the teams have mostly been in the same division, with the only short periods with them not being in the same league. Despite past intensities, the clubs enjoyed a friendly rivalry, sharing many past managers and players. In 2009 the club disbanded, and were reformed as Merthyr Town in the Western Football League.
Historically Barry Town were rivals of the club, however a move to Welsh Football caused a stop in matches between the two.
The club are also seen as rivals by local sides such as Cinderford Town, Cirencester Town, Chippenham Town, Yate Town and Mangotsfield United, however these are mostly one way.
Clark, Timothy R. D in collaboration with Kujawa, Rob (2009). The Complete Record of Gloucester City AFC 1883–2009. (566 pgs) Tiger Timbo Publications. ISBN 9780955742514.