FOOTBALL

Gloucester City make return to Meadow Park after 13-year absence

AFC Gloucester City are set to make an emotional return back to Meadow Park on Tuesday night after a 13-year absence away from the ground they’ve called home since 1986. Their inaugural game of the 2020/21 Conference North against Kettering town will mark the landmark reinstitution of Meadow Park regardless of the COVID-19 restrictions prohibiting the attendance of fans.

Throughout the club’s 137 year history they have relocated 18 times moving and have played at six different stadiums since 2007, even ground-sharing with with Evesham FC marking the first time the club has played outside of Gloucestershire.

Flooding on Breaking Stone Meadow,... © Philip Halling cc-by-sa/2.0 ::  Geograph Britain and Ireland

The floods in the summer of 2007 marked the third time in seventeen years that the stadium has been flooded and this time marked the worse for the. The stadium was submerged in 8 feet of sewage water leaving Gloucester no choice but to relocate.

After ground-sharing with Cheltenham Town at Whaddon road for 7 seasons, the club announced plans to rebuilt Meadow Park. Gloucester council approved the plans in May 2019.

A £1.5 Million investment aimed at finishing the stadium by 2020 was launched and after three seasons at the Jubilee stadium, AFC Gloucester moved back to Meadow Park in the 2020/21 season.

Last season Kettering Town finished 2 places and 1 point behind Gloucester in a tightly contested relegation battle. The additions of Kevin Dawson, Gavin Gunning, and Akwasi Asante will have fans of the tigers buzzing not only for the return to Meadow park but also where they could land this season.

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