Gloucester City – Away Fans Guide by Sam Turner
Gloucester City Vs Torquay United | 27/08/18 | 3pm KO | For travel club & entry information click here
The Spiers and Hartwell Jubilee Stadium, Cheltenham Road, Evesham, WR11 2LZ
Number four in Torquay United’s 2018/19 travels sees the Gulls play Gloucester City…not in Gloucester. There was the dilemma on whether to do an overview of Gloucester as well as Evesham, where Gloucester City will be playing their home games this season. In the end it seemed only fair to give a bit of background (not too detailed) about the true home of our opponents.
GLOUCESTER, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Location: Close to the Welsh border, lies on the River Severn. 130 miles from Torquay.
Population: 128,500 (2016 estimates)
Interesting facts:
- The Walls Ice Cream factory in Gloucester is the biggest anywhere in Europe
- Gloucester Cathedral was used in the filming of the Harry Potter series, mainly the first two instalments
- Over the summer there are dragon boat races, tall ship festivals and themed markets on Gloucester docks
EVESHAM, WORCESTERSHIRE
Location: 23.5 miles (38 kilometres) away from Gloucester which would take roughly 30 minutes to travel by car. Gloucester’s temporary home of the Jubilee Stadium, Evesham (WR11 2LZ) is 147 miles (236.5 kilometres) away from Plainmoor which would take about 2 hours and 26 minutes to get to via car. Travelling by train would take around 5-6 hours.
Population: 23,576 (ONS Census, 2011)
Interesting facts:
- Built around an abbey that was thought to be one of the biggest in Europe
- The abbey itself was mostly dismantled and sold as building stone in Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century
- Simon de Montfort, the de facto ruler of England after he led a rebellion against King Henry III, died in the Battle of Evesham (1265) and was buried (initially) under Evesham Abbey
- Hampton Ferry, in Evesham, is the only hand pulled river ferry in the country
Gloucester City F.C.
Manager: Marc Richards
Ground: Jubilee Stadium, Evesham (temporarily)
Capacity: 3,000 (300 seated)
Club Nickname: The Tigers
History:
- Founded in March 1883 as Gloucester
- Record attendance set in 1952 when they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in front of 10,500 people
- Have had 3 different home grounds between 1883 and 2007 (Longlevens, Horton Road and Meadow Park)
- The club’s best FA Cup run came in the 1989/90 season when they reached the 2nd round but missed out on a tie with First Division QPR after losing a replay against Cardiff City.
- The club has been without a home ground since the flooding of 2007 forced them to leave the sodden Meadow Park (which was almost 8 FEET underwater!) and they have not been able to return since.
- Since they left Meadow Park the club has been forced to groundshare with Forest Green Rovers, Cirencester Town, Cheltenham Town and now Evesham United.
- Originally, when promoted to Conference football in the 2008/09 for the first time in its history, Gloucester were controversially place in the Conference North despite Worcester City being in the Conference South and being much further North than Gloucester.
- They were moved to the Conference South in the 2017/18 season and that is where they’ve stayed.
Parking:
The ground itself has a decent sized car park which is free. If you do not manage to get a space here however there is a long stay pay and display car park about a mile down the road. Directions below:
