Gloucester City A.F.C.

Gloucester City Association Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Hempsted, Gloucester, England. The club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County Football Association and, as of the 2025-26 season, plays in the Southern League Premier Division South, at the seventh tier of the English football league system.

The club traces its history back to 1883, when a club simply named Gloucester was founded, changing its name to Gloucester City in 1902 but folded in 1910. The current club was established at that time, originally called Gloucester YMCA before becoming Gloucester City in 1925. It spent a record 70 years within the Southern Football League from 1939 until 2009, when it secured promotion to the National League system after a play-off final win against Farnborough. Since promotion, and despite its southern location, the club has spent the majority of their seasons in the National League North, with a two-year spell in the National League South from 2017 to 2019.

After playing in six different locations across the city since foundation, Gloucester City found its long-tenured home at Longlevens from 1935 to 1964, followed by Horton Road Stadium from 1964 to 1986, and at Meadow Park from 1986 to 2007. In July 2007, countrywide flooding left Meadow Park under of water. From then until 2020, the club played exiled home games at Forest Green Rovers' New Lawn stadium in Nailsworth, Cirencester Town's Corinium Stadium, Cheltenham Town's Whaddon Road, and Evesham United's Jubilee Stadium. The club finally returned to a rebuilt Meadow Park in December 2020.

History

Formation and the early years

Although born in March 1883, Gloucester AFC did not take their first steps until February 1884 almost one year after birth. An advert for that very first game played by Gloucester AFC appeared in The Citizen on Friday 8 February 1884:

Football – Gloucester Association v Warmley (Bristol) Association. – This match (the first in the city under Association Rules) will be played on the ground of the Hornets F.C., Union-lane, tomorrow. Kick off 3.15 p.m. – (Advt.)

However, that first Gloucester team folded in 1886. The club re-formed in September 1889. Gloucester's first competitive game in October 1889 was a Gloucestershire FA Junior Challenge Cup 1st Round tie beating Clifton Association Reserves 10–0 at Budding's Field.

The club's first season in 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 in exile at Cirencester Town proved to be one of the greatest in history. 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 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.

In a controversial decision, the F.A. placed Gloucester City in the Conference North for the 2009–10 season. The reason given was that Worcester City, despite being considerably further north than both Gloucester and Cirencester, was given a guarantee after being moved to the Conference South the previous year against its will that it would not be moved back to the North for three seasons without its consent. Worcester City refused to consent to an early move back to the North, thus forcing Gloucester to take their place. The club finished 18th in its maiden Conference North season.

Near the end of the club's maiden Conference North 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 groundsharing with major rivals Cheltenham Town for the forthcoming two seasons. Gloucester City Council provided £20,000 towards helping this agreement, beating Stan Myers who had broken the record 50 years previously.

In 2012–13, the club reached the FA Cup 1st Round proper for the first time in 23 years, drawing Football League One outfit Leyton Orient at home. They eventually lost 2–0 to two late goals. The club repeated this success the following season, drawing Football League Two side Fleetwood Town at home, they also lost that one 2–0.

For the 2017–18 season, the club was moved back to the National League South. Manager Tim Harris and Chairman Mike Dunstan both expressed their disappointment at the decision. Furthermore, the club was forced to play home games outside Gloucestershire for the first time in their history. After the conclusion of the groundshare deal with Cheltenham Town, the club's only viable option was to groundshare with Southern League side Evesham United, in Worcestershire, whilst construction on the new stadium continued at the old Meadow Park site.

On 30 November 2017, manager Tim Harris resigned from his position citing that the club "needs some investment, some structure and business acumen if it is to maintain any hope of returning home at this level." Harris was soon followed by Chairman Mike Dunstan, first team assistant manager Marc Richards, the kit man, the media officer and the club accountant who all cited the same reasons for leaving as Harris. Player/coach Will Morford became acting manager until 15 December 2017 when former player and assistant manager Marc Richards returned and was appointed manager, with Morford becoming player/assistant manager. Under Richards, City pushed away from the relegation zone and the club went on to mount a small playoff push earning Richards the February Manager of the Month award before finishing a respectable 14th.

On 2 October 2018, it was announced that Marc Richards was to leave the club by mutual consent. He would later join former City manager Tim Harris at Hereford F.C along with assistant manager Will Morford and the club's performance analyst. Tom Webb and Mike Green took the joint role of caretaker manager.

