Club Background
Truro City FC was formed in 1889 but thankfully vast stretches of its history can be safely skated over, spent faffing about in Cornish County football (with no one East of the Tamar registering its existence) and then the South Western League (with no one beyond Cornwall and West & North Devon registering its existence). It wasn’t until 2006 that the club ventured further afield, joining Western League Division One.
The club had been bought by property developed Kevin Heaney and were Champions in its first season (also winning the FA Vase with a 3-1 victory over AFC Totton) and up to the Western League Premier. It was back-to-back titles in 2007-08 and on to the Southern League Division One South West. 2008-09 saw yet another title and promotion to the Southern League Premier Division. This time it took two seasons to move on again, Champions in 2010-11 and up to Conference South.
In the background of this meteoric rise trouble was brewing however. The first indications were when Heaney, who’d been promising the goal of EFL status, had to issue denials his property company was in serious financial trouble. Unfortunately, deny as much as he wanted, it was and it collapsed with £4.5 million of debts. In 2011 HMRC and a host of other creditors were closing in on the club itself and in 2012 Heaney was declared personally bankrupt in Truro County Court and resigned as chairman on “ill heath” grounds. Truro City went in to administration. A ten point deduction followed.
Throughout the autumn of the 2012-13 season the club teetered on the edge of expulsion from the Conference South and liquidation as it struggled to raise a £50,000 bond that it would complete the campaign. After a series of missed deadlines, with the Conference showing surprising leniency, two businessmen, Pete Masters and Philip Perryman eventually came up with the bond and also bought the club out of administration in December. However, with all this going on, not surprisingly Truro ended the season bottom of the table by 15 points and was relegated to the SLPD.
2013-14 was a further struggle for survival with the club finishing 17th but by the following campaign the new regime had stabilised matters and the White Tigers reached the play-offs where they beat Hungerford Town and St Neots Town to return to what was by then called National League South.
The club remained in NLS for four seasons this time, mostly struggling but with one (failed) play-off campaign in the mix before suffering relegation again in 2018-19. Meanwhile even bigger problems dating back several years were coming to the fore off the pitch with the club about to become homeless. In 2014 it had broken the cardinal rule: never EVER relinquish your ground without a new one ready to move into when it sold Treyew Road. The development of a new stadium didn’t happen and in 2018 the site’s owners ran out of patience and Truro City was evicted, heading off to groundshare at Plainmoor two hours drive away. In 2019 the club was bought by a professional Cornish Rugby Union club, The Pirates, which by then was in the process of developing Treyew Road, the plan being the two clubs would share the new stadium when it was completed while in the meantime Truro City would move back into the old stadium. However development of the new stadium was still creeping along at a snail’s pace and in 2021 Truro was booted out again as the relationship with The Pirates came under strain and began to collapse, this time going off to groundshare with Plymouth Parkway.
This groundshare was supposed to be for a single season but in 2022 Cornwall Council withdrew its financial commitment to contribute to the Stadium for Cornwall project and development ground to a halt again so the White Tigers remained stuck at Bolitho Park into 2023-24. Amazingly, amidst all this turmoil, Truro had managed to get themselves promoted back to NLS, defeating Poole Town and Bracknell Town in the play-offs.
In November 2023 The Pirates decided to divest themselves of Truro City completely and sold the football club to Cornwall Rugby League Club, owned by Eric Perez. With the 10,000 capacity Stadium for Cornwall seemingly unlikely to be completed (as things currently stand) the new plan is for a 3,000 stadium on a completely different site in Truro to be shared with the Rugby League outfit.
This season has been an absolute shambles with Truro now on its third ground share, the latest being at Gloucester City’s Meadow Park which is so far from home (195 miles) it’s in National League North; and the club so far behind on its fixtures it’s playing three times a week for the last month of the campaign.
