Chris Todd is a football man through and through.

Gloucester City’s new manager has made a full-time living out of the game for pretty much all of the past 20 years, and as you’d expect has gained plenty of experience during that time as a player, coach and manager.

Football has been his passion since he was a young boy and it’s fair to say that apart from his family it’s been the great love of his life.

But don’t for one minute think that Todd is one of those people who is all football, football, football and nothing else.

Far from it, because he’s been part of a choir that has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, sung on a charity single, played the lead role in a short film, written a book and fought as an amateur boxer.

He’s also had to show great fortitude in his personal life after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in 2008. Happily, these days he is fighting fit, ready for every challenge and happy to explore so much of what life has to offer.

Chris Todd is certainly a very interesting man and he’s one of those people who is very easy to interview – he’s got something to say and is able to say it.

Quite apart from the 37-year-old’s impressive footballing CV, it’s not difficult to see why his new bosses at the National League South club were so keen to get him on board – they’ve given him a contract that runs until the end of next season.

Originally from Swansea – he hasn’t lost his Welsh accent! – Todd now lives in Devon with his wife Gemma and three children.

“We live in Cullompton,” he said, “it’s between Exeter and Taunton. It’s one of those places people only know about because it’s where they stop off on their way to Devon or Cornwall,” before adding with a laugh, “there’s a big McDonald’s there.”

Todd spends a lot of time on the road because his day job takes him to Paignton, some 35 miles away from his family home, where he works as an academy manager for Pro: Direct Academy Devon at South Devon College.

What with that and his new job at Gloucester he is certainly clocking up the miles, but that is not a concern for someone who has been involved with a whole host of football clubs over the years, notably Swansea City, Drogheda United in the Irish Premier Division, Exeter City, Torquay United, Salisbury City, Newport County, Forest Green Rovers, Hereford United, Eastleigh and Truro City.

“Driving is something that I’ve always done, the car has become my office,” he said.

And when he spoke to The Local Answer – the interview was arranged for 8am on a Thursday morning so he’s an early riser! – he was on his way to his daytime job, a job that he certainly enjoys.

“There are about 65 students in the academy aged 16 to 19,” he said. “They are all still in the education system and the aim first and foremost is for them to be good people.

“The dream for them is to get into football, firstly at semi-pro; full pro is the ultimate aim. Only about one per cent will get into football but it’s a great experience for them, there was nothing like that around when I was younger.”

But what Todd had as a youngster was a burning desire to play football at the highest level he could and he did pretty well too, playing more than 60 games in the Football League and more than 350 at the very highest levels in the non-league game.

He left school a year early so that he could train full-time with his hometown club Swansea City.

“I wanted to be a footballer and leaving school at a young age worked for me,” he said. “It’s not right for everyone but I wanted to train as much possible to give myself the best chance of succeeding.”

And succeed he did as he helped a number of clubs for whom he played realise their ambitions.

“I’m not saying I was the world’s best,” he said, “but I always had a hunger and a willingness to fight.

“I was a centre-half, a horrible centre-half. I was all guts and thunder. I took no prisoners. I was a nice guy off the pitch but horrible on it.

“I would always put my head where it hurts.”

Clearly he was one of those old-fashioned Terry Butcher types, someone who would roll up his sleeves and just get stuck in, and it’s something that seemed to rub off on his team-mates wherever he played.

The strapping centre-half – he’s 6ft 1in even though he’s listed as 6ft in some places – enjoyed promotions with the likes of Torquay and Newport and said: “One of my traits was that wherever I went I helped a team get to where they wanted to go.

“They’d bring me in when times were hard but my winning mentality used to rub off on others.

“I hope that continues while I’m at Gloucester.”

He took over at Gloucester at the start of October following the departure of Marc Richards, and supporters of his new club will be hoping that he can be as successful with them as he was in his previous management role at Eastleigh.

“We reached the third round of the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history,” he says with obvious pride. “We were the only club from the Conference to get that far that season.”

