The concept of a sporting Mecca is one I’ve always been obsessed with. Particular venues or locations that have encapsulated the very zenith of their sport at its electric best, not necessarily because of the action taking place in front of you but because of the atmosphere and occasion created by those in attendance and the circumstances in which they take place.

There are many examples. In football,, Anfield’s Kop End, Borussia Dortmund’s Yellow Wall and Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera spring to mind. There’s the orange wave of Dutch Corner on Alpe d’Huez in the Tour de France, the fancy dress-laden Alexandra Palace for the Darts World Championships and the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston during an Ashes series.

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Lesser-known marvels include Muay Thai at the rocking Rajadamnern Stadium in Bangkok or the chants of ‘roll tide’ by Alabama Crimson Tide faithfuls at the Bryant-Denny Stadium when they meet the Auburn Tigers in college football. And for us rugby acolytes, a few spots stand up as must-visit adventures.

The Principality for a Wales game during the Six Nations has an aura and Eden Park in Auckland is considered a fortress for good reason. But standing out above the rest, with its red-and-white hoops and a pint of cider in hand, is a rickety, old stand without any seats that can squeeze in 3,000 paying punters at its best. For if you head to Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium to catch a game in The Shed, you may just be in the best place in the world to watch rugby.

Getting off on the right foot

It turns out the best place for coffee near Paddington Station is a Chilean restaurant called Harrison’s. Rugby World’s photographer du jour, Dom, is from New Zealand and so claims to take coffee more seriously than the average Luddite. He has a paywall app on his phone that tells him where the best coffee can be found and this is what came up. Caffeine is a prerequisite for today, one we know will be long, tiring but rewarding.

A day trip from London to Gloucester to watch the Cherry & Whites play local rivals Bath in arguably the greatest stand in a rugby stadium in the entire world. If Carlsberg did Saturdays, hey? To ensure we get to Kingsholm with plenty of time to absorb the West Country atmosphere, we opt for the 9.32 direct train from Paddington, which pulls into Gloucester for 11.14. Rattling along, we stop at Swindon along the way.

A sea of red and blue boards, an unlikely hub for both Gloucester and Bath fans. After some choice comments on the size of Dom’s camera, we get chatting to a Bath-supporting couple opposite us. While we don’t catch names, we do catch the gentleman’s lifelong career as a C-130 Hercules pilot in the RAF and an admission that, having been to every stadium in the league on an away day, The Shed is probably the best spot to watch Premiership rugby in the country.

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Beside us is also a set of brothers, one in a Gloucester shirt, one in a Bath shirt, both enjoying tins of gin and tonic from M&S. “We’re friends now but come and find us at 5pm to see if that’s still the case,” they joke. If you look across the landscape of rugby clubs in the Premiership, Gloucester is one of only a few that benefits from being a one-sport town.

There is no professional football here so, like Bath, Gloucester’s rugby team has always been able to have the undivided attention of its residents in an area of the country that is already a hotbed for the sport. That and a permanent presence in English rugby’s top flight has led to the town of Gloucester being a “proper rugby town”, with Kingsholm being a “proper rugby stadium” and The Shed being an “iconic rugby stand” as I’m told by one last fan as we depart the train.

TJ’s in Gloucester (Dom Thomas)

Before the game, and with such an early start under our belts, it feels like high time for some grub. TJ’s is a small family-owned corner café on the Kingsholm Road and is the sort of place that is keeping piccalilli manufacturers still in business. It’s all of a five-minute walk from the station and two minutes from the ground. Their sausages are juicy, their baps are plump and they offer menu choices such as the ‘Big Gloucester’, which includes 12 individual items containing pork served in a baguette for £6.50.

It’s only just past 11.30am, so it’s still quiet enough for Mel, daughter of owner Cheryl, to talk to me about Gloucester match days. “On match day it’s utter madness in here,” Mel smiles, as she butters me a roll. “It gets absolutely packed but we love it. Gloucester Rugby is a family club, most of our family have worked or work at the club on match days. There’s nothing quite like it.”

The sausage baps that Mel serves up go a long way to proving the window-displayed claim of being “the best rolls in town” and are a great settler for our next stop along Kingsholm Road. Arguably Gloucester Rugby’s greatest son is England great Mike Teague, twice a British & Irish Lion. He’s a homegrown talent and one-club man who’s very much woven into the fabric of both the club and town. His older brother Gary Teague has been the proprietor of the pub opposite Kingsholm for the past 20-odd years.

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It was once called The White Hart Inn but is now more commonly known as Teague’s Bar. On a regular match day this place gets rammed with supporters from both sides and so a derby day makes for an even more raucous occasion. The doors open at midday and we walk in shortly after to find that most tables, bars and stalls are already occupied by fans of all ages.

We catch a word with Gary in between barrel changes. “The thing that makes Gloucester such a special place for rugby is the fans and the atmosphere they create. This is a rugby town and they come together as a community to support their club every week,” he explains. “I’ve had regulars coming into the pub before and after every home game for decades, all because of the rugby across the road.”

Teague’s bar is central to the match day experience (Dom Thomas)

After our chat, Gary introduces me to some of said regulars, all of whom echo the sentiment of unity and togetherness provided by Gloucester and Kingsholm. One man in particular, Alan, is in his early 80s and has been coming down for rugby and pints since the 1950s. I’m also introduced to Irishman Colin, who has travelled from Dublin the night before, purely on the curiosity of seeing what the “craic of The Shed” was all about.

Even the odd Bath fan I bump into in Teague’s shares the opinion that this is a proper rugby pub in a proper rugby town with proper rugby fans. It’s also refreshingly affordable at £5.50 for a pint of locally-brewed Stowford Press or a well-poured Guinness, the drop Gary confirms is the most popular on match day.

