Like a country coming out of a recession, Cinderford Town Football Club are enjoying the green shoots of recovery.

Yes, they have just finished bottom of the Southern League Premier Division – Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Dunstable Town was their 35th reverse of the campaign – but scroll back 10 months and the club were in a far worse state.

An unpaid £30,000 historic tax bill and other debts had left the club reeling financially, they were instructed to play in the Premier Division of the Southern League against their wishes after winning the Division One South and West title, and manager John Brough, his coaching staff and most of the players had left the club as it descended into turmoil.

Chairman Stuart Tait, who also doubles up as the club’s press officer, took over the club on June 6th and admitted: “To say it has been hard is a bit of an understatement but we’ve got the club back on track and got our heads above water.

“There have been a lot of trials and tribulations on and off the pitch but we’ve paid off the previous debt we owed and we’ve got an agreement in place with the Inland Revenue over the VAT bill.

“Through it all we’ve had a huge amount of support from the local community. A lot of man hours have gone into improving the ground and the club.

“We believe we are near enough where we want to be in terms of our finances – we now have reduced the previous debt into a manageable one going forward.”

Saturday’s trip to Dunstable in Bedfordshire was a round trip of 200 miles – just one of many long journeys for the Forest of Dean Club this season.

Treks to Cambridge (twice), King’s Lynn, Dorchester, Weymouth, Chesham and Hitchin have hit the club hard financially and were one of the reasons they wanted to stay in Division One South and West this season.

Not that they are returning to the lower level after this season’s relegation to settle for a mid-table position.

“I think we’ll be chasing the play-off positions next season,” said Tait. “We’re in a better position financially, we know what we’re up against and we’ll be all the better for this season’s experience.

“And the travelling will be much reduced.”

A lot of Tait’s optimism is based on his belief in manager Paul Michael. Only 31, he was appointed in November following the departure of Chris Burns and Allan Gough.

The ambitious Michael – “I think if you asked him he’d say he wanted to be a full-time manager one day,” said Tait – is just finishing his coaching A badge and Tait has been hugely impressed by what he has seen over the past six months.

“It’s his general persona, his freshness,” said Tait. “If you look around the league there are a lot of people who have been there for a long time.

“He’s brought new ideas, he’s got great ability and he’s very professional in his approach to games. His outlook is excellent.

“He’s one of the new breed coming through and I think he’s got more tools in the tool box than some of the previous managers here”

Michael’s assistant is the more experienced Andrew Smith. Smith, like Michael, has cut his managerial teeth in Welsh league football and such has been the impact of the duo that Tait is sure there will be no repeat of last summer’s player exodus despite their relegation.

“Player retention will be excellent,” he said. “We may lose one or two but we’ve now got a template. We want to bring in some more players and getting experienced ones is the key.

“Can we guarantee success? No. But we do know what we want and it’s whether we can get them. We’ve got to work within our budget and all of us – Cirencester Town, Shortwood, Bishop’s Cleeve – are chasing the same players.

“One area where I do think we are fortunate is that our management team have a good knowledge of Welsh football so that should benefit us.”

Tait, 53, runs his own financial services business but still spends “20 to 25 hours” on club business every week.

Born in Basingstoke, he has been living in the Forest for 30 years. His mum was originally from the area but it was through his son Craig that Tait, a decent non-league footballer himself before he sustained a bad cruciate ligament injury at the age of 23, got involved with Cinderford Town.

“Craig was in the Aston Villa academy and was also in the academy at Swansea,” said Tait. “He’s a midfielder and played 160 games for Cinderford so that’s where it all started for me.

“I was on the committee and then I was vice-chairman but I had to give up that position because of work.”

Now he’ll soon be celebrating his first anniversary as the club’s main man and despite all the problems he insists: “It’s great fun.”