As the search began for a new manager, on 5 October 2018, club legend and record appearance holder Tom Webb announced his retirement from his playing career. Webb made 719 appearances for the club in a career spanning 18 years.

On 10 October 2018, the search was over and Chris Todd was announced as the new first team manager following a 3 nil FA Cup win away at Dorking Wanderers. On 3 January 2019 however, Todd left the club by mutual consent after a spell of 15 games without a win.

On 8 January 2019, City appointed former player Mike Cook as manager. He was joined by other ex-Tigers Karl Bayliss and Andy Hoskins, whilst Tom Webb and Mike Green were retained to complete the coaching staff. Results picked up and a dramatic 3–2 win against Chippenham Town confirmed Gloucester's National League status again.

On 18 April 2019, the club announced a change to the badge moving away from the Tiger logo and instead to a new logo encompassing the Gloucestershire coat of arms, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester Docks and the City skyline. The kit colour will also change from yellow and black back to a predominantly red kit from the 2019/2020 season onward.

On 16 November 2019, manager Mike Cook was sacked as Gloucester City manager with the club lying mid-table in the National League North. A replacement was swiftly appointed in the form of ex-West Ham United coach James Rowe, who became the first full-time appointed manager of the club.

Work began on the new stadium on 5 January 2020 with an expected completion date being the start of the 2020–21 season.

The 2019–20 season would end up becoming one of the most historic in the history of the game of football as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world and football ground to a halt. The season was cut short in March 2020 and, at the time of the decision, City were lying in 19th position but would eventually jump up to 17th as the season was decided on points per game. City's final game in exile was a 2–1 home win at Evesham against Farsley Celtic. Meanwhile, work continued in the off season on the new stadium and it was ready in time for the 2020–21 season.

Return to Gloucester

After 13 years in exile, City returned to Gloucester in time for the 2020–21 season. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the restart of the season was thrown into doubt. Due to the National League obtaining 'Elite' status in order to complete the play-offs for the season previous, there was now an issue, as was the case with all 'Elite' sport, that spectators were not allowed to attend matches and clubs needed this revenue stream in order to survive. After a financial package was agreed with the government, the season was able to start.

The first competitive game at New Meadow Park was on 6 October 2020 as City hosted Kettering Town in a behind closed doors league game with City running away 3–1 winners and the honour of first competitive goal at the new stadium going to Alex Whittle. City flew out of the blocks at the start of the 2020–21 season 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. On 24 November 2020, following interest from ex-Football League club Chesterfield, James Rowe left for the Spireites. Jake Cole took temporary charge of first team duties until Paul Groves was appointed on 8 December 2020. The National League campaign ground to a halt in February 2021 with City sitting top of the league. Following a vote amongst clubs, it was announced that step two of non-League football will cease with immediate effect after a vote of 24–19 in favour of ending the current campaign as the financial implications of the coronavirus pandemic continue to take their toll at the levels of the football pyramid below the EFL.

After a disastrous start to the 2021–22 season, including a humiliating 9–0 defeat at Chorley, Paul Groves was sacked and replaced by Gloucester-born Lee Mansell who steadied the ship and earned City a 17th-place finish. The following season, however, started badly for Mansell and he was replaced by Steven King. City finished the season in the play-off places, following a dramatic 4–3 victory over Chorley at New Meadow Park on the final day of the 2022–23 season, whereby City scored 2 goals in injury time.. This set up a play-off quarter-final at Brackley Town. The match went to penalties after the two sides were unable to be separated during normal and extra time, and the Northamptonshire side went on to win the shootout 5–3.

Following the conclusion of the season, it was announced that Steven King would leave the club citing the clubs move back to a part-time model, and ex-Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper and Premier League winner Tim Flowers was named as his replacement. Flowers lost his job in September and was replaced by a returning Mike Cook, but he was unable to turn the season around as City succumbed to relegation after 15 years in the National League.

The 2024–25 season saw City finish 4th in the Southern League South and qualify for the playoffs. City travelled to London-based Walton & Hersham in the semi-final, and prevailed on penalties setting up a playoff final away at A.F.C. Totton which City would lose 0–1. In the following days, it was announced that Mike Cook's contract would not be renewed and he was to be replaced by former assistant manager and Newport County caretaker Daf Williams.

