A record number of teams will compete in the Cheltenham Youth Football League this season.

A total of 231 will be kicking off the new season at the start of September and league secretary Denise Pates couldn’t be happier.

“We’re delighted,” she said. “We’ve taken in a lot of Forest teams and a lot of Stroud area teams. And we’ve got extra teams from GVR Chalford, Severnside Nuclear and Frampton.”

This season, for the first time, the league will also be running three tournaments for the under-8s, the first of which will take place at The Newlands in Bishop’s Cleeve on Saturday 23rd September and Saturday 30th September.

Martin Bliss, the league’s under-8s development secretary, is the driving force behind the five-a-side tournaments in which teams can name squads of 10 players.

“They will be run within FA guidelines and it will give the youngers players some competitive football,” Bliss said.

“We’ve got 22 confirmed teams entered so far and we want to get 30.

“We want five groups of six teams with each team playing the others in their group on the first Saturday. On the second Saturday the teams that finished first will all play each other; all the teams that finished second will play each other and so on. All matches will be 10 minutes without a break and every player will receive a medal.

The league is also running an under-17 division this season to help bridge the gap between youth and men’s football. So far six teams have entered and the league is hoping to attract four more.

Anyone interested should email Denise Pates at: denisepates@gmail.com. Anyone wishing to enter the under-8 tournament – clubs must be affiliated to the Gloucestershire FA – should email Martin Bliss at: cotswoldgranite@aol.com