We’ve Met Before
Previous Results for Yeovil Town First Team vs Truro City
| 16/07/2011 | Away | Frnd | D | 2-2 | 274 | A Williams 7, 47 | |
| 02/08/2014 | Away | Frnd | W | 2-1 | 342 | Gillett 18, Moore 30 | |
| 17/07/2015 | Away | Frnd | W | 1-0 | 286 | Laird 87 | |
| 15/08/2023 | Home | NLS | W | 2-1 | 3315 | Thomas 84, Wannell 90 | |
| 11/04/2024 | Away* | NLS | W | 2-0 | 1238 | Murphy 11, Fisher 55 | |
Results Summary For Yeovil Town First Team vs Truro City
| Home | Away | Overall | ||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
(* Played at Meadow Park, Gloucester)
Club Statistics
RECENT RESULTS
| 02/03/2024 | Taunton Town | Home | NLS | W | 2-0 | 196 | Harrison 6, Palmer 62 | |
| 09/03/2024 | Chelmsford City | Home | NLS | L | 1-4 | 156 | Harvey 11 | |
| 16/03/2024 | St Albans City | Away | NLS | W | 2-1 | 2029 | Neal 60, Porter 70 | |
| 19/03/2023 | Eastbourne Borough | Home | NLS | Match abandoned 58 minutes with score 0-0 | ||||
| 23/03/2024 | Tonbridge Angels | Away | NLS | L | 1-2 | 1033 | Hinds 65 | |
| 26/03/2024 | Dartford | Home | NLS | D | 0-0 | 102 | ||
| 29/03/2024 | Slough Town | Home | NLS | W | 3-2 | 116 | Neal 29 (pen), 65, Porter 89 | |
| 01/04/2024 | Chippenham Town | Away | NLS | D | 0-0 | 769 | ||
| 04/04/2024 | Hemel Hempstead Town | Home | NLS | L | 0-2 | 74 | ||
| 06/04/2024 | Aveley | Home | NLS | D | 1-1 | 80 | Sullivan 10 | |
| 08/04/2024 | Torquay United | Home | NLS | L | 1-2 | 384 | Palmer 90+3 | |
| 10/04/2024 | Eastbourne Borough | Home | NLS | D | 0-0 | 71 | ||
| 11/04/2024 | Yeovil Town | Home | NLS | |||||
LEAGUE ATTENDANCE STATISTICS
Highest League Attendance: 1,238 v Yeovil Town, 11/04/2024
Lowest League Attendance: 71 v Eastbourne Borough 10/04/2024
Average League Attendance:
CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS
| Games Without A Win: | 5 | Games Without A Home Win: | 4 | |
| Games Without An Away Win: | 2 | Games Without Defeat: | 1 | |
| Games Without A Home Defeat: | 1 | Games Without An Away Defeat: | 1 | |
| Games Without A Draw: | 0 | Games Without A Score Draw: | 2 | |
| Games Without A No-Score Draw: | 0 | Games Without Scoring: | 1 | |
| Games Without Conceding: | 1 | Home Results Sequence: | WLDWLDLD | |
| Away Results Sequence: | WLD | Overall Results Sequence: | WLWLDWDLDLD |
Club Information
Address : Meadow Park [ground share], Sudmeadow Road, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL2 5HS (current sponsorship name TigerTurf Stadium).
Telephone Number : not found a landline number anywhere for Truro City. Perhaps since club officials are presumably never at Meadow Park (or at Bolitho Park prior to that) for more than a few hours either side of matches there’s no point them publishing one.
Email : info@trurocityfc.net
Chairman : Eric Perez
Club Secretary : Deba Sidhu
Team Manager : Paul Wotton
Capacity : 3,208
Seated : 700
Covered Terrace : mostly
Surface : artificial
Record Attendance : (for Truro City ‘home’ fixture at Bolitho Park) 661 v Plymouth Parkway, 10/04/2023; (for Truro ‘home’ fixture at Meadow Park 384 v Torquay United, 08/04/2024
Colours : white shirt with black and red trim, white shorts, white socks
Nickname : White Tigers (or sometimes The Tinners)
Programme : £2.00 (given the sequence of home games over such a short period of time Truro have some may cover two matches in one edition)
Ticketing
There will be NO walk-up ticket sales on the night, purchases must be in advance via the on-line portal: HERE. They are being sold with Home and Away differentiated and segregation will be in place. ‘Home’ fans will be in the North Stand, away supporters get the remainder of the stadium.