Grounds

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size: 83%; text-align: left;"

!Dates!!Ground

|1883–1895||Buddings Field

|1895–1896||Avenue Road Ground

|1896–1897||Co-operative Field

|1897–1898||Buddings Field (2nd)

|1898–1902||Avenue Road Ground (2nd)

|1902–1913||Buddings Field (3rd)

|1913–1925||Llanthony Ground

|1925–1926||Avenue Road Ground (3rd)

|1926–1927||Buddings Field (4th)

|1927–1933||Sutgrove Park

|1933–1936||Bon Marche Ground

|1936–1964||The Ground at Longlevens

|1964–1986||Horton Road Stadium

|1986–2007||Meadow Park

|2007–2008||The New Lawn, Nailsworth

|2010–2017||Whaddon Road, Cheltenham

An option spoken about for a ground was at Blackbridge, a former athletics ground in an area around 3 miles outside the City centre called Podsmead. Any news regarding this possible switch soon went quiet, with the main area of concern being poor access roads and a spate of vandalism already occurring in that district.

Another option was a shared new purpose-built stadium in Javelin Park, an area in-between Gloucester and Stroud off Junction 12 of the M5 motorway. The ground was to be used by the football club and Stroud Rugby Club. However, in the end the rugby club decided not to pursue the proposal and the area is now being lined up to have an incinerator instead.

In November 2008, local MP and supporter Parmjit Dhanda spoke in the House of Commons regarding the search for a new home for the club in the city in the hopes of finding a successful outcome.

After the one season stay at Forest Green Rovers, the club moved to Cirencester Town and spent two seasons there, culminating in promotion to the Conference North.

For the 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, and 2013–14 seasons, the club played its home games at rivals Cheltenham Town's Whaddon Road stadium, On 16 February 2011, it was announced that the club would be applying for planning permission in early March 2011 for a brand new stadium at Meadow Park, incorporating flood defence measures and an adjacent business park. On 29 December 2011, Gloucester City Council formally validated plans for a new stadium in Gloucester, but the scheme collapsed in September 2012 when the Council advised it could not approve the plans without more detailed flood risk assessments. This was deemed too costly by the club and with the exile away from the City getting longer the club decided to abandon the plans.

For the 2014–15 season, the club once again played in Cheltenham. However, new plans had since been drawn up, using the same architects who designed AFC Telford United's and Forest Green Rovers' new stadium. The plans were for a "Category A" 4,000 capacity stadium. Outline planning was submitted to Gloucester City Council in June 2014.

On 7 October 2014, after seven years in exile, the club plans for a new stadium at Meadow Park were approved by Gloucester City Council subject to completing 45 planning conditions.

After a long push for a return home, confirmation that outline planning permission had been granted by the council came on 22 September 2015. This was followed by a full reserved matters application for a 3,060 capacity category B stadium being validated by the council on 26 May 2016. The plan incorporated an additional phase of work to take the stadium to over 4,000 capacity and meet FA category A requirements to enable the club to take part in the National League. Finally, the club received full planning permission from Gloucester City Council to build the stadium on 4 October 2016. Prior to construction work beginning on the new stadium, work was carried out to raise the level of the ground away from any possible future flooding.

After the conclusion of a seven-year groundshare agreement with Cheltenham Town for seasons 2017–18, 2018–19, and 2019–20, Gloucester ground-shared with Evesham United at the Jubilee Stadium, Evesham. This was the first time the club played its home fixtures outside Gloucestershire and uniquely made them the only club at National South level or higher playing outside its own County until Truro City's announcement of a groundshare at Torquay occurred in July 2018.

On 5 October 2018, the club also released revised plans for the new stadium. The new scaled down plan gave the club a view to making the project deliverable for 2020. The plans included the retention and conversion of Arriva House, the construction of two 350-seat covered stands, provision of an enlarged T-End and the existing open terraced stand currently located in at Evesham United. These amended plans were approved by Gloucester City Council in May 2019.

