These are boom times for Barnwood United Football Cub, one of the sporting success stories in Gloucestershire both on and off the pitch.

With the new season almost upon us, the club, who were formed in 1978, will field 19 teams in their familiar colours of claret and blue.

And they are a club who offer something for just about everyone because they will run three men’s teams in 2025/26, a women’s team, a veterans’ team, two disability teams, eight mixed teams, two girls’ teams and a further two mixed teams for the very youngest boys and girls.

That’s very impressive and it’s all the more impressive when you consider that a little over three years ago there were serious discussions at the club about whether they should become just a one-team club.

At the time they were running two men’s teams, so they’ve clearly come a very long way in a very short time.

And they’ve come a long way off the field, too, because the majority of their teams now play their home games at Coopers Edge Sports Hub, a standout facility in Brockworth that includes changing rooms, an astroturf pitch and two grass pitches.

The football club are one year into a 25-year lease at the Hub and they couldn’t be happier.

“We were told we would no longer be able to use the Wall’s Club in Barnwood so we had to move quickly,” said Barnwood United development officer Chris Coward, one of the big driving forces at the football club.

That was in March 2024 and it was indeed a big blow because that had been their home for some 40 years after they had initially played at Coney Hill when they were known as Vikings.

As it happens, 43-year-old Coward lives just a couple of hundred yards from Coopers Edge Sports Hub, although he said that when they first moved the plan was to run 11 or 12 teams in a few years’ time.

“We’ve accelerated our plans because of how popular the club has become,” said Coward.

That they can run many more teams is thanks in large part to the excellent relationships they have built up in the area, particularly with Coopers Edge School.

The club’s efforts have included securing more than £43,000 in grants to improve the pitches both at the Hub and at the school.

And the teams are certainly thriving on those improved pitches, with the three men’s teams all enjoying stellar campaigns last time out.

The flagship team finished third in Division Two of the Northern Senior League, the reserves won promotion from Division 4N of the Stroud League via the play-offs, while the 3rds, in their first season, were crowned champions of Stroud League Division Six after going through the campaign unbeaten.

Everyone at the club was understandably proud of those achievements, although it’s fair to say that the rewards have not matched their expectations.

“We had thought for much of the season that third place in Division Two of the Northern Senior League would earn us promotion but it didn’t, only two teams went up,” explained Coward.

“And the Stroud League has been reorganised which means there will be a Division 3N and Division 3S.

“So the reserves have been promoted, but so were most of the teams in our division.”

It was a similar story for the 3rds, who will play in Division 5N this season but it remains the bottom level in the league.

“It’s been a bit tough to take, especially with what happened a year ago with having to find a new home,” admitted Coward, who nevertheless remains upbeat about the upcoming campaign.

That was disappointing, but the club have appointed Hayd Rust as the new manager of the first-team and Coward continued: “He’s been playing for us for the past three seasons. He grew up at Newent Town in the Hellenic League.

“Hayd is ambitious and positive. The mentality is, ‘Let’s show them and go and win the league, let’s not just be one of the best, we go again’.”

Coward, too, will be looking to put right any perceived wrongs on the pitch this season.

He is assistant player/manager of the 3rds and he intends to keep playing for a club he first represented as a 17-year-old for a few more seasons yet.

“My aim is to play for a season with my son Jack,” he explained. “It’s another four years until he’s old enough to play senior football but he loves Barnwood even more than I do.”

Coward Snr certainly loves Barnwood United. He’s chairman of the youth section and is also one of the club’s four directors.

And his outstanding work has been recognised by others because he was nominated for the Bobby Moore Award, which is presented to a volunteer that represents the best of grassroots football.

He finished runner-up and Coward said: “It was amazing to be nominated.”  

It certainly was. Coward, whose background is in business development, is just one of many committed to Barnwood United Football Club, of course, and it’s clear they are a club in very good hands.