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Gloucester RFC is an English rugby union team which plays in the Zurich Premiership. Its stadium is called Kingsholm. The team plays in cherry red and white striped shirts, which led to the nickname Cherry and Whites.
History
Gloucester Football Club was formed on the September 13, 1873 following an announcement in the Gloucester Journal
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 League) a number of Gloucester players 'went North'.
Just before WW1 Gloucester opened the ‘sixpenny’ stand, later known as the ‘Shed.’. Kingsholm's capacity was further increased to 20,000 in the 30s when a grandstand was added to the stadium.
In 1972 Gloucester won the first ever National Knock-Out Competition, beating Moseley in a final marred by violence and the sending off of Nigel Horton of Moseley. In 1978 Gloucester win the first ever John Player Cup, defeating Leicester in another final noted for violent play both on and off the pitch at Twickenham.
By 1992/3 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 re-stated the club’s traditional antiprofessionalism ‘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.’
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.
Current England elite squad
Club honours
Zurich Premiership
2002/03 (playoffs won by Wasps)
John Player Cup
1972 1978 1982 2003
External links
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