New football season, new club, new challenge.

The club in question is Tewkesbury Athletic – a team formed by a group of ex-Tewkesbury School pupils and who will be competing in the Cheltenham League in the coming campaign.

They will line up in Division Four alongside 12 other teams and John Griffiths, one of the driving forces behind the new club, can’t wait for the season to get started.

“We’ve got about 20 to 25 players,” said 24-year-old Griffiths, who is hoping to play in centre midfield. “I think the aim is to finish in mid-table and maybe have a good cup run, that would be nice. We’re hoping to have a solid season.”

Griffiths, who is the club’s secretary, is one of the players who used to go to Tewkesbury School.

Other officials already in place when Griffiths spoke to The Local Answer were Adam Sirrell as chairman and Liam Lewis as treasurer. Sam Mitchell also helped to play a big part in setting up the club although he hasn’t got an official role.

“A group of us have been playing six-a-side football together for a few years,” he explained. “We play at Tewkesbury School on a Monday evening and have had a bit of success, winning three promotions.

“We’re really big into football and this is something we’ve always wanted to do.”

They club will play their home games on the 3G pitch at Tewkesbury School and there is some experience in the squad because they will be able to call on two or three players who used to play for Tewkesbury-based WMK before they folded.

There is certainly a feelgood factor around Tewkesbury Athletic – up to 18 players are regularly attending pre-season training – and there is plenty of ambition.

“This is a long-term thing,” said Griffiths. “We want to establish the one team first but eventually we’d like to set up a second team.

“We all want to be involved and it’s something we all want to stay involved in when we’ve finished playing.”