Draft:History of Gloucester Rugby

History of Gloucester Rugby details the history of the rugby union club based in Gloucester, England. Commonly referred to as simply "Gloucester" or the "Cherry and Whites", Gloucester has been a prominent club from the earliest days of English rugby.

Foundation (1873)
Gloucester Football Club was formed in a meeting held in the city's Spead Eagle Hotel on 15 September 1873. The club's first game was a win on 4 October against The College School, now part of The King's School. In the first season, Gloucester played a local fixture list against The College School, Hereford, Frampton, and Cirencester. Their record for the first season was played 5, won 2, drawn 3. The Spa was used for home matches and the first club captain Frank Hartley who helped with the formation of the club.

Early Years (1874–80)
In 1874–75, Gloucester continued to play home games at The Spa under a more formal arrangement with the Gloucester Cricket Club. They faced a local fixture list against Cirencester, Hereford, Western Counties (considered the season's most important game), and Newnham. Their season record stood at 5 games played, with 4 draws and 1 loss - the club's first loss in history, against Hereford, who scored 1 drop goal. To compete against larger clubs like Hereford and Worcester, Gloucester decided to expand their player base. To do so, they abolished the membership joining fee.

In February 1876 the club played their first game against a London team, home to the Flamingoes, Gloucester won by 1 goal to nil. The season record for 1875–76 was 8 games played with 4 wins, 1 loss and 3 draws.

The club had successful seasons in both 1876–77 and 1877–76. In 1877–78, Gloucester had to pay rent to the Cricket Club for the first time which covered the use of the pitch and the pavilion at the Spa. In order to cover increasing club costs such as the rent, travel and financial guarantees Gloucester charged admission fees at all games for the first time. This season was also successful, playing 15 games and only losing 3. The team also only conceded two goals and seven tries. On the 17 November 1877 for the first time Gloucester played a team which would later become an opponent in the Premiership more than a century later, Worcester away which Gloucester won by eight goals and four tries to nil.

On 30 January 1878, Gloucester played their first home game under floodlights when Rockleaze, from Bristol, visited the Spa. Locals considered the game a novelty so it attracted thousands of fans who destroyed the nearby park's shrubbery. This led the parks committee to ban the rugby club which meant the rest of the season's home games were played away from The Spa. The council rescinded the ban for the following season. Gloucester would not play another home match under floodlights until the 1967–68 season. The 1878–79 season was the first in which Gloucester played a Welsh side when they drew 0-0 at Newport.

The 1879–80 season was another successful one under the captaincy of Frank Brown with only two losses in the season, both against Clifton home and away. This was the first season in which Gloucester played Moseley and it marked the beginning of a long series of matches between the two sides.

Ackermann era (2017–2020)
Following Laurie Fisher's departure, South African Johan Ackermann was announced as his replacement for the 2017–18 season. The first season with Ackermann in charge started well winning seven of the first ten games of the Premiership. The second half of the Premiership season was not as successful with Gloucester only winning four of the last 12 games, finishing 7th in the table which was the highest position since 2013. Gloucester also had a successful Challenge Cup run under Ackermann, winning all pool games apart from the first and last against Pau. A second-place finish in the pools meant Gloucester would travel to Connacht for the quarter-finals which went they way of Gloucester, as did the semi-final against Newcastle. Gloucester led Cardiff 20–6 at half-time but eventually lost 31–30 to a last-minute penalty.

Effects of Covid-19 and relative lack of success (2020–)
On 16 March 2020, the 2019–20 Premiership Rugby season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Gloucester cut players and staff wages by up to 25% during the suspension and in April all players and most staff were placed on furlough. In June head coach Johan Ackermann left the club, with long term director of rugby David Humphreys leaving shortly after. George Skivington was announced as Ackermann's replacement, there was no direct replacement for Humphreys although Alex Brown was promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer. This meant Skivington would handle the playing side of the club whilst Brown focused on rugby related matters like recruitment. The season resumed under new coach Skivington on 15 August, Gloucester finished in 7th place qualifying for the next season's European Champions Cup.

The first full season with Skivington in charge started poorly with a large defeat to Leicester. Gloucester finished the 2020–21 season in 11th after only 7 wins from 22 matches. Gloucester dropped out of the Champions Cup after a loss La Rochelle in the round of 16. The season was heavily disrupted due to Covid-19 outbreaks.

After losses in the first two games of the 2021–22 league season, Gloucester went on to win 9 of their next 12. The season also saw Gloucester's enjoy their largest-ever premiership win when they beat long-time rivals Bath 64–0. They narrowly missed the league playoffs by 2 points. Gloucester also went well in both the Premiership Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup, in the Premiership Cup, they topped their pool and lost in the semi-finals to eventual champions Worcester. In the Challenge Cup, Gloucester were second in their pool and won their first game in the knock-out stage, in the quarter-finals Gloucester were outplayed by fellow English club Saracens losing 15-44.

Gloucester fell short of capitalising on their 5th position from the 2021–22 season the following campaign. They settled for a disappointing 10th in the league standings, managing to win in only 7 out of the 20 league matches. In the Premiership Cup, although Gloucester secured the 2nd position in their pool, they failed to progress to the knockout stages. Despite a poor pool stage, the club made their way to La Rochelle for the 2022–23 Champions Cup round of 16 running the eventual winners close losing 29–26. In July 2023, Alex Brown was appointed interim CEO following the resignation of Lance Bradley. In September 2023, the club announced several promotions, Brown was appointed CEO following the interim period and Skivington was promoted to Director of Rugby meaning he took responsibility over the entire playing department with no effect to his role as head coach.