Honours

Southern Football League
Premier Division play-off winners: 2008–09
Premier Division runners-up: 1990–91
Premier Division South play-off runners-up: 2024–25
Midland Division champions: 1988–89
Western Division runners-up: 2003–04
Southern League Cup: 1955–56
Southern League Cup runners-up: 1981–82
Merit Cup Winners: 1968–69
Birmingham Combination Tillotson Shield
Winners: 1935–36
Gloucestershire Northern Senior League
Champions: 1933–34
Runners-up: 1925–26, 1932–33, 1934–35
North Gloucestershire League
Division One champions: 1907–08,1908–09
Gloucester and District League
Division One champions: 1897–98, 1899–1900, 1903–04
Division One runners-up: 1898–99, 1906–07
Cheltenham and District League
Division One champions: 1906–07
Division One runners-up: 1909–10
Mid Gloucestershire League
Champions: 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1900–01
Gloucester City Hurrans Cup League [War-time League]
Runners-up: 1942–43
Gloucestershire FA Senior Professional Cup
Winners (18 Times) : 1950, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1993, 2024.
Runners-up (36 Times): 1936, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2009, 2010, 2018
Worcestershire FA Senior Professional Cup
Runners-up: 1983–84
Gloucestershire FA Senior Amateur Cup
Winners: 1931–32
Runners-up: 1929–30, 1932–33
Gloucestershire FA Junior Cup
Winners: 1902–03
Runners-up: 1892–93, 1906–07
Godsman Cup [War-time Cup]
Runners-up: 1942–43
City Cup [War-Time Cup]
Finalist: 1942–43
Severn Sport Shield
Winners: 2018–19
Runners-up: 2025–26

Club records

Best League position: 1st in National League North, 2020-21 (Level 6 in Football Pyramid)
Best FA Cup performance: Second round replay, 1989–90 v Cardiff City
Best Welsh Cup performance: Quarter-final replay, 1958–59 v Cardiff City
Best FA Trophy performance: Semi-final replay, 1996–97 v Dagenham & Redbridge
Record fee paid: £25,000, Steve Fergusson, Worcester City 1990–91
Record fee received: £25,000 Ian Hedges, AFC Bournemouth, 1989–90
Record Attendance:
Longlevens: 10,500 v Tottenham Hotspur, friendly, 1952
Horton Road: 7,500 v Wimbledon, friendly, 1966
Meadow Park: 4,500 v Dagenham & Redbridge, FA Trophy Semi-Final, April 1997
Record Victory: 16–0 v Army 'G', February 1942. (Wartime), 12–1 v Bristol Saint George, April 1934. (Non Wartime)
Record Defeat: 0–14 v Brimscombe F.C., January 1923.

Player records

Most appearances

Currently at club in bold

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

!Name

!Career

!Appearances

!Goals

|align="left"| Tom Webb

|2000–2018

|719

|38

|align="left"| Stan Myers

|1950–1960

|412

|26

|align="left"| Neil Mustoe

|2002–2014

|381

|align="left"| Gary Kemp

|1990–1999

|368

|28

|align="left"| Lee Smith

|2000–2011

|366

|76

|align="left"| Rob Coldray

|1954–1969

|348

|108

|align="left"| Frank Tredgett

|1949–1959

|328

| align="left" | Joe Hanks

|2014–present

|326

|75

| align="left" | Chris Burns

|1996–2005

|315

|41

|10

|align="left"| Bobby McCool

|1965–1974

|297

|57

Most goals

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

!Name

!Career

!Goals

!Appearances

!Goals/Game<br />Ratio

|align="left"| Jerry Causon

|1930–1936

|209

|196

|align="left"| Rob Coldray

|1954–1969

|110

|348

|align="left"| Reg Weaver

|1937–1946

|103

|84

|align="left"| Jimmy Cox

|1999–2006

|96

|245

|5=

|align="left"| Karl Bayliss

|1985–2004

|92

|243

|5=

|align="left"| Doug Foxwell

|1972–1988

|92

|264

|align="left"| John Evans

|1976–1982

|86

|265

|align="left"| Enos Drew

|1931–1938

|84

|252

|align="left"| Lee Smith

|2000–2011

|76

|366

|10

|align="left"| Joe Hanks

|2014–present

|75

|326

|0.221

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

(Dual registration with Cirencester Town)

Notable former players

For details on former players, see :Category:Gloucester City A.F.C. players.