Update: for anyone making a late decision, Truro City has stated that on-line sales will close at 5.30 p.m. on matchday.
Prices :
Adult: £11.00
Concession (over 65): £9.00
Under 16 : £6.00
Under 10 : FREE
There’s no price differential between sitting and standing with seat allocation on a first come first served basis.
Tickets purchased will be in eTicket format. Seen no indication of a booking fee.
Disabled
Another club that makes no attempt that I can find to provide information relevant for disabled fans about the facilities available in the ground; but as a new build stadium – opened 2020 – it presumably has some provision. It does state that Blue Badge holders should e-mail the club before matchday if wishing to try for a space in the small car park: info@gcafc.co.uk.
Official Away Travel
The Green & White Supporters’ Club is running away travel to Meadow Park on Thursday 11th April, 7.45 p.m. kick-off.
Details are as follows:
Members: Adult £24; Concession £22
Non-Members: Adult £27; Concession £25
Coach departs Huish Park: 3.45 p.m.
To book, call Paul Hadlow on 07736 044570 (after 6.00 p.m. please) or email him on paulhadlow@outlook.com.
If you are getting in touch by email, please make it clear which match you are booking for and that you give your full name, the names of people that are travelling and a contact telephone number.
You may be asked to pay a £5 deposit to reserve your seat.
Directions To The Ground
General
Meadow Park (sometimes referred to as New Meadow Park) is on the same site as the former stadium but the whole area has been raised by 3.5 metres to avoid flooding. It’s on the East side of the city in the district of Hempsted and close to the River Severn. As a result this used to happen periodically:
By Road
Huish Park to Meadow Park is between 76 and 86 miles depending on route chosen. However you’ve got to the M5 exit it at Junction 12 onto the A430. After half a mile, at the Cross Keys Roundabout take the third exit onto the A38. Follow the A38 for just over two miles then, continuing straight on through a major road interchange (the route to the ground returns to being the A430 at this point) cross the canal to Gloucester Docks over the Netheridge Swing Bridge. A mile and a half further on (should be seeing the stadium to the left by this time) turn left at the lights off what’s become Hempsted Lane onto Spinnaker Lane. The ground is few hundred yards down Spinnaker Lane.
Parking
There is no parking available at the stadium for ordinary supporters (invited guests/officials/etc. only) – though see Blue Badge holders info further up page.
Somewhat surprisingly the club itself points towards 3 hours potential free parking at the Sainsbury’s about a five minute walk away (St Ann Road, GL2 5SA). Less surprisingly local knowledge informs us Sainsbury’s has since lowered the free time to two hours, quite possibly as a direct reaction to having its car park cluttered with football supporters buying nothing.
The nearest public car park is at Gloucester Quays (GL1 5SF), a multi-storey with 1,400 spaces. Open 24 hours, it’s ticketless, cashless, has (unspecified) number of Electric Charging spaces, and if arriving after 6.00 p.m. it’s a simple rest of the day (six hours) for £2.50. Half a mile (10 minutes walk) from the stadium.
The area immediately around the stadium includes a smallish trading estate which is probably the best place to hunt out on-street especially for a night game when most of the businesses will presumably be closed.
By Rail
From Yeovil, Pen Mill is the choice for this one, rather than Yeovil Junction, with a direct service to Gloucester. Journey time is around two and half hours. However, given it’s an evening kick-off, it’ll come as no surprise one can’t get back the same day.
For Glovers travelling from London and the South-East Paddington is the station needed. There’s two services an hour outside peak times, one direct with a journey time of one hour forty-five minutes, the other needing a change at Bristol Parkway adding around an extra twenty-five minutes to the trip. Returning, the 22.28 will allow one to see the whole game and get back (to London at least) on the night. A change at Swindon is required, then arriving Paddington at 00.30.
The railway station is a bit under a mile and half from the stadium so around 30 minutes walk. There is a taxi rank but not at the front of the station, it’s in the rear car park.
By Bus
The nearest stop to the ground is at Sainsburys supermarket a third of a mile (five minutes walk) away with the most useful service likely to be the No. 8 operated by Stagecoach West which runs every 20 minutes from the city centre during the bulk of the day, dropping to every half hour early evening and once an hour late evening.
