Cheltenham Saracens RFC
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| Full name | Cheltenham Saracens Rugby Football Club | |
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| Union | Gloucestershire RFU | |
| Nickname(s) | "The Sarries" | |
| Founded | 1975 | |
| Location | Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England | |
| Ground(s) | King George V Playing Field, Brooklyn Road. | |
| Chairman |  Jimmy O'Shea | |
| President |  Roger Harris | |
| Coach(es) | Gareth Evans | |
| Most caps |  Andrei Hanger | |
| League(s) | Gloucester Premier | |
| 2019–20 | 8th | |
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| Official website | ||
| cheltenhamsaracensrugby | ||
Cheltenham Saracens RFC is an English rugby union club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, affiliated to Gloucestershire Rugby Football Union. The club's First Team currently play in Gloucester Premier, while their reserve teams play in the Gloucestershire Merit Leagues. The club also runs an under 14's squad.
Club history
Early years
The club was founded in 1975 after Cheltenham Colts Old Boys RFC joined the Cheltenham Saracens Sports Complex, a multi-sports organisation that fielded teams in other sports, such as football and cricket. The original club was based at the multi-sports organisation but played their home matches at King George V Playing Fields in Cheltenham which had previously been used for field hockey. The original kit consisted of blue jerseys with a yellow hoop, black shorts and blue socks, however alternative kits involving a royal blue and yellow quarters as well as black with red hoops on the sleeves were also used during the club's history. The first Chairman of Cheltenham Saracens RFC was Harry Attwood and centre, Tony Pates, was named first captain.
Decline and rise
Results slowly declined and many players drifted away from the club in search for match time at a higher level, heading to bigger clubs such as Cheltenham Rugby Football Club. After relegation from Gloucester 1 in 2003-04, the club was on the verge of collapse and was offered little support for their umbrella organisation leading to a discussion between those still attached to the club debating whether to leave. Eventually, the decision was made to move the club away from the multi-sports complex, based in the centre of Cheltenham, and after securing a lease from Cheltenham Borough Council, converted the office space above the club's changing rooms into a clubhouse composing of a kitchen, bar, a club lounge area and toilets. The move saw a rise in the club's fortunes as they were crowned league champions of Gloucester 2 in 2010-2012 losing only two matches all season, losing out 12-17 to Old Cryptians and 37-22 to St. Brendan's Old Boys. The Sarries ended up beating Newent RFC by five points, as the club started to attract a new number of players.
The 2011-12 season saw Saracens First XV struggle to adapt to the new standard of rugby as they beat fellow-promoted club Newent 17-3 on the opening day only to lose 30-6 away to
2012-2013 saw the Sarries First XV lose only two matches in the opening months as they ground out small margin wins against seasoned Gloucester 1 clubs. Their promotion efforts were hampered at the start of January with a big loss to eventual league winners Newent RFC and a draw with midtable Old Colstonians saw them drop off the pace. Any chance of promotion was stopped after three losses back to back as the club suffered injuries to a few key players. The reserve teams continued their fine form from the previous season as both teams managed to secure promotion from their Merit leagues and both teams reach the final of the Cheltenham Combination cups but fail to secure any silverware as the Second XV lost out to
Despite losing on the opening day of the 2013-14 season to
The Sarries opened their Gloucester Premier campaign coming out second best against Stroud RFC but picked up a bonus point. Their first home match as a Level 8 club saw them face local rivals Tewkesbury RFC and pick up a 65-5 win. This was followed by two more wins over Forest of Dean clubs Berry Hill RFC and Bream RFC before losing to Whitehall in mid-October, who would eventually go on to secure the playoff place above the Sarries on the last day of the season. The Sarries then went on a long win of runs, not losing a match until January 17 which saw them go into the New Year's break on top of the league. The club would continue to sit in promotion contention until a 22-22 draw with St. Mary's Old Boys RFC followed by a loss to Stroud on the last day saw Stroud win the league and Whitehall RFC secure the second place as the Sarries finished third in their first season as a level eight club. The Cheltenham Combination Cup saw the Sarries lift the Senior Cup again against the Old Pats. Once again, the reserve teams were unable to add Combination Cup silverware to the Sarries' trophy cabinet.
The club opened the 2016/17 season with two pre-season trial matches. The first was a loss against Newport Saracens while the second was a win over Beaconsfield. The competitive campaign was launched away at St. Mary's Old Boys RFC in the Gloucestershire Senior Vase quarter final, which saw Saracens lose 12-5. The Gloucester Premier campaign started the following weekend with a victory over Longlevens. This was followed by a dominant win over North Bristol at King George V. The next round of games saw them lose away at Old Richians RFC but they returned to winning ways the next couple of weeks against Barts rugby and Berry Hill. The club was set to host local rivals Cheltenham North RFC on the club's Old Boys Day, but were handed a win as a walkover as the North were unable to field a team. November saw the Sarries travel back to Trench Lane to face St. Mary's Old Boys, coming out on the losing end of a 30-24 result.
Charity Sevens Tournament
In 2013, the club held its first rugby sevens event since becoming independent. The club had previous history of sevens after taking part in the now defunct British Saracens' Sevens.
Senior squads
Current first team
2015–16 Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
Current second team2015–16 Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
Committee
Coaching staff
Club honours
Cheltenham Combination Senior Cup:
*As Cheltenham Colts Old Boys RFC Cheltenham Combination Junior Cup:
Cheltenham Combination Minor Shield:
Notable former players
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