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Gloucester Rugby are a professional
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
club based in the
West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...
city of
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
, England. They play in
Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...
, England's top division of rugby. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches at Kingsholm Stadium in the north of the city. In the 2024–25 Premiership Rugby season, Gloucester finished 5th which earned them a space in the 2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup. The current director of rugby (DOR) is George Skivington who took the role of head coach in the summer of 2020 before being promoted to DOR in the Autumn of 2023. Gloucester have won 8 major titles; four
RFU Knockout Cup The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...
's in 1971–72, 1977–78, 1981–82 and 2002–03, one
Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...
win in 2010–11, and one Premiership Rugby Cup win in 2023–24. The Premiership Rugby Cup win in 2024 meant they became the first club to win all three iterations of the English domestic cup competition. Outside of England, Gloucester has also seen success in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
's second-tier completion having won the
EPCR Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...
twice: in 2005–06 and 2014–15. Despite never winning a league title, Gloucester have finished runners-up on four occasions; 1988–89, 1989–90, 2002–03, and most recently in 2006–07. The club has no official nickname but is referred to as the Cherry and Whites by supporters and the media in reference to the Cherry and white hooped shirts worn by the team. Matches with local rivals
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
and
Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...
are referred to as West Country derbies.


History


Formation and early years

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 current Kingsholm ground. The club left the Spa after an argument with the cricket club that they were ground sharing with. During the winter, the Rugby Club had used a salt mixture to remove frost from the pitch, resulting in the death of the grass on the wicket. Gloucester were no longer welcome at the Spa ground. They then acquired lands from the Castle Grim Estate for £4,000 in 1891 & have played home fixtures at this site ever since, in the area known as Kingsholm.


Continued successes and the dawn of professionalism

In 1972, Gloucester RFC won the first-ever National Knock-Out Competition. Having beaten
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
,
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
,
London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...
and
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(all away from home) in earlier rounds, they beat
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in a Twickenham final that was marred by violence and the sending off of Moseley's Nigel Horton. In 1978, Gloucester RFC won the first ever John Player Cup, defeating
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...
in another final noted for violent play both on and off the pitch at
Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...
. 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. In 1989, Gloucester came close to winning the 'double' but failed to win either competition, losing to Wasps for the league title and losing the cup final 48–6 to Bath. 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 In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...
.


The early professional era

Tom Walkinshaw bought the club in 1997. After two full seasons at the helm, Richard Hill was replaced as director of rugby by former
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captain Philippe Saint-André. In 1999–2000, a third-place finish took Gloucester into the
Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
. With Phil Vickery, Trevor Woodman, Kingsley Jones and former All Black Ian Jones forming the basis of a formidable pack, Gloucester reached the semi-finals. In 2003, Gloucester won their first cup in 25 years, under new coach
Nigel Melville Nigel David Melville (born 6 January 1961) is a former England national rugby union team scrum half and captain and currently serves as Director of Professional Rugby for the Rugby Football Union. Melville became the youngest player to captain ...
. During the 2002–03 season, Gloucester finished the league in first place, 15 points ahead of the next best club. Under the new Premiership playoff system, Gloucester were required to play a single knock-out match to determine the Premiership champions. Despite a significant rest period of three weeks, Gloucester lost the final to Wasps and have thus never been crowned English domestic champions. Melville left the club and was replaced by Dean Ryan for the 2005–06 season. At the start of the 2005 season, owner Tom Walkinshaw made several changes to modernise the club. 'Gloucester Rugby Football Club' was renamed 'Gloucester Rugby' and, due to copyright issues, no longer used the City Coat of Arms as the club's crest (as the crest didn't belong to the club, so unofficial merchandise was freely available). The 2005–06 season saw an improvement in the club's 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 also won silverware in the European Challenge Cup, defeating
London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...
in a final that went into extra time. Gloucester finished 1st in the 2006–07 Premiership table. Both Leicester and Gloucester tied with 71 points, but Gloucester gained first place with more games won. Gloucester defeated Saracens in the semi-final at Kingsholm, 50–9, and faced
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...
in the final. Gloucester lost 44–16.


