Beginnings
Thomas H. Coleman sat down in his home in Littleton Villa, Brook Street, Tredworth and wrote a letter to the Editor of The Citizen on Saturday 27th January 1883 wondering why there was no football club playing under Association Rules in the City of Gloucester. As a result of the letter, thirty-seven days later the club was officially formed on March 5th 1883 as Gloucester Association Football Club and Thomas H. Coleman became the club's first ever captain in the inaugural season of 1883-84. Although formed on March 5th 1883, Gloucester AFC did not play their first game until 9th February 1884 when a match was advertised as the first in the city under Association Rules to be played at Budding's Field against Warmley losing 1-3. Unfortunately, the first venture was to last only three seasons and folded in 1886.
A group of players keen to have a major team in Gloucester played eight fixtures in 1888-89 under the leadership of Algernon S. King and called themselves initially ‘A.S. King's XI. After two games they were known as ‘Gloucester Nomads’ due to the lack of a home venue. It was these players who passed the baton on to two enthusiasts of the game who re-formed the club in September 1889 as Gloucester AFC they being the Reverend Henry Lloyd Brereton, Headmaster of the new County School in Hempsted and Charles Poole, Assistant Headmaster at the Crypt Grammar School. Gloucester’s first competitive game was on Saturday 26 October 1889 in the 1st Round of the Gloucestershire FA Junior Challenge Cup beating Clifton Association Reserves 10-0 at Budding's Field.
The club became members of the Bristol and District League, which subsequently became the Western League. The recommendation that led to the idea of establishing the Bristol and District League was on the suggestion of Gloucester AFC player and future Gloucester and England Rugby Union international player, Percy Stout. Although Gloucester AFC did not participate in the inaugural season of 1892-93, Percy was a member of the Gloucester team that played in that historic first league match the following season away to Bedminster on Saturday 30 September 1893 losing 2-3. During this era the club was noted as ‘The Gloucestrians’ and ‘The Citizens’ in local media. In 1897 Gloucester AFC entered the Gloucester and District League.
The first time ‘City’ was officially added to the Gloucester title was in 1902, although the first mention in The Citizen of the team being called Gloucester City was when the team was printed on Friday 16 November 1900.
In 1906 the club amalgamated with the Hempstead team of St. Michael's prior to the start of season1906-07 and entered the North Gloucestershire League in 1907. The club disbanded in September 1910 but coincidentally, the Gloucester YMCA was formed at the same time and many of the players who had been with City joined Gloucester YMCA. The YMCA club continued
in the lesser Gloucester and District Thursday League until 1913 when it was decided to enter a team in the North Gloucestershire League. Based on the criteria of a continuous link on a seasonal basis the current club could claim they were formed in 1910. However, the link with all clubs going back to the 1883 formation is irrefutable.
By 1925 they had assumed the name of Gloucester City once more and become founder members of the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League. In 1934-35, after winning both the Cup and League, City turned semi-professional, joined the Birmingham Combination and moved to a new stadium in Longlevens where the club stayed for the next 26 years.
Non League Giants
In 1939, the club played in the Southern Football League for the very first time, albeit in a wartime competition. After the war, City rejoined the Southern League and went on to become one of its longest serving members. The club's all-time attendance record was set at Longlevens in 1952 when Stan Myers and Peter Price scored to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 in front of 10,500 spectators, aside which included the superstars of the day such as future World Cup winner Alf Ramsey. It took until the 1955–56 season for Gloucester to taste their first success in the Southern League. A famous Southern League Cup final win against Yeovil Town in which City had lost the first leg 4–1, only to beat Yeovil 5–1 in the second leg, won the club their first major honour.
In 1964 the club moved grounds again, from Longlevens to the massive Horton Road Stadium, closer to the centre of Gloucester. Although Gloucester City were promoted to the Southern Football League Premier Division in the 1968–69 season, the late 1960’s through to the early 1980’s was abarren spell for the club. The club would their primary colour to yellow before a move to a new stadium at Meadow Park in Hempsted.
