Colchester Gladiators’ 2017 season will officially kick off this Sunday against the multiple national champions London Olympians.

Sunday’s opponents suffered relegation from the Premier League last year but they have kept many of their Premier Division players and will be a tough start to the new season.

The Gladiators have finished pre-season training, with new Head Coach Luke Box delighted with how it is transpired, save for a few injuries. Last weekend saw the majority of the squad enjoy a feast of football at the annual residential camp at Felsted School, and benefitted from extra field practice and classroom and film meetings to prepare them for the forthcoming season.

After a league realignment, The Gladiators find themselves in the Southern Football Conference Division One East (SFC1 East) alongside the Olympians, familiar foes, the Cambridgeshire Cats and Kent Exiles, and the newly promoted London Hornets.

The Gladiators’ first-ever official game, back in 1985 was against the Olympians, played on a snowy Streatham Common. The Olympians have dominated the meetings, with the Gladiators winning just twice, in 1986 and 2009 and in a five team conference, they face each other three times.

The Gladiators are also delighted to announce that they have a new home venue, and will be playing all games at the Corporal Budd VC Gymnasium in Colchester.

Having previously been based at Mill Road Playing fields, the Gladiators now make the move to the other side of Colchester, and will welcome all visiting teams from across the south of England to the exceptional venue.

With a resurgent junior programme looking to contest a broad schedule in 2017, along with Youth tournaments and a full Senior fixture schedule, it was imperative that the Club take the step to continue to fulfil their own development objectives.

Sunday’s game kicks off at 2pm and the team would be thrilled to see a big crowd to cheer them on. Admission is free

For information about the Gladiators, or how you can get involved with the club, contact Chairman Dave Crane through the website; www.colchestergladiators.com.