Gloucester Rugby

Gloucester Rugby play home matches at Kingsholm Stadium. The club left the Spa Ground for Kingsholm when it bought an area of the Castle Grim Estate for £4,000 in 1891. In that year, Gloucester Rugby Football Club opened the "Sixpenny" stand, which later became known as the Shed.

Kingsholm's capacity was further increased to 20,000 in 1926 when a grandstand was added to the stadium at a cost of £2,500, containing 1,750 seats. However, six years later, it was destroyed by fire. There were plans proposed to increase the seating capacity of the stadium to 7,000. However, it remained a proposal, although the grandstand was replaced, terracing in the Sixpenny, and at the Tummp end was preferred, and indeed, more affordable in the early 20th century.[23]

Like the clubs of the Welsh mining valleys, Gloucester Rugby traditionally drew its support and its playing strength from local working-class communities. The Shed, so-called because it looks like a cow shed, became known as such in the 1950s. Gloucester Rugby's fanzine, 'Shed Head' 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. This, together with a historically good home record, contributes to the ground also being nicknamed 'Castle Grim'.[23]

In October 2003, Gloucester Rugby launched 'Project Kingsholm'. 'The Kingsholm Supporters Mutual' (KSM) was set up by Gloucester Rugby Football Club in October 2003, to help fundraise towards 'Project Kingsholm', the redevelopment of Gloucester's entire ground at a cost of £6,000,000, and the launch of a supporters shares rights issue.[24] The idea was to be similar to the development at Franklins Gardens, home of Northamption Saints RFC, although on a bigger scale, incorporating both seating and terracing. Despite the KSM meeting the fundraising targets, Gloucester Rugby abandoned all plans.

In 2006, the club announced it would be making an extension to Kingsholm, bringing the stadium capacity up to 16,500. This was mainly to comply with Premier Rugby's minimum seat number requirements. The old main Grandstand (which was both terracing and seating) was later replaced by a new all seater structure, while terracing on the Worcester Street end of the ground was developed into an all seater stand, known as the 'Buildbase' stand at the time.[23]

In January 2007, the club announced plans to redevelop The Shed terracing to all seater. This was intended to enable the entire stadium to become all-seating. A large number of supporters did not want to see this happen under the proposals put forward by Gloucester Rugby, and a poster campaign under the name of 'Save Our Shed' or 'SOS' was initiated by the Gloucester Citizen newspaper. Posters were held up by supporters standing in the Shed, on camera during a televised Heineken Cup match against Leinster at Kingsholm. T-shirts were also made independently by supporters, with the slogan 'Save Our Shed' printed on them.[23] The campaign did not protest the redevelopment of the Shed, rather the plans put forward at the time, which were to replace all terracing with seats, leaving no alternative anywhere in the ground, despite such a large demand for terracing.

In September 2008, chairman Tom Walkinshaw confirmed there were plans for the Shed to be redeveloped, but it would remain as a terrace (with an increased capacity of 6,000), with hospitality units above it.[25] However, as of the 2010–11 season, the need and desire for redeveloping the Shed decreased with the above-mentioned plans proving to be conjecture, and as such abandoned, have never come into effect and do not appear to for the foreseeable future.

2007 also saw the club reject the proposal of a new 20,000 all seater stadium in an area of the city nicknamed 'The Railway Triangle'. This was intended to be shared with the local football side. Kingsholm was also suggested in October 2007 as a possible temporary home for Gloucester City after their stadium Meadow Park was flooded and then abandoned following the summer floods. This move was, however, rejected by Gloucester Rugby Chairman, Tom Walkinshaw.[26]

In 2017, Gloucester Rugby announced that the Kingsholm Stadium will include a megastore and even museum.[27]

Gloucester Rugby's traditional colours.

The Gloucester Rugby crest used from 2005 to 2018

According to local legend, it was decided that the club's colour was to be entirely navy blue, yet on an away trip they realised they had forgotten to bring sufficient Navy strip for the entire team. Travelling en route via Painswick, they stopped off at the local rugby club and asked to borrow a strip. Painswick RFC loaned them 15 of their cherry-and-white jerseys, the Gloucester side went on to win the away fixture and failed to return the shirts to Painswick, adopting the colours as their own. In 2003, to celebrate Gloucester RFC's 130th anniversary, Gloucester RFC returned the favour and donated Painswick RFC an entire new set of first team colours. Painswick RFC refer to themselves as "The Original Cherry and Whites" in reference to the incident.[28]

For the start of the 2000–01 season, the club introduced new shirts which no longer featured the cherry-and-white hoops, instead featuring a largely red shirt with white sleeves.[29]

The hoops returned in the 2001–02 season, with thin white hoops.[30] In the 2005–06 season, the club moved away from traditional hoops again. The New Jersey was predominantly red, with white panelling on the side in a 'ladder' effect.[31] This was dubbed the 'Spiderman' or 'Arsenal' kit by supporters. The new kit also abandoned the traditional navy blue shorts and socks, with the new design becoming all red. On the release of the 2005–06 shirt there was a degree of disappointment in Gloucester Rugby's decision to move away from the hooped jersey again (a design generally associated with traditional rugby shirts), as this was a dramatic move away from the classic Gloucester Rugby design. After the new 2005–06 shirt was released, 'Hudsons & Co' of Gloucester city centre, released a classic, plain cherry-and-white-hooped Gloucester Rugby jersey, manufactured by Cotton Traders (who supplied Gloucester Rugby jerseys prior to the 2007–08 season, when the manufacture of kit was taken over by RugbyTech), albeit an unofficial jersey which is not associated with the club, the shirt proved popular with fans unhappy with the official shirt. On the back of this success, many of the Public Houses in the Kingsholm area also began selling shirts with the classic hoops. Although these shirts do not display the name 'Gloucester Rugby', due to copyright, the Hudson variety were labelled 'Gloucester Rugby Football Club' while the pub versions used the title 'Cherry and Whites'. Both designs used the traditional cherry-and-white hoops, with the title under the Gloucester city coat of arms. As such many of the fans who disapproved of the new original design were able to purchase this classic design instead.