2008–present

Martin St Quinton, an office equipment and telecoms entrepreneur acquired 25% of the club in 2008, and became vice chairman, with a focus on increasing sponsorship and other non-playing related areas. Gloucester Rugby began the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership campaign as favourites, and came top of the league to book a place in the play-off semi-final at Kingsholm. Leicester Tigers won the match 25–26, marking Gloucester's third Premiership play-off defeat. Gloucester reached the
EDF Energy Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...
Final in the 2008–09 season, losing to Cardiff at Twickenham. On 11 June 2009, Dean Ryan left Gloucester by mutual consent and was replaced by Bryan Redpath as their new head coach. Tragedy struck the club on 12 December 2010, when popular club owner Tom Walkinshaw died from cancer at the age of 64. David McKnight was appointed non-executive chairman in April 2011, who guided Tom's son Ryan, who inherited the club. A memorial service held at Gloucester Cathedral for Tom was attended by hundreds of fans. Gloucester won the Anglo-Welsh cup in the 2010–11 season, beating
Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...
34–7 in the final at Franklins' Gardens. They also made the Premiership play-offs this season, losing in the Semi-final to
Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...
at Vicarage Road. On 17 April 2012, Bryan Redpath announced his resignation as Gloucester head coach with immediate effect, months before the end of the 2011–12 season. In June 2012, Gloucester announced former
Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby c ...
coach Nigel Davies as their new director of rugby. On 13 November 2012, Gloucester hosted an International match against
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
as part of the 2012 Autumn Internationals. The match was held at Kingsholm Stadium and Gloucester won 31–29. On 12 November 2013, Gloucester hosted an International match against
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, as part of the 2013 Autumn Internationals. Gloucester won 40–5. After two poor seasons towards the end of the 2013–14 season, Nigel Davies departed Gloucester with immediate effect. On 7 June 2014, Gloucester appointed David Humphreys as their new director of rugby, with Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher confirmed as their head coach as of July 2014. During the 2014–15 season, Gloucester won the
European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...
at
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, beating
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19–13 in the final. In 2016, Martin St Quinton acquired 100% full ownership of the club to become the new chairman of Gloucester Rugby with immediate effect. On 6 March 2017, Laurie Fisher left Gloucester by mutual consent before the end of the 2016–17 season. On 3 April 2017, he was replaced by Lions coach Johan Ackermann as Gloucester's new head coach. During the 2016–17 season, Gloucester reach the final of the
European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...
, losing 17–25 to Stade Francais at
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. During the 2017–18 season, Gloucester reach the final of the
European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...
, marking three European finals in four seasons, but lost to
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31–30 at San Mames Stadium, Bilbao. On 15 May 2020, Johan Ackermann announced his departure from Gloucester to become the new head coach at NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes based in Japan. On 2 June 2020, David Humphreys announced he will leave Gloucester after six seasons as their director of rugby, a month after Ackermann's departure. On 27 June 2020, Gloucester announced
London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...
Forwards Coach George Skivington as their new head coach, with Alex Brown promoted to the position of
Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...
. This meant Skivington would handle the playing side of his new job whilst Brown focused on rugby related matters like recruitment and regulatory issues at Gloucester. In July 2023, Brown was appointed interim CEO following the resignation of Lance Bradley. In September 2023, the club announced a number of promotions after a board meeting in August, Brown was appointment CEO following the interim period and Skivington promoted to Director of Rugby meaning he will have responsibility over the entire playing department with no effect to his role as head coach. Gloucester finished the 2024-25 season in 5th, narrowly missing out on the play-offs by 2 points. The fith placed finish earned them a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup for the first time since the 2022–23 iteration.


Women's team

In 2014, Gloucester Rugby and Hartpury College came together to found Gloucester–Hartpury Women's Rugby Football Club. They are run under the jurisdiction of Gloucester Rugby. Gloucester–Hartpury have won the 2016–17 season of the Women's Championship Midlands 2 as well as Premiership Women's Rugby three times, with the latter being the highest level of women's rugby union in England.


Stadium

Gloucester Rugby plays 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. 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 a 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 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'. 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. The idea was to be similar to the development at Franklins Gardens, home of Northampton 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. 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 The ''Gloucester Citizen'' is a local British weekly newspaper covering the areas of Gloucester, Stroud and the Forest of Dean. It was a six-day-a-week newspaper until it went weekly in October 2017. The ''Gloucester Citizen'' is headquartere ...
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. 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. 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. In 2017, Gloucester Rugby announced that the Kingsholm Stadium will include a megastore and even museum.


Colours

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. 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. The hoops returned in the 2001–02 season, with thin white hoops. 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. 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.


Kits

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 provider, between the 2016–17 and 2018–19 seasons. From the 2019–20 season onwards Oxen Sports supplied the kit. As of the 2024–25 season, BiGDUG, a Gloucester-based shelving company are the front-of-shirt sponsor. Hartpury appears on each shoulder. Kärcher feature on the lower back of the shirt as well as on the back of the playing shorts. For the European shirt, Malvern Tyres replace BiGDUG as the front-of-shirt sponsor. In February 2023, Gloucester announced that for the first Slater Cup game held at Kingsholm that they would play in a limited edition Slater Cup shirt. The club also announced that £10 from every shirt sold would go directly to the Slater family to aid Ed's treatment, and adaptations to his home and provide valuable financial support to his family following his diagnosis with
Motor Neurone Disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...
in July 2022. The shirt was designed by Ed and his family, and contains touches such as '4Dad' above the club logo, while the classic cherries of the 'Cherry & Whites' also appear on the bottom of the shirt. The Slater Cup trophy is on the left sleeve, while a portrait of Ed appears on the right. The classic Gloucester Rugby red remains as the core colour of the new strip, with the number 4, Ed's position, placed on the front. It was used in Slater Cup fixtures for two seasons.


Nickname

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. In the early 2010s, the club released an official fan shirt with imagery of cherries and the city's
Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
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. 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. Another unofficial nickname for the club was "The Elver Eaters', although that name is a distant memory mused over by the club's oldest and longest supporters.


