[Paul]

Not the first time we've had this nonsense. Can people really be this ignorant?

That clip is ten years old but just goes to show that nothing has changed in the meantime. Unless we reach at least NL level it will be difficult for us to become visible in the eye of the local public.

[Neil]

I’ve been chatting to Jack Clement all evening about this and he’s really gutted about it. He’s put out an apology but a few of the tweets to him have been a little hurtful.
But he’s owned up, so fair play to him. Bit of good PR now though.

Did you two share any refreshments? Rich Tea perhaps?

[MeadowClark]

Seems like this player didn’t mean to cause offence but I think there’s been other occasions when rugby people have said this in the media and it’s with a knowing smile.

Everyone involved in the rugby must know that if we became successful it’d take support away from them on a Saturday, it’s happened in every other backward city that has a rugby club. Go and ask the person on the street just a blanket question “Who do you support?” and they’ll say any PL football club before GRFC most times.

I do wonder where we’d be sometimes if they’d never existed, I reckon we’d be at least a traditional football league club.

I firmly believe we are not a “rugby city”, we just have a Premiership Rugby Club. If GRFC went bust, interest in rugby would die in the city immediately.

[Paul]

Seems like this player didn’t mean to cause offence but I think there’s been other occasions when rugby people have said this in the media and it’s with a knowing smile.

Everyone involved in the rugby must know that if we became successful it’d take support away from them on a Saturday, it’s happened in every other backward city that has a rugby club. Go and ask the person on the street just a blanket question “Who do you support?” and they’ll say any PL football club before GRFC most times.

I do wonder where we’d be sometimes if they’d never existed, I reckon we’d be at least a traditional football league club.

I firmly believe we are not a “rugby city”, we just have a Premiership Rugby Club. If GRFC went bust, interest in rugby would die in the city immediately.

Agree, we're not a rugby city. The two codes can exist side by side - look at Exeter, a city of comparable size hosting both a Prem rugby club and a L1 EFL club. But I don't think we can lay too much blame on GRFC - rather, consecutive owners stretching back many years who for one reason or another haven't realised the club's potential. That, and being in exile for 13 years. The largest city without an EFL club still irks.

[Si Robin]

Seems like this player didn’t mean to cause offence but I think there’s been other occasions when rugby people have said this in the media and it’s with a knowing smile.

Everyone involved in the rugby must know that if we became successful it’d take support away from them on a Saturday, it’s happened in every other backward city that has a rugby club. Go and ask the person on the street just a blanket question “Who do you support?” and they’ll say any PL football club before GRFC most times.

I do wonder where we’d be sometimes if they’d never existed, I reckon we’d be at least a traditional football league club.

I firmly believe we are not a “rugby city”, we just have a Premiership Rugby Club. If GRFC went bust, interest in rugby would die in the city immediately.

I had this exact discussion with a number of C********m fans last night. I maintain that the club and local media have really pushed the Gloucester is a rugby city mantra over the years to such an extent that it's now just become part of the noise.

I've been to a number of rugby clubs in and around Gloucester on a Saturday afternoon and the majority of them will have football on in the bar rather than that afternoon's live rugby match (unless it's England of course).  I'm willing to bet a pound to a penny that more people were watching Newcastle-Man City than Edinburgh-Gloucester on Saturday evening.

My feeling is that Gloucester City just doesn't seem to have that visibility in Gloucester.  My office is just opposite the Docks and I don't think I've ever seen a Gloucester City shirt in the wild.  The club clearly has a lot of potential, as witnessed by the large attendances it had when you first moved back to Gloucester. That the club appears to keep shooting itself in the foot can't help either.

[Tigermatty 2.0]

I had this exact discussion with a number of C********m fans last night. I maintain that the club and local media have really pushed the Gloucester is a rugby city mantra over the years to such an extent that it's now just become part of the noise.

I've been to a number of rugby clubs in and around Gloucester on a Saturday afternoon and the majority of them will have football on in the bar rather than that afternoon's live rugby match (unless it's England of course).  I'm willing to bet a pound to a penny that more people were watching Newcastle-Man City than Edinburgh-Gloucester on Saturday evening.

My feeling is that Gloucester City just doesn't seem to have that visibility in Gloucester.  My office is just opposite the Docks and I don't think I've ever seen a Gloucester City shirt in the wild.  The club clearly has a lot of potential, as witnessed by the large attendances it had when you first moved back to Gloucester. That the club appears to keep shooting itself in the foot can't help either.

This was my take away too, it says more about us than it does about him. We have no presence in the city beyond the stadium walls, and a large part of that is because for some unknown reason we have no community programme. Any known activities we do seem to be centered around St Peter’s School, but no one actually sees anything happening there or whether it’s actually had any positive impact at all other than box ticking. I think part of the reason is that we’ve had people involved in the club who have no real knowledge of Gloucester other than the stadium.

[Paul]

This was my take away too, it says more about us than it does about him. We have no presence in the city beyond the stadium walls, and a large part of that is because for some unknown reason we have no community programme. Any known activities we do seem to be centered around St Peter’s School, but no one actually sees anything happening there or whether it’s actually had any positive impact at all other than box ticking. I think part of the reason is that we’ve had people involved in the club who have no real knowledge of Gloucester other than the stadium.

Well, we know that the Chambers were getting involved in putting together a proper community programme. Unfortunately the people running the club have no idea what a proper community programme looks like and how if it was done properly it would boost the club. Kids football camps are not a community programme and anyone who thinks they are has no background in community work.

[Neil]

As good as community projects and giving away free tickets are I'd love to see how many people have become regular fans because of that approach. It's a nice try but never seems to be all that it's cracked up to be.

And I think it's unfair on AP to not mention the Gloucester Sport brand. That was a different approach that might've had a better impact.

[Paul]

As good as community projects and giving away free tickets are I'd love to see how many people have become regular fans because of that approach. It's a nice try but never seems to be all that it's cracked up to be.

And I think it's unfair on AP to not mention the Gloucester Sport brand. That was a different approach that might've had a better impact.

But Neil, that's because the club has never had a real community programme. 

As for Gloucester Sport, branching off was a case of too much too soon. The football club and what happens on the pitch should always come first.

[Neil]

Jim Hart used to have a role in that. I'm not sure what it entailed but as far as I remember that could be considered one. I'm sure others can elaborate more what he did.