There’s also a ‘three shots for £10’ deal – I’m certainly not in London anymore. The temptation to remain in Teague’s for the long haul is hard to resist but we are acutely aware that we need to be heading across the road and into the stadium with good time. Our goal today is to watch the game in The Shed and if we don’t leave soon, that ambition may burst.

The Shed is a 3,000-capacity all-standing terrace stand. It has concrete slab floors and a low tinpot roof. It looks like something you would find at a non-league football ground rather than a Premiership rugby stadium. It’s not much to look at but come kick-off, there’s nothing like it. That very tin roof acts as a bass drum, reverberating the chants of fans around with a powerful kick when the noise is on the up.

A family split between Gloucester and Bath (Dom Thomas)

Then the corrugated backboards act as the perfect percussion for younger fans looking to raise the stakes. As there are no allocated seats, your space to watch the game is very much first come, first served. This means that when the doors to Kingsholm open at 1pm for a 3pm kick-off, fans in their hundreds will filter through to claim their place to see the game. And then there’s competing with the season-ticket holders, those there every week in the same spot who will politely ask you to shuffle along if you’re in their usual place.

In 2007, the club and developers came up with a plan to redevelop the stadium by converting The Shed into a seating stand. As you can imagine, this plan went down like a lead balloon. Immediately, a group of supporters came out in opposition running a campaign called ‘Save Our Shed’ that was even sponsored by the local Gloucester Citizen newspaper. Signs of protest were held in the crowd at the next run of games, including a European game against Leinster. By 2008, plans to redevelop the terrace had been dropped and the stand remains the same to this day.

It’s still 60 minutes until kick-off and The Shed is already spilling onto the narrow strip of gangway that separates it from the pitch. The building sense of anticipation is also helped by this being derby day against Bath. Warming up off the kicking tee is Finn Russell, who is in touching distance of the Gloucester fans. With every kick he takes, the crowd gives a crescendo of friendly abuse. With every miss comes the ‘hee-haw’ of a donkey and a wry smile on Russell’s face.

In the pre-game build-up, TNT Sports anchor Ugo Monye decides to get a piece of the action, slotting into the fans to present a piece to camera. This further stokes the fire of the Gloucester faithful, who notch the sound up to 11. Blink and you will miss the fact that The Shed is full, part of a capacity 16,115 crowd.

How are Gloucester playing this season?

Twenty minutes before kick-off, I find a spot on the 22m line and anchor down for the long haul. So far this season, Gloucester fans have also had reasons to be cheerful. While last year saw them win the Premiership Cup and reach the Challenge Cup final, the rugby at times was stodgy and lacked desire. This year, it’s the opposite. Progress is being made by George Skivington’s side.

The recruitment of Wales half-backs Tomos Williams and Gareth Anscombe has brought direction and purpose while serious form has been found by the likes of Max Llewellyn, Freddie Thomas and Seb Atkinson. It’s still a work in progress but the brand of rugby is fast, fun and like catnip to the Cherry & White faithful.

The view from The Shed (Dom Thomas)

The recent rugby revival has added fuel to the fire of an already raging Shed and as kick-off arrives, the noise is ear-piercing. Some stadiums need to use artificial means to build atmosphere, such as house DJs or light shows, but that doesn’t feel necessary today. There’s some mandatory pyro to welcome the teams but otherwise it’s just the sound of 3,000 lungs from the West Country chanting “Gloucester”.

Ultimately, this bucket-list adventure ends with a fairly comfortable 55-31 victory for Bath and mercurial fly-half Russell offering The Shed a “shhh” for a second year in a row. A disappointing conclusion for the well-oiled Gloucester fans to sulk the evening away while stumbling into the best pubs and Indian restaurants the town has to offer.

For Rugby World, it’s the train back to London with an instant coffee in hand, where I ask Dom about the day. This was his first taste of Premiership rugby in England. “How did you find The Shed?” I ask him. “Well, before today the only thing I associated Gloucester with was that cheese-rolling competition they have,” he replies. “But now I’ll definitely remember it for the cheese rolling and The Shed.”

How we did it

The cost of getting to The Shed on a match day

Direct trains from London Paddington to Gloucester run once an hour on Saturdays. They take an hour and 42 minutes and tickets can be purchased for as little as £70 return if booked in advance. For a 3pm kick-off, we advise catching either the 9.32 or 10.32.

A sausage bap in TJ’s is £3.50 and a pint of Guinness in Teague’s Bar is £5.50 – they both take cards. Tickets for The Shed start at £16.50 for juniors and £31.50 for adults. There are no allocated seats, so it’s just a matter of how early you’re willing to claim your spot as to where you will watch the game from. Some people run in once the gates open!

Away day tips

Teague’s opposite Kingsholm is a must-visit spot (Dom Thomas)

Follow this advice to ensure you nail your Shed viewing experience.

Claim a spot early

There are no seats in The Shed, meaning it’s first come, first served as to where you can watch the game. Get in the ground early to ensure a good spot to see the action. But be aware that some fans will have their regular spot, so you may be kindly asked to budge along!

Time your travel

If you’re heading back to London, the direct trains back are at 17:17 and 19:16. So either rush out of the ground to make the earlier rattler or stay for another beer in the ground to avoid a long wait at the platform.

Learn the lingo

Gloucester’s regular crowd chants are easy to learn. The main one is just shouting “Gloucester” in a slow, drawn-out manner. Then there’s making a donkey noise should the opposition fluff their lines. “You don’t know what you’re doing” is a good-natured dig at the referee.

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