By Taxi
A selection of Gloucester taxi companies can be found here.
Web Resources
Web Sites
Truro City Football Club – Official Website.
Truro City YouTube – club’s Official YouTube channel.
Tiger Talk – independent fans’ forum. Need to register even to read but don’t waste your time as it’s moribund having run out of steam (and posters) a couple of years back.
Truro Fans – home to TISA, Truro Independent Supporters Association, established 2010.
Social Media
TCFC_Official – club’s Twitter account. It’s also on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Linkedin for anyone that interested.
Local Press
Newspapers have reached Cornwall but found none that carry regular coverage of Truro City FC with things like match reports. The Falmouth Packet seems the most clued up with (occasional) items on the club amidst its more comprehensive coverage of Falmouth Town, Helston Athletic and of course egg chasing.
Cornish Stuff (a purely online presence in roughly ‘newspaper’ style format, there’s no hard copy version) has been carrying Truro match reports since its launch in January 2024.
Food & Drink
General
Given the stadium’s location everything in terms of eating/drinking is eastwards from it. The nearest hostelry to the stadium is The High Orchard, a new build Marston’s family dining style pub/carvery in Gloucester Quays (see Parking, above) a third of the mile away. Much more interesting in beer terms, Gloucester Quays (West Quay specifically) is also the location of Warehouse 4 (below) the taproom of Gloucester Brewery half a mile (12 minutes walk) from the ground. The Quays also has a Brewhouse & Kitchen branch (below), and a Wetherspoon, The Lord High Constable of England (below), amongst a range of other food and drink outlets.
Further away around the city centre there’s another Wetherspoon, The Regal, The Pelican Inn (below), The Fountain Inn (below), and two micropubs, The Drunken Duck and The Turks Head Inn (also both below) amongst a multitude of other options. If anyone is making the trip by train The Regal and Turks Head Inn are both close to the station.
The most historic and photogenic pub in the city (often appearing on TV and in films) is The New Inn. Unfortunately the beer selection is much less impressive so has no place in this guide – though at least it no longer has the ignominy of being a Berni Inn.
Club Bar
The two bars and the food outlets are situated along the two sides of the ground. Expect they stock other industrial stuff but there’s a couple of draught beers by the Gloucester Brewery – a Session IPA and a Lager according to our mole who was there last Saturday.
Local Pubs
Brewhouse & Kitchen: Gloucester branch of the brew-on-site chain (they do stock beers from other producers as well). As have mentioned before in other guides the quality of their own beers is a bit and miss from branch to branch and this another not been to so don’t know how it stacks up at this one. In regards to their own beers, expect three regular plus one seasonal on cask and a number of keg options. Between 4.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m. Sunday to Thursday all B&H brewed beers are a flat rate £4.50 a pint. There’s also 10% discount on cask beers for CAMRA members. The kitchen aspect has service from noon weekdays and 11.00 a.m. at weekends, stopping at 9.00 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday and 10.00 p.m. Thursday to Saturday. Disabled access and family friendly. Opens from 11.00 a.m. every day, closing 10.00 p.m. Sunday, 11.00 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 1.00 a.m. Friday & Saturday. Half a mile (10 minutes walk) from the stadium.
Brewhouse & Kitchen (Gloucester Quays), Unit R1, St Anne Walk, Gloucester Quays, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 5SH. Tel: 01452 222965. Map: Brewhouse & Kitchen.
Drunken Duck: Tucked away in a narrow lane in the city centre and claiming to be Gloucester’s smallest pub (it probably is). Four cask and two keg beers on tap sourced from small independent breweries at the ‘craft’ end of the market. Sports TV. Opens noon every day, closing 10.00 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and midnight Friday & Saturday.
The Drunken Duck, 1 Bull Lane, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 2HG. Tel: 01452 757581. Map: Drunken Duck.
