格洛斯特

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, Bristol, London Welsh and Coventry (all away from home) in earlier rounds, they beat Moseley 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 in another final noted for violent play both on and off the pitch at Twickenham Stadium.

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.

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 France captain Philippe Saint-André.

In 1999–2000, a third-place finish took Gloucester into the Heineken Cup. 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.

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 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 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 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 34–7 in the final at Franklins' Gardens. They also made the Premiership play-offs this season, losing in the Semi-final to Saracens 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 coach Nigel Davies as their new director of rugby.

On 13 November 2012, Gloucester hosted an International match against Fiji 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, 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 at Twickenham Stoop, beating Edinburgh 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, losing 17–25 to Stade Francais at Murrayfield. During the 2017–18 season, Gloucester reach the final of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, marking three European finals in four seasons, but lost to Cardiff 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 Forwards Coach George Skivington as their new head coach, with Alex Brown promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer. 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.