Club closure sad says bouncer-turned-rugby star

During his early rugby career, Gareth Chilcott worked on the door at Chasers

Former rugby union player Gareth Chilcott said it was "a shame" to see the nightclub close where he met his wife.

Chasers nightclub, in Kingswood near Bristol, will shut its doors on Christmas Eve after being run by four generations of the same family since 1980.

Mr Chilcott worked as a bouncer at the club in the 1980s, when he was getting his rugby career started.

"It was a great club, it really was, and it's such a shame to see it close," he said.

He said in his early career as a rugby player, he "couldn't hold a job down" because he was training in the day.

"Chasers was perfect - work nights, I used to do three or four nights working on the door," he said.

"It was a lively club.

"When it's one in the morning and there's a few well-known cider brands being drunk, you had to have eyes in the back of your head in some cases.

"I met my wife there, actually. Let her in for free, just got a bit of a cuddle after, it was very nice."

A post on Chasers' Facebook page said Kingswood "just does not have enough foot traffic" and it must close "for good".

The owners of the club said after returning in 2022 following lockdowns, the industry and "Kingswood as a whole... has only progressively gotten worse".

It was a "lively" club, Mr Chilcott said