Fountain Inn: Historic city centre pub (though as with most such places repeatedly rebuilt, remodelled and altered over the the centuries so little is as old as it purports to be) almost in the shadow of the cathedral. Six real ales (two changing), mostly from more traditional independent family breweries but something by Bristol Beer Factory is also a regular. Food menu available all day from noon, up to 8.00 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 9.00 p.m. Friday & Saturday, 5.00 p.m. Sunday. Disabled access and outside area. 0.9 of a mile (20 minutes walk) from the stadium. Opens 11.00 a.m. – 11.00 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 11.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. Sunday.
The Fountain Inn, 53 Westgate Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 2NW. Tel: 01452 522562. Map: Fountain Inn.
Lord High Constable of England: Closer of the two Spoons in Gloucester to the ground at 0.6 of a mile (c. a dozen minutes walk from the Quays/Docks area). Opens from 8.00 a.m. every day, closing midnight Sunday to Thursday and 1.00 a.m. Friday & Saturday.
The Lord High Constable of England, Llanthony Warehouse, Llanthony Road, The Docks, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 2EH. Tel: 01452 302890. Map: Lord High Constable of England.
Pelican Inn: One of the seven pubs owned by Wye Valley Brewery, this one acquired in 2012. The beer range at The Pelican is thus obviously dominated by that brewery but there are changing guests, ciders, ‘craft’ keg has made an appearance and a growing range of canned and bottled beers. CAMRA 50p off vouchers accepted. Disabled access, beer garden. Opening couldn’t be simpler: noon to midnight every day. Just to the northern side of the cathedral 1.1 miles (25 minutes walk).
The Pelican Inn, 4 St Mary’s Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 2QR. Tel: 01452 582966. Map: Pelican Inn.
Turks Head Inn: Was the first micropub to open in Gloucester. If you’ve used it in the past note that it moved location in April 2022. Large for a micropub, extending over two floors and with outside seating to the front. No food except snacks (says one source, but it clearly does sometimes – perhaps only when there’s music events on?) mobile phones discouraged, no WiFi, no children allowed. Four handpumps with usually three changing beers on from small independent breweries mostly based in Gloucestershire but also stretching across into adjacent counties (and occasionally further afield). Does a wide range of up to a dozen box ciders from producers such as Hecks, Iford and Westons. The six keg offerings are surprisingly mainstream and boring. Why would a pub of this type stock the likes of Carling and Thatcher’s Gold and thus feel obliged to try to match the prices of the Spoons (The Regal) a few doors away instead of going down the ‘craft’ route? It’s margins on these must be absolutely paper thin… still, it’s their business so up to them. Opening hours (closed Sunday): from noon, to 9.00 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11.00 p.m. Friday & Saturday. Note: CASH ONLY, does nor accept card.
The Turks Head Inn, 7-9 St Aldgate Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 1RP. Tel: 07771 982356. Map: Turks Head Inn.
Warehouse 4: Taproom of Gloucester Brewery. Cask, keg and can options from the brewery’s beer range. No food. Disabled access, beer garden. Opening hours: 5.00 p.m. – 11.00 p.m. Monday; noon – 11.00 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday; noon – 11.30 p.m. Friday & Saturday; noon – 8.00 p.m. Sunday. A half mile (12 minutes walk) from the stadium.
Warehouse 4, West Quay, The Docks, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 2LG. Tel: 01452 668043. Map: Warehouse 4.
Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You: Gloucester’s an egg-chaser city with little interest football. Doubt many know or care their own football team’s just been relegated let alone some outfit from from Cornwall is playing in their back yard.
Top-Tip: Play “spot the home fan”. To be fair it’s a ridiculously long haul (c. 196 miles) up from Truro to Gloucester so absolute respect to any ‘home’ fans doing that Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday (or even some of them) this week.
Local Amenities: Historic (originally founded by the Romans) and county town of Gloucestershire, Gloucester is on the smaller side as UK cities go. Looking at a map, people who don’t know the place are often surprised it was once a pretty important port as it’s nowhere near the sea. The shipping is now long gone and the old docks area a mix of residential, retail and hospitality.
Other Points Of Interest: If we get the point required to become Champions here several obscure (unless a Glover) questions in future pub quiz Sports Rounds will be generated.
[No responsibility is taken for any inaccuracies. This page is entirely the product of bias and prejudice. ]