Gloucester Sports
by Russell Grant
I toyed overnight before writing this segment as I wasn't sure it was wise in a world that can be notoriously flaky and clubs can come and go whether to bother as it would immediately put the book out of date. But being a sports fan I decided that any book on Gloucester would not be complete without some kind of guide and certainly any guide to this great city can not NOT mention one of the greatest and most successful clubs in the country, definitely Europe and maybe the world: Gloucester Rugby Union Football Club.
For those of you who aren't into the oval-shaped ball game then Gloucester would be the equivalent to say Manchester United, Chelsea or Glasgow Rangers in soccer terms or the LA Dodgers or New York Yankees in baseball – that is how mega they are. It is a rarity to find any British city where rugby rules the roost and football comes a definite second, but that is certainly the case here in Gloucester .
The club was founded in 1873, so its pedigree stretches forward for well over a century. Massive changes in the game in the 1970s with the intro of a national cup competition and 1987/8 a league was given the go-ahead and finally in the late 1990s the professional game came to Kingsholm – better late than never as it was a case of change or die. This was the case with many famous clubs with some going back to square one re-emerging as amateur sides and some that went to the wall, not so for Gloucester who weathered the storm of transformation to come out looking shinier and brighter than ever.
Gloucester 's colours are red and white and their nickname is the Cherry and Whites, which kind of belies their renowned toughness on the field, led by their fanatically loyal supporters called The Shed. However, it should be underlined that rugby supporters are much, much more in control than some round-ball soccer fans where anything can happen and sometimes it does!
If I have to take issue with anything Gloucester RUFC has produced then it is the ghastly new club badge that was put together like a police identikit producing the ugliest mug in the heraldic line-up, matched only by Fulham FC! For a club that plays on the incredibly ancient site of Kingsholm Palace and whose ground bears its name then any image or logo should have been given much more thought; I am at their service! Kingsholm has been their home ground since October 10 th 1891and has a fantastic history all of its own and is covered copiously here in my kind of Gloucester . This top notch club's achievements are far too many to mention but you can get the low-down on their website.
To show the strength in depth of rugger in the city there is a Gloucester Women's RUFC and four other clubs that rank in the English Rugby Union pyramid Gloucester All Blues; Gloucestershire Constabulary; Gloucester Civil Service; Gloucester Old Boys and to add to the blanket love there is for the game in Gloucester, there is an amateur rugby league club called the Gloucestershire Warriors.
Choosing the city's top club and sport was easy but now I am in a quandary as to which is more popular skittles or football? No I am not being facetious, the traditional game of skittles is massive and at the last count there were nearly 30,000 (thousand) skittle players who probably play team sports or support Gloucester rugby on the side! There is even a local split with Gloucester's arch-sporting rival Cheltenham (more a soccer town!) for in the Spa town skittles is played with either a team of 12 (winter skittles) or 6 (summer skittles). Each player plays 6 hands of 3 balls. However, in Gloucester , the players play 10 hands of 3 balls, and a team is made up of 10 skittlers. Skittles are played in pubs, clubs, holiday villages, hotels in fact anywhere you can get an alley, I have played it in a farm's barn - and there is an annual British Skittles Championship, blessed with colourful team names like the Hillbillies, Fraggles and my particular fave Muhammad Alley Cats, this game a blast from the past that has grown in popularity rather than faded away.
It is time for soccer - or football, you choose. Gloucester City Association FC originally took to the field in March 1883 as Gloucester YMCA and it wasn't until 1925 they became City. So maybe they haven't sent the world on fire but they are still afloat during a time when the professional game has gotten so greedy that it has sucked the life out of the smaller clubs. Nicknamed the Tigers, probably due to their yellow and black striped kit, it isn't easy running a football club in this day and age when one star player in the Premiership would probably keep the whole Gloucester City club running for decades. My hat goes off to people who put their hands in their pockets and heart into volunteering their time for good old clubs, like City, who carry the name of their community into league and cup games all around the country. I know I have been there, so I salute the officials, fans and supporters of the Tigers for keeping on going against all the odds. One of their honours caught my eye for the 1981-82 in the Southern League Cup Final the Tigers lost 2-1to one of my own Middlesex clubs, Wealdstone , who included future England captain Stuart Pearce in the team and I am their Patron!
It's nice to note that one of the most famous cricketers ever, WG Grace, Gloucestershire CCC hero refereed one of the football club's earlier matches against Bristol Rovers, in those days called Eastville. Gloucester City is one of the longest members of the Southern League, a high-up and important rung of the FA National Leagues ladder.
In cricket the main local flag is flown by Gloucestershire County Cricket Club although they tend to play most of their matches at Bristol venturing out every so often for special festivals. The Gloucester City Winget Cricket Club flies the club cricket flagette in the West of England Leagues closely followed by Kingsholm CC. www.gloscricket.co.uk
As befits a city of note like Gloucester it is a centre for many sports, popular, diverse, extreme and here are some to choose from: Gloucester Athletics Club; Gloucester City Hockey Club; Team Gloster Basketball Club; Gloucester City Cycling Club; City Amateur Swimming Club, Gloucester; Gloucester & Severnside Bowling Club; Gloucester Boardriders ; Gloucester Canal Angling; Gloucester City Bowling Club ; Gloucester Harlequins CC; Gloucester Clay Shooting Club; Gloucester Martial Arts Centre; Gloucester Rowing Club ; Gloucester Ski Centre (That's Right On Robinswood Hill); Gloucester Table Tennis League; Gloucester Skating Club; Gloucester Golf Club; Gloucester Badminton Club; Gloucester Yacht Club; Severn Athletic Club; Arcadians Cricket Club; Glevum Tennis Club; Glevum Utd fC; Glevum Target Club; Glevum Archers; Gloucester Canoe Club; Gloucester Meteors Ten Pin Bowlers Club; Cotswold Aero Club (Staverton).
There are going to be many clubs not listed, I know of plenty more soccer clubs that but the smaller clubs will come and go although it should be written that Gloucester is a city with a very strong Youth Football (Soccer) League. There may be clubs for other sports not listed basically because we couldn't find them or they failed to return our E-mails. Most of the clubs listed will have a good programme for disabled sportsmen, women and children too; best to contact the Gloucester Tourism to get a contact for your particular sport.
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