Season summaries

Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runners-up
Pink background denotes relegated
* After dropping into the competition from the Champions Cup/Heineken Cup


Club honours


Gloucester Rugby

*
Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...
**Runners-up: (4) 1988–89, 1989–90, 2002–03, 2006–07 *National Merit Table 'A' **Champions: (1) 1985–86 *Zurich Premiership Play-Off **Champions: (1) 2001–02 * European Challenge Cup **Champions: (2) 2005–06, 2014–15 **Runners-up: (3) 2016–17, 2017–18'', '' 2023–24 *
RFU Knockout Cup The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...
**Champions: (4) 1971–72, 1977–78, 1981–82, 2002–03 **Runners-up: (1) 1989–90 *
Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...
**Champions: (1) 2010–11 **Runners-up: (2) 2008–09, 2009–10 * Premiership Rugby Cup **Champions: (1) 2023–24 *C&G Cup **Champions: (2) 1997–98, 1998–99


Gloucester United

* Premiership Rugby Shield **Runners-up: (1) 2016–17


Sevens

* Premiership Rugby Sevens Series **Champions: (2)
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
,
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
**Runners-up: (1)
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
*
Middlesex Sevens The Middlesex Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held annually at Twickenham stadium in London, England until 2011. It was first held in 1926, and started by Dr J.A. Russell-Cargill, a London-based Scot.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 T ...
**Champions: (1) 2005


Current squad

The Gloucester Rugby squad for the 2024–25 season is:


Academy squad

The Gloucester Rugby academy squad for the 2024–25 season is:


Club staff

Coaching Team * George Skivington — Director of Rugby * Dominic Waldouck – Rugby Strategy & Defence Coach * Trevor Woodman – Scrum & Assistant Forwards Coach *James Lightfoot Brown — Attack Coach * Tim Taylor – Skills & Backs Transition Coach * T. Rhys Thomas – Forwards Transition Coach Academy * Wayne Thompson - Head of Academy * Gareth Delve - Academy Manager *
Declan Danaher Declan Danaher (born 11 January 1980) is a former rugby union footballer who played at back row for London Irish in the Aviva Premiership. He was a coach for London Irish until their administration in 2023. Club career Danaher joined London Iri ...
- Pathway Academy Head Coach / Breakdown Skills Coach *Stuart Bradfield - Academy Pathway Manager *George Edwards - Academy Analyst *Conor Gallagher - Junior Academy Physiotherapist *Tom Jameson - Education Officer *Jordan Murton - Lead Academy Strength & Conditioning Coach *Matt Teague – Academy Head Coach U17 / 18s *James Wild - Academy Strength & Conditioning Coach


Notable former players

Below is a non-exhaustive list of former players for the club who have been either club record holders or have been particularly notable during their time at the club. * Mike Teague, played in 1991 Rugby World Cup Final while at Gloucester * Phil Vickery, won 2003 Rugby World Cup Final while at Gloucester * Trevor Woodman, won 2003 Rugby World Cup Final while at Gloucester * John Gordon A'Bear,
British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...
tourist in 1936, and Gloucester's youngest ever captain * Ludovic Mercier, club points and goal-kick record holder * Franco Mostert, won
2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...
while playing for Gloucester * Tony Lewis, former England cricket captain


Lions tourists

The following Gloucester players have been selected for the Lions tours while at the club: * Walter Jesse Jackson ( 1891) * Frank Stout (
1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
& 1903) * Tom Voyce ( 1924) * John Gordon A'Bear (
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...
) * Peter Hordern (
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...
) * Don Rutherford (
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
) * Mike Burton ( 1974) * Phil Blakeway (
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
) * Steve Boyle (
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
) * Mike Teague (
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
&
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
) * Phil Vickery (
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
) * Billy Twelvetrees (
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
) * Ross Moriarty (
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
) * Greig Laidlaw (
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
) * Chris Harris (
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
) * Louis Rees-Zammit (
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
) * Tomos Williams (
2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
)


Rugby World Cup

The following are players which have represented their countries at the
Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...
whilst playing for Gloucester:


Hall of fame

In 2023 for the club's 150th anniversary, 15 professional-era players and 13 amateur-era players were inducted into a Hall of Fame.


Professional era

The following are professional players who have been inducted into the Gloucester Rugby Hall of Fame:


Amateur era

A panel voted to induct 13 pre-professional era players into the Hall of Fame, only one player from each decade could be selected. The following players were inducted: * 1873–1883 â€
Francis Hartley
* 1883–1893 â€
George Coates
* 1893–1903 â€
Tommy Bagwell
* 1903–1913 – Arthur Hudson * 1913–1923 – Sid Smart * 1923–1933 – Tom Voyce * 1933–1943 – Alfred Carpenter * 1943–1953 – George Hastings * 1953–1963 – Peter Ford * 1963–1973 – Alan Brinn * 1973–1983 – Mike Burton * 1983–1993 – John Watkins * 1993–1995 – Mike Teague


Notes


References


External links

*
Live commentary on all games from BBC GloucestershireGloucester Rugby HeritagePremiership Rugby Official Website
{{Authority control Premiership Rugby teams Rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1873 Sport in Gloucester 1873 establishments in England