The Stroud League is to have a bit of a makeover this season.

Not one of those makeovers that you have when things go wrong, you understand, far from it because the Stroud League is in extremely rude health.

So much so that the number of teams competing in 2018/19 – 90 – is actually an increase of two on last season and it’s fair to say that last season’s tally was pretty good.

The league structure will remain unchanged – teams will compete across seven divisions – but there will be a change in how the cup competitions are run this season.

The big change is that the Stroud League will now run the ever popular charities cup competitions.

In the past they have operated under the Stroud League’s umbrella – raising plenty of money for good causes – without being run by the league but that will change in the new campaign with the league’s committee running the various competitions.

The charities cups – formerly known as the hospital cups – have been running since the 1920s so they are a big part of football in and around the Stroud area.

That will still be very much the case this season although there will be a few tweaks to how the competitions will be run.

“Last season there were six cup competitions, but this year there will be five cup competitions and three plate competitions,” said Jeff Willerton, the league’s general secretary and fixtures secretary.

He added that there would be no group stages this time around and the first-round losers of the various competitions would then compete in one of the three plate competitions, dependent on their playing level.

The Harry Greening Cup will continue to be for teams in the Stroud area playing in the County League and Division One of the Northern Senior League. The newly named President’s Cup will be competed for by teams in Division Two of the Northern Senior League who play in the Stroud area as well as teams in the top division of the Stroud League.

The newly named Chairman’s Cup will be the competition for Stroud League teams in divisions two and three, while the Dennis Mason Cup is for divisions four and five teams and the Bill Bick Cup for teams in the bottom two divisions.

The plate competitions have been categorised as Section A, Section B and Section D although Willerton said he hoped that they may be known by something different come the start of the season.

Willerton confirmed that the league season will kick off on Saturday 18th August and that Dursley Town will play in Division One after last season’s relegation from the Northern Senior League.

Last season’s Stroud League champions Barnwood will take their place in the Northern Senior League.