Gloucester

Kings of the West Country

For a full explanation of the source of and rationale behind these figures please refer to The Figures Explained.

2003/4 Season

In many ways there are striking similarities between Gloucester and their West Country rivals Bath. Both in terms of the history and development of these clubs and the dilemmas they now face.

Gloucester have enjoyed a steady, if not spectacular, seven years of growth. When the need to expand has arisen they have taken it. They now regularly fill Kingsholm and I believe will continue to do so as they expand. The future of the shed as an entity looks a lot more secure than does the future of the actual building itself.  

Like Bath’s Rec., Gloucester’s home ground, Kingsholm, is in a town centre location. Again like Bath, Gloucester increased ground capacity between the 2001/2 and 2002/3 seasons, from 10,000 to 11,000. This extra capacity was again taken up by latent demand. In the 2003/4 season Gloucester recorded seven capacity crowds out of their twelve home games. Kingsholm is demonstrably too small for the demands of Gloucester Rugby.

Where Gloucester differ from Bath is that over the years they have steadily developed their ground. They have an amenable council, room for expansion, perhaps to as much as 17k at their existing ground, and there are areas around the city that are suitable for development. Plans have just been approved for development which will take capacity of Kingsholm up to 12.5k for next season. What are the odds that this extra capacity will immediately be swallowed up? I would say very high. 

Unfortunately for them they cannot now tap up Tom Walkinshaw for the not insignificant sum it would cost to develop Kingsholm fully. Their previously very wealthy owner is not as wealthy as he once was. The most obvious public manifestation of this was the folding two years ago of the Arrows Formula One team which he owned. Fortunately for the cherry and whites they were on a sound financial footing before Mr Walkinshaw ran into difficulty, so the jury is out on how things unfold.

If we project their average growth thus far forward another five seasons, this is what we see.

Season  -  Attendance

Gloucester have come a long way since the start of professional rugby. Will they become one of Europe's major clubs? Perhaps, but if they are it is unlikely to be at Kingsholm. 

The next article in this series will take us to the East Midlands, as we look at the biggest club in the country Leicester.

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