Lydbrook in the Forest of Dean is reputed to have the longest main street – one-and-a-half miles – of any village in England.

That’s not the village’s only claim to fame as the football club have been on the straight and narrow for the best part of 100 years.

Lydbrook Athletic, who run three senior teams, celebrate their centenary next year and the Forest of Dean club certainly boast a proud history, a history that shows they were one of the top teams in the county in the 50s and 60s.

The present is pretty decent too, with their first team competing in Division Two of the Northern Senior League, and the second and third teams playing in the always competitive North Gloucestershire League.

And chairman Wayne Lewis is certainly optimistic about the future, even though he is enough of a realist to know that running a grassroots club these days brings with it plenty of problems.

“We’re still running three teams and that’s something we want to continue doing,” he said. “The majority of our players are Forest of Dean based but there’s a lot of competition for players.

“There are quite a lot of teams in the Forest and a couple of them are competing in the County League.”

The County League is ultimately where Lydbrook would like to be plying their trade – close neighbours Broadwell Amateurs and Ruardean Hill Rangers play at that level – although Lewis accepts that it won’t happen overnight.

“We got relegated from Division One of the Northern Senior League a few years ago,” said Lewis. “We’d like to get back into Division One and then push on if we can, but at the moment, we are focusing on three points in the next game.

“We’ve got a core of players who came through our under-18 team four or five years ago.

“They are the nucleus of our first team now – Joe and Ben Carruthers, Ryan and Liam Clarke, Aiden Creighton, Adam Ward, Tom Biddle and Ollie Bonsor.”

The team are managed by Shaun Addis with Justin Tapfield and Keith Wilks looking after the 2nds and 3rds.

The management team put in hours and hours to ensure the club continue to thrive and prosper, but they are certainly not alone.

“Jim Matthews does an awful lot of work at both our grounds in Upper and Lower Lydbrook,” said Lewis. “Ted Rawlings, Marcus Wilby and Lindon Lewis are part of that team too. Then there’s vice-chairman Rob Pritchard and our treasurer Ruth Clarke. Hilary Price, Julie Lewis and Jackie Pritchard provide match-day refreshments at our first team home games.

“And don’t forget John Price and Pat Brain, who have just been presented with long service awards by the GFA after being involved with the club for 50 years.”

Lewis is a key component of all things Lydbrook Athletic Football Club as well.

The 52-year-old has been involved with the club since the early 90s and took over as chairman six months ago from Andrew Clements, who is still playing for the club's 3rd team.

Lewis’ playing days were spent as a full-back at Ruardean Hill Rangers, and since hanging up his boots he has had a couple of spells as manager of Lydbrook.

Now as chairman, he is just as closely involved with the club.

“I go with the first team home and away, providing support where I can,” he added.