New division, new ground and new levels of optimism at Gloucester City ahead of the new season.

Okay, so the new division is a sideways move from National League North to South and their new ‘home’ is at Evesham United but there is a real sense that the feelgood factor is back at the club.

An excellent top 10 finish in the last campaign was just the start and the sun has continued to shine on the club over the summer.

The addition of two new directors on the board – established business people Rod Jenner and Wendy Edwards – was followed by the sight of the bulldozers moving in on the club’s Meadow Park ground.

“Yes, it is exciting that local businesses want to be part of Gloucester City Football Club,” said manager Tim Harris. “The calibre of the people who have come on board and want to create a legacy is music to my ears.”

And Harris was just as happy to see the workmen at the club’s ground in Horton Road – the ground which is just a long goalkick from the fashionable Docks area in the city but which the club have not been able to use since the devastating floods of 2007.

Harris remains optimistic that the club could move back home early in the 2018/19 season and he said of the activity at Meadow Park: “In the past people were very cynical about the prospect of us moving back to the city; they never thought that it was going to happen.

“And at times I must admit I had my doubts. But this shows just how far the club have come.”

Harris, of course, has been the main driving force at the club on and off the field since he returned as manager midway through the 2013/14 season.

The club for whom he played as a goalkeeper back in the 1970s have always been close to his heart.

If anyone can surf the feelgood factor wave, it’s 57-year-old Harris, but amid all the optimism he does sound a note of a caution.

“We’ve got to keep our feet on the ground,” he said. “There’s no more money for players; we need the money to build the stadium.”

The new stadium can’t happen soon enough for Harris, the players and supporters. They have been ‘on the road’ for a decade now and Evesham is the fourth place they will call ‘home’ after spending the previous seasons at Cirencester Town, Forest Green Rovers and Cheltenham Town.

“We’ve been in exile for 10 years and we’ve held our own,” said Harris with justifiable pride. “It’s been a magnificent achievement to continue to play at the level we are because being in exile is very tough.”

With all the problems that the club have faced since 2007 it’s little wonder that Harris is not fazed by the National League’s decision to switch them to the South division this season.

“What will be will be,” he said very matter-of-factly. “I’m pretty laidback about it. We’ve still got to play 42 games against good quality opponents. It just means that this season we’ll be trawling round the M25 or going to places like Truro rather than going to Spennymoor and Blyth Spartans and operating on the M60 around Manchester.

“There’s no point moaning about it, we’ve had enough thrown at us over the years. We’ll be very professional about it and approach this season like we have done every other one.

“We’ll do our homework on all the other clubs and we’ll give it everything we’ve got.”

Fans of the club would expect nothing less of the hardworking Harris, of course, and there’s no danger of his enthusiasm waning any time soon.

“I’m loving it,” he said. “I do it because it’s what I want to do. I want to bring this club back home and put it in a good position. That’s what drives me.”

Gloucester open the new National League South season at Chelmsford City on Saturday 5th August before two home games against Truro City (7th August) and Wealdstone (12th August).