Former international players

Nathaniel Jarvis – 13 caps, three goals, for Antigua and Barbuda.
Curtis Jemmett-Hutson - 2 caps, for Barbados.
Jonte Smith – 15 caps, two goals, for Bermuda.
Hayden Turner – Two caps for Cornwall.
Jeff Blockley – One cap for England.
Adolf Hanson – One war-time cap for England.
Douglas Hunt – One war-time cap for England.
Frank Saunders – One cap for England.
Joe Wollacott – Seven caps for Ghana.
Jake Gosling – 12 caps, 2 goals for Gibraltar.
Dejon Noel-Williams – Eight caps for Grenada.
Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong – 16 caps, 1 goal, for Grenada.
Keanu Marsh-Brown – 16 caps, 1 goal, for Guyana.
Tré Mitford – 6 caps for Guyana.
Theo Robinson - 7 caps, for Jamaica.
Omar Holness - 5 caps, for Jamaica.
Yaser Kasim - 21 caps, 3 goals, for Iraq.
Tommy Casey – 17 caps for Northern Ireland including at 1958 World Cup.
Shabir Khan – Nine caps, 1 goal, for Pakistan.
Omari Sterling-James – 28 caps, four goals, for Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Leroy Rosenior – One cap for Sierra Leone.
Marcus Browning – Five caps for Wales.
Trevor Ford – 38 caps for Wales.
Brian Godfrey – Three caps for Wales.
Dai Jones – Seven caps for Wales.
Robert Mills-Roberts – Eight caps for Wales
Eddie Parris – One cap for Wales, first black player to play for Wales.
Neil Slatter – 22 caps for Wales.
Gareth Taylor – 15 caps for Wales.
Rod Thomas – 47 caps for Wales.
Tony Villars – Three caps for Wales.

Notable other internationals

Gilbert Jessop – 18 caps for England Cricket
Grahame Parker – Two caps for England Rugby
Frank Stout – 14 caps for England Rugby
Percy Stout – Five caps for England Rugby

Notable other sportsmen

C.E Brown – played rugby for Gloucester RFC.
Trevor Halls – played rugby for Gloucester RFC.
Edward James – played rugby for Gloucester RFC
Arthur Jepson – Cricket Test Match Umpire and played cricket for Nottinghamshire CCC.
Don Meadows – played rugby for Gloucester RFC.
Geoffrey Morton – played cricket for Middlesex CCC.
William Murch – played cricket for Gloucestershire CCC.
Phil Neale – played cricket for Worcestershire CCC.
Trevor Powell – played rugby for Gloucester RFC.
Thomas Rust – played cricket for Gloucestershire CCC.
Cyril Sewell – played cricket for Gloucestershire CCC.
Eric Stephens – played cricket for Gloucestershire CCC and rugby for Gloucester RFC.
Walter Taylor – played rugby for Gloucester RFC.
Ronald Turner – played cricket for Gloucestershire CCC.
George Sutton Watson – played cricket for Kent CCC and Leicestershire CCC.

Management

Football Management Team

{| class="wikitable"

!Job title!!Name

|Manager||Dafydd Williams

|Assistant Manager||Kevin Phillips

|Player-Coach ||Aaron Wildig

|Goalkeeper Coach ||Conor Thompson

| Sports Therapist

|Adam Plater

| Analyst

|Sam Viner

Club Staff

{| class="wikitable"

!Job title!!Name

|Chairman||Colin Taylor

|Secretary||Chris Hill

Managerial history

Pre 1931, the term Manager was interchangeable with the term Secretary, thus the difference is noted.

Secretaries

Listed according to when they became Secretary for Gloucester City:

1883-1884 W.H. Clarke
1884-1885 Alfred J. Smith
1885-1888 Herbert Benfield
1888-1889 Algernon S. King
1889-1890 Rev. Henry L. Brereton
1890-1893 William H. Benfield
1893-1897 Henry T. Robins
1897-1898 James G. Washbourn
1898-1902 Randolph Lewis
1902-1903 Henry W. Arkell & Henry Sherwood
1903-1906 Frank R. Crawley & Henry Sherwood
1906-1909 Joseph E. Palmer
1909-1910 Oliver J.A. Carter
1910-1911 Arthur J. Hayward
1911-1919 Henry E.W. Barry
1919-1920 Maurice Harrison
1920-1931 Lemuel A. Beddis

Managers

Listed according to when they became managers for Gloucester City:

