When Clive Wilkes says there’s a football club worth doing a story on, it’s sensible to take note.

The one-time top level referee is these days president of the North Gloucestershire League, a job he takes very seriously.

And Wilkes has been very impressed with the rise and rise of Redmarley, who are playing in the Premier Division of the North Gloucestershire League for the first time in their history.

“They’re a very good club,” he told The Local Answer. “They’re running a reserve team as well this season and they’ve got a very good secretary in Aaron Smith.”

Wilkes was right on all three counts although it should be added that the very impressive Smith is also chairman, treasurer and groundsman at the club as well as being a player.

“The club are my little baby,” he laughed. “The club were first founded in 1924 and from digging around I’ve discovered that the club have been reinvented three times, the most recent 10 years ago.”

Matt Lee re-started the club in 2008 and was the main man for a season but when he no longer had the time to commit he handed over the reins to Smith, who prior to that had just been a player.

“I’m in my ninth season as Mr Redmarley,” laughed Smith. “We started off in the fourth division – there were five divisions back then – and we won back-to-back promotions.

“We then got relegated but won two more promotions and after three or four seasons in Division One won promotion to the Premier Division.”

So what are the aims for the club this season?

“We had a meeting at the end of last season and we thought we’d just try to stay in the Premier Division,” said Smith.

“But then we were approached by Allan McNeil about forming a reserve team.

“He brought a few players and we ran with the idea. Pre-season went well and we had such a good start to the season, now we’re trying to push hard.

“We’re going to go for it and if possible win it.”

And while that may appear ambitious to some, the club have a very clear idea about what they want to achieve.

“We wanted to get into the Premier Division of the North Gloucestershire League within five years and it took us six,” said Smith. “Now we want to get into Division One of the Northern Senior League within five years.”

That would require two more promotions but with a reserve team now playing in Division Three of the North Gloucestershire League – the club also have a strong youth section – there is certainly a lot more depth to the club.

Smith, 27, is currently playing for the reserves although he is very keen to get back into the first team under manager Nick Vaughan, who is in his fifth season in charge.

“I spent a bit of time on the bench last season and I’m trying to re-establish myself with the 2nds,” said Smith, a wing back.

“We always play 3-5-2. When I first started at the club we played 4-5-1 and I was right-back.”

Not that Smith will throw his toys out of the pram if he fails to earn a recall to the flagship team.

“No way,” he laughed, “I’m Redmarley through and through.”

Indeed he is, even though he hails from Newent, was educated at Newent Secondary School and lives in Oxenhall, a village just outside Newent.

He played briefly at Newent Town when he was 17 or 18 and was contemplating switching sports and trying his luck at Newent Rugby Club when his school friend James Dean told him to stick with football and come and play with him at Redmarley.

Ironically Dean has since been one of the leading lights in the remarkable climb of Newent Rugby Club but Smith, for one, is certainly pleased that he gave the oval ball game a body swerve.

Football was, is and surely always will be his number one sport and when he’s not playing himself he certainly enjoys watching Redmarley’s 1st XI play.

So who are Redmarley’s main players?

“Centre-forward Jack Hughes,” said Smith. “He was the third top scorer in the entire county last season. He got 33 goals in 16 games and he’s also signed on to play for Renegades in the Cheltenham League.

“Dean Vaughan is the manager’s son and is also a centre-forward. He’s an influential player and has been with us for six or seven years.

“He scores goals and gets assists, he’s our Wayne Rooney.

“And then there’s our captain Ben Wasley. He’s our central defensive midfielder, he’s just a rock.”

Smith, who runs his own gardening business, is hoping to get the opportunity to play alongside those three more regularly this season of course.

He reckons he spends six hours a week on football business which is four-fifths of many people’s working day.

The aforementioned Clive Wilkes was at Huntley at the start of the season where he watched Redmarley win 3-2. He liked what he saw and rang Smith after the game to tell him how impressed he’d been with everything about the club.

“He’s brilliant,” Smith said of Wilkes.

Smith’s spot on there of course but it’s also equally clear that Smith and many others are doing a brilliant job at Redmarley Football Club.