Rise and Fall
Following the move to Meadow Park in 1986, the Horton Road ground became a housing estate which now boasts the names of City legends: (Stan) Myers Road, (Dicky) Etheridge Place and (Ron) Coltman Close amongst others. In 1988 the club appointed former Aston Villa and Wales player Brian Godfrey, and the new manager went about trying to assemble a squad that eventually walked to the Championship in the Midland Division. The next big achievement of the Godfrey years was the club’s best ever FA Cup run which ended at Cardiff City in the 2 nd Round. City suffered heartbreak after being 2-0 up at Ninian Park with just five minutes to go, with the game ending 2-2. The club was beaten 1-0 in the replay at Meadow Park. The 1990–91 season was one of the most exciting ever seen at the club. Godfrey added several quality players to his squad as City challenged for the league title. As the season climaxed, it all went down to final day of the season at the Victoria Ground, the home of Bromsgrove Rovers. Farnborough headed up to Atherstone needing to win and went 0–1 down to the delight of the thousand travelling City fans. In the final minutes, substitute John Freegard got his head to a longfree kick had put The Tigers ahead. In the meantime, Farnborough had scored, as City fans were on the pitch celebrating the Championship and promotion to the Conference National, but all they had heard were premature radio reports from Atherstone; Farnborough had scored a winner three minutes before the end of the game, and they were promoted instead. In the mid-90’s, another formidable team was assembled by former West Ham United striker Leroy Rosenior, and they battled on all fronts. City managed to reach the semi-finals of the FA Trophy in 1996-97 where they faced Dagenham and Redbridge. Following a first leg 0-0 stalemate in East London, the second leg at Meadow Park was played in front of a packed house. With City winning 1- 0 with a goal from Dale Watkins and being moments from Wembley, there was heartbreak as Dagenham equalised late on to force extra time. City went behind in extra time, but the dream of a Wembley visit was kept alive by a last gasp equaliser by Adie Mings. City went on to lose the reply at Slough. The years that followed were overshadowed by financial difficulties, however on the field manager and former player Chris Burns' young team upset a lot of the more fancied challengers and reached the quarter finals of the FA Trophy. The run included memorable victories away at league leaders Merthyr Tydfil, then two wins at Conference sides Woking and Southport. Aylesbury United of the Isthmian League proved to be too big of a challenge, however, and City bowed out.
The Exile Years
In July 2007, Gloucester City’s home, Meadow Park, was affected by the Gloucestershire flooding that engulfed the county. The club was hit with almost 8 feet of water, almost submerging the crossbar. This astonishing picture, featured in The Sun, Sky News and the BBC shot the club to national attention both in the media and football supporters across the Country. This caused many of the club's supporters to start a donation fund to help the club. The club's first season of exile was at Forest Green Rovers New Lawn Stadium, despite the loss of a stadium and revenue stream the club finished a creditable 6th in the league, just outside the Playoffs. The club's second season of exile at Cirencester Town proved to be one of the greatest in the history of the club. The club finished 3rd in the Southern Premier League thus qualifying for the Playoffs. In the Southern League Playoff semi-final Cambridge City were beaten 3-1 at the Corinium Stadium. They went on to play Farnborough in the final at Cherrywood Road and, captained by club record appearance holder Tom Webb, won 1-0 with Matt Rose scoring the crucial goal, ending a 70-year continuous association with the Southern Football League, and gaining promotion to Conference Football for the first time. A quite remarkable achievement considering the club's predicament. During the 2009-10 season, new F.A. ground regulations meant that Cirencester Town&'s Corinium Stadium would not be suitable for use in the following season meaning if the club failed to find a suitable new home, it would be forcibly relegated. It was announced in March 2010 that the club would be ground sharing with major rivals Cheltenham Town for the forthcoming two seasons. Gloucester City Council provided £20,000 towards helping this agreement, heralding a new era in co-operation between the club and the council, and with Cheltenham Town.
New Beginnings
City finally returned home in September 2020 to a rebuilt TigerTurf Stadium, with a new ‘3G pitch’ and having been raised by circa four metres from that of the Old Meadow Park to safeguard from any future flood events with help from a grant of £500,000 from the Football Foundation to helpfund the build programme. The first season back in Gloucester came during the COVID-19 pandemic, so fans were not able to attend the first matches at the new stadium. That first season saw City fly out of the blocks recording 7 wins and 2 draws in their opening 9 league matches, which was the best start to a league campaign since the Second World War, however with City sitting top of the National League North, it was announced that step two of non-League football will cease with immediate effect and the season was pronounced null and void. In the 2022/23 season Steve King’s City managed to clinch a National League North playoff spot on a dramatic final day of the season with City scoring two goals in injury time to set up a playoff quarter final with Brackley Town, which they would go on to lose on penalties.