1931-1938 Maurice Hukin
1938 Albert Prince-Cox
1938-1940 Joseph Selby Thomas
1940-1946 William S. Blunn
1946-1948 Cyril Dean
1948 Jack F. Whiting &
1948-1952 Douglas Hunt
1952-1954 Jimmy Buist
1954-1959 Harry Ferrier
1959-1960 Ollie Norris
1960 Frank Tredgett
1960 Phillip Friel (C)
1960-1962 Maurice Hukin (2nd)
1962-1963 Ron Humpston
1963-1965 Tommy Casey
1965-1966 Robert Grant
1966-1967 Cyril Williams
1967 Dick Etheridge (C)
1967-1968 Harold Fletcher
1968-1969 Ian McIntosh
1969-1970 Dick Etheridge (2nd)
1970 Rob Coldray
1970 Dick Etheridge (3rd)
1970-1971 John Preece
1971 Dick Etheridge (4th) (C)
1971-1972 Ian McIntosh (2nd)
1972-1973 Dick Etheridge (5th)
1973-1976 Bobby Etheridge
1976-1977 Colin Moulsdale
1977-1980 Bob Mursell
1980 Dick Etheridge (6th) (C)
1980-1982 Bobby Campbell
1982 John Layton
1982-1984 Bob Mursell (2nd)
1984-1985 Tony Freely
1985 Bobby Etheridge (2nd) (C)
1985 Paul Richardson
1985-1987 Steve Scarrott
1987-1991 Brian Godfrey
1991-1992 Steve Millard (C)
1992-1994 Brian Godfrey (2nd)
1994 Gary Goodwin & Brian Hughes (C)
1994-1996 John Murphy
1996-1998 Leroy Rosenior
1998-2000 Brian Hughes (2nd)
2000-2001 Tommy Callinan
2001-2006 Chris Burns
2006 Neil Mustoe & Adie Harris (C)
2006-2008 Tim Harris
2008-2014 David Mehew
2014-2017 Tim Harris (2nd)
2017 Will Morford (C)
2017-2018 Marc Richards
2018 Tom Webb & Mike Green (C)
2018-2019 Chris Todd
2019 Tom Webb & Mike Green (2nd) (C)
2019 Mike Cook
2019-2020 James Rowe
2020 Jake Cole (C)
2020-2021 Paul Groves
2021-2022 Lee Mansell
2022-2023 Steven King
2023 Tim Flowers
2023-2025 Mike Cook (2nd)
2025- Dafydd Williams

Rivalries

Cheltenham Town

The near proximity of Cheltenham to Gloucester has led to the rivalry with Cheltenham Town being competed for more than a century, in local and regional divisions. The first of these matches were played in 1898 and since then 212 matches have been contested between the clubs. However, the most recent league game between the two was in 1997 and since then, competitive matches between the clubs have stopped due to Cheltenham Town's rise up the English football league system. This could have been Gloucester City if they had defeated Salisbury City on the final day of the 1996–97 season, however City lost 3–1 and Cheltenham were promoted due to champions Gresley Rovers' ground not being to a sufficient standard for Conference football. From 2010 to 2017, Gloucester City ground-shared at Cheltenham Town's Whaddon Road stadium.

Forest Green Rovers

The rivalry between with Forest Green Rovers has only become a recent phenomenon. For the majority of both club's history, Gloucester City were in a higher league. In 1998, Forest Green Rovers achieved promotion to the Football Conference after only a couple of seasons in the Southern League. However, in 2007, Gloucester City began groundsharing at Rovers' New Lawn Stadium, which ended acrimoniously between the clubs, forcing the Tigers further into exile at Cirencester Town. In 2014, the club's met in the FA Cup; their first competitive meeting in a generation.

Worcester City

Gloucester City and Worcester City contest the Severn Derby, as the game has recently been named. The rivalry has blossomed in the 2000s due to both clubs participating in the Conference North and the close proximity between the two cathedral cities. The two sides have met 104 times during their history. However, since Worcester City's resignation from the National League due to financial problems, the clubs have not met since 2017.

Hereford

A local rivalry had existed with Hereford United until the club dissolved in 2014. The sides had met 42 times between 1939 and 1971. A new club set up called Hereford F.C. joined Midland Football League, eventually rising to meet Gloucester City in the National League North.