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Another six months elapsed before the Club appointed Mike Coley as the Club’s first chief executive. This appointment was made in the knowledge of the IRB declaring the game was to become ‘open’ and thus permitted the paying of players.
Their statement read, ‘Rugby will become an open game and there will be no prohibition on payment or the provision of other material benefit to any person involved in the game.’
The advent of professional rugby was thrust upon Kingsholm and the appointment of Richard Hill as director of rugby in September 1995 emphasised the intention. The Rugby Football Union imposed a one-year moratorium of the payment of players.
In May 1996 the Club decided to make the post of Chief Executive redundant and therefore Mike Coley moved on.
The advent of professionalism saw outside investment into the game and into many of the clubs. Gloucester experienced this with the introduction of Tom Walkinshaw as the new club owner with the majority shareholding on 29th April 1997.
David Sims had become the Club’s first full time professional in the May of 1996 and a few months later they became the first English club to pay a transfer fee to another club. The signing of Craig Emerson from Morley made not only a note in club history but also in the wider sphere.
To conclude off the field aspects Tom Walkinshaw purchased the final 25 per cent of the Club’s shares and appointed Ken Nottage who had previously been with Newcastle Falcons as managing director.
Once again Gloucester Rugby Club was defeated Pilkington Cup semi-finalists in 1996. The Club celebrated its 125th Anniversary season in 1998-1999.
Peter Butler, the former full back ended his playing time in this era with 2,961 points scored in his one club career, a record that may stand for all time with the gradual reduction in fixtures.
Richard Hill was relieved of his coaching duties midway through the 1998-1999 season and replaced by Philippe Saint Andre.
This period had seen several players honoured by their country, namely – Scott Benton, Phil Blakeway, Stephen Boyle1 , Peter Butler, John and Robert Fidler, Phil Greening, Peter Kingston, Neil McCarthy, Mark Mapletoft, Stephen Mills, Steve Ojomoh, John Orwin, Malcolm Preedy, Gordon Sargent, David Sims, Michael Teague, Phil Vickery, Richard West, Christopher Williams and Trevor Woodman by England. While Ian Smith and Peter Jones were honoured by Scotland, Terry Fanolua by Samoa, and Michael Teague was given further recognition by playing for the British Lions as previously stated.
At the start of the 2005 season, much to the anger of the Gloucester faithful, the club chairman Tom Walkinshaw began several changes which some feel have distanced the club from its fans and its heritage. 'Gloucester RFC' are now know as 'Gloucester Rugby' and no longer use Gloucester City's Coat of Arms as the clubs crest. This is in order to prevent others creating Gloucester RFC merchandise (as the city's coat of arms can be used by anyone).
The club's jerseys no longer feature the cherry-and-white hoops, instead featuring a largely red shirt with white armbands and black-and-white strips down the sides. There is also some debate over the club's nickname. A proposed change is from 'Cherry and Whites' to 'Gloucester Lions'. Such a move has met with a negative response from most fans, who also have concerns over a potential move of the club from the city, which a name change would certainly assist. S Several fan-suggested alternatives to 'Lions' such as 'Meteors' or 'Javelins', which refer to the city's aviation links, have also met with similar derision. The club insists that the nickname 'Cherry and Whites' has never been official, but fans have rightly pointed out that the official club history has used the term in its title. The nickname is also commonly used throughout the national press, and not just in the local sports coverage.
The history will be update soon to include the Saint Andre era up until the present so check back soon Click here to go back to the articles menu
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