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 Painswick RFC and followed that by a