They were beaten in the last 64 by Bolton – losing 3-2 in a replay after the first game had ended 1-1 – and they also enjoyed a very successful season in the Conference, going on to finish seventh after at one stage being third.

But then football, which has a long history of throwing up the unexpected dating back almost as far as when the first ball was kicked in anger, threw up the unexpected.

“I was sacked four games into the new season,” Todd said. “We’d won one, drawn one and lost two but the chairman said we needed an average of two points a game to win promotion.

“He said he wanted a more experienced manager.”

That was at the start of the 2016/17 season and the chairman concerned was Stewart Donald, who is now the owner of Sunderland. Eastleigh, meanwhile, remain in the Conference.

“I had a 59 per cent win record at Eastleigh,” said Todd, who likes his teams to be “strong, dynamic and attacking”.

“I still speak to Stewart and he says he shouldn’t have sacked me. He’s a good guy and I wish him well.”

Todd moved on to Truro, who play in the same division as Gloucester, where he enjoyed a spell as assistant manager to Lee Hodges. Now he’s the main man again and he’s hugely excited by his new role with Gloucester.

“It’s a massively decent club,” he said. “They are so ambitious. It was so refreshing meeting the chairman and the board of directors.

“They are young people who want the club to do well, they are hungry for success.

“It will take time – we’re not in the stadium we want to be – but I’m happy they picked me to take the club forward.”

The stadium – or the lack of one that they can truly call home – has dogged Gloucester since they were forced to move out of Meadow Park following the devastating floods in 2007.

They are currently playing their home games at Evesham but Todd is hopeful that Meadow Park will be open for business by the start of next season, but wherever they play in 2019/20 Todd has already become a huge fan of the club’s supporters.

“We had 650 people there for my first game in charge against Bromley,” he said. “They are great supporters, they travel miles and miles.”

If and when the move home does go through that will surely be a potentially massive turning point for the club, but whatever happens Todd has learned to take such things in his stride after overcoming a huge personal battle of his own.

That was in November 2008 when, at the age of 27, it was revealed that he had been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia. He was playing for Torquay at the time and incredibly was back in training by the start of the following February.

He is now fully recovered although he admits: “I’m a lucky man to still be alive.”

And even though life is very good these days, that battle with leukaemia has certainly left a lasting impression on Todd. It’s clear that he has always had a go-to, driven attitude to life but, as with so many people who have known truly tough times, he now has an inner strength and determination to make the most of every opportunity that life throws at him.

“I don’t take anything for granted,” he said. “I enjoy life, I’ve always got a smile on my face, I’m always positive.”

And he’s certainly packed more life experiences into his 37 years than a good many people twice his age.

“Going through what I went through changes you 100 per cent,” he continued. “So many people live their lives in a bubble – they get up, go to work, go home, go to bed.

“They never venture out of that, they never try other things.”

That’s certainly not something that you could accuse Todd of, so what has he done?

“I wrote a book ‘More Than Football in the Blood’ and all the money apart from my expenses went to charity,” he said.

“I also did a bit of boxing. I took part in a charity fight and it was the toughest few minutes of my life. It was at middleweight over three rounds and I won on points.

“It was the fight of the night and was a great occasion. I have so much respect for boxers – my brother had six or seven professional fights – it was a great experience.”

And there’s plenty more.

“I got involved in a choir,” Todd continued. “Originally there were 25 of us and everyone had something to do with cancer. I met some people who were very special, they are proper legends. Some of them only had days, months to live.

“Sadly five of them have since passed away but I was so happy to have had them in my life.”

They were known as the Big C Choir and in 2012 performed at the Royal Albert Hall.

Todd’s also sung on a single produced by his brother-in-law, again for charity, and also starred in a short film called Meet Again, set in the Second World War, when he played a soldier.

“I’ve always wanted to try things and as a kid I always wanted to be an actor,” he said. “I always wanted to be an action man.”

So once again that’s another box ticked.

The next box that needs ticking is the one marked ‘Gloucester City’ and after all Todd has been through – not to mention his obvious talent, drive and determination – you’d certainly back him to succeed in his new job.