A number of fans commented on the irony that, whilst the new crest and shirt design were originally designed in order to prevent unofficial merchandise, they have in fact increased the number of fans turning to unofficial shirts. Gloucester Rugby released its own, official, supporters shirt displaying the classic hooped design with the new club crest above the date of the club's inception '1873'. For the start of the 2009–10 season, the club returned the first team jersey design to the cherry-and-white hoops.

In 2018, Gloucester revealed a new logo.[32]

For many years, Cotton Oxford and Cotton Traders provided the playing kits for Gloucester. Between the 2007–08 and the 2010–11 seasons, RugbyTech supplied their kits, and between the 2011–12 season and the 2015-16 Kooga supplied the kits.

Australian kit manufacturer XBlades were the kit provider, between 2016–17 and the end of the 2018–19 season. On the front of the current shirt, Mitsubishi Motors is the main shirt sponsor[33] while Hartpury appears on each shoulder. The Peel Group feature on the upper back. Stowford Press feature on the lower back of the 2018–19 shirt and Mira Showers feature on the shorts.

Gloucester are referred to by fans and media alike as the Cherry and Whites, a reference to the club's colours. Although this is not an official nickname, the club themselves regularly use the nickname in marketing and community messaging, as well as the players through social media.[34] In the early 2010s, the club released an official fan shirt with imagery of cherries and the city's Cathedral on. The history of this nickname being used can be traced to local media references in the 1920s, when the nickname the "Red and Whites" was used, before evolving into the now familiar "Cherry and Whites" nickname during the 1950s/60s.[35]

In 2005, the club decided to abandon its "Cherry and Whites" nickname and changed themselves to Lions instead but no official change was made during the year.[36]

Another unofficial nickname for the club was "The Elver Eaters',[37] although that name is a distant memory mused over by the club's oldest and longest supporters.

Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runners-up
Pink background denotes relegated

* After dropping into the competition from the Champions Cup/Heineken Cup

The Gloucester Rugby squad for the remainder of the 2019–20 season is:[38]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Todd Gleave Hooker England James Hanson Hooker Australia Jack Singleton (loan) Hooker England Henry Walker Hooker England Fraser Balmain Prop England Jamal Ford-Robinson Prop England Corné Fourie Prop South Africa Josh Hohneck Prop New Zealand Ciaran Knight Prop England Val Rapava-Ruskin Prop Georgia Alex Seville Prop England Jack Stanley Prop England Alex Craig Lock Scotland Gerbrandt Grobler Lock South Africa Ed Slater Lock England Ruan Ackermann Back row South Africa Freddie Clarke Back row England Lewis Ludlow Back row England Ben Morgan Back row England Jake Polledri Back row Italy Jordy Reid Back row Australia

Player Position Union Charlie Chapman Scrum-half Scotland Willi Heinz (c) Scrum-half England Joe Simpson Scrum-half England Danny Cipriani Fly-half England Lloyd Evans Fly-half England Mark Atkinson Centre England Chris Harris Centre Scotland Henry Trinder Centre England Billy Twelvetrees Centre England Matt Banahan Wing England Jonny May Wing England Louis Rees-Zammit Wing Wales Tom Seabrook Wing England Charlie Sharples Wing England Ollie Thorley Wing England Tom Hudson Fullback England Jason Woodward Fullback New Zealand

Academy squad

The Gloucester Rugby Academy squad is:[39]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Ethan Hunt Hooker England Ollie Adkins Prop England Jack Bartlett Prop England Jenson Boughton Prop England Harry Fry Prop England Archie Benson Lock England Harry Butler Lock Scotland Jack Clement Back row England Josh Gray Back row England Joe Howard Back row England

Player Position Union Stephen Varney Scrum-half Italy George Barton Fly-half England Dom Coetzer Fly-half South Africa Isaac Marsh Centre England Jack Reeves Centre England Tom Stanton Centre England Alex Morgan Wing Wales Jacob Morris Wing England Reece Dunn Fullback England

First Team Coaching

• Alex Brown – Chief Operating Officer
• George Skivington — Head Coach
• Trevor Woodman – Forwards Coach
• Jonny Bell – Defence Coach
• Tim Taylor – Backs Coach
• Rory Teague – Skills Coach
• Dan Tobin – Head of Strength and Conditioning

Academy

• Peter Walton – Academy Head Coach
• Alex Guest – Junior Academy Manager
• Kevin Mannion – Academy Performance Manager
• Matt Teague – Academy Coach [40]

Below is a non-exhaustive list of former players for the club who have been either club record holders or have been full internationals during their time at the club.[41]

• Official Website
• Live streaming commentary on all games and lots more from BBC Gloucestershire
• Gloucester Rugby Heritage
• Visitor information on Gloucester for travelling fans – details of where to stay and eating out in Gloucester
• Premiership Rugby Official Website