James Layton-Hill has been coaching football for much of his life.

So now, even though he is recovering from ankle surgery, he remains very much involved in the beautiful game.

He is hoping to start playing again before the end of the current campaign but for now the 27-year-old – he will be 28 on Christmas Day – is coaching Tewkesbury Town on Wednesday evenings as well as helping Phil Millington to manage their flagship team, who play in Cheltenham League Division One, on Saturday afternoons.

Brought up in Surrey, Layton-Hill first came across glorious Gloucestershire when he did a sports coaching undergraduate degree at Hartpury in the mid to late noughties.

“I played a lot of football when I was at Hartpury,” recalls Layton-Hill, a left-back, who also plays cricket for Bredon and Corse and Staunton, “but that was where I fell in love with coaching.

“I was a junior football coach when I was growing up – at the time I used to coach kids who were older than me – I knew I was quite good at it.”

And it’s not just the players at Tewkesbury Town who he is passing on his knowledge to because these days he works as a PE teacher at Pershore High School.

It’s a job he thoroughly enjoys even though he admits that he and education weren’t always natural bedfellows.

“I didn’t like school when I was younger,” he admitted, “and I never thought I’d now be spending my working days in a school!”

He first moved to Tewkesbury in 2013 and played for the town’s football club for a couple of years before being offered the chance to play for Southam United in Midland League Division One.

He played there for a year – “We played in front of a lot of people and they were good facilities,” he said – before being signed by Richard Gill to play for Bishop’s Cleeve in their County League team.

He was there for some 18 months and describes Gill as a “great guy”. However, he hurt his left ankle in training, the same left ankle that had been giving the one-time Brentford Football Club Development Centre player problems for a good number of years.

“I remember going to hospital with my mum when I was 14,” he said. “There must have been a big rugby match on that day because people were coming in with broken bones and dislocated shoulders.

“A sprained ankle didn’t seem too bad so they sent me on my way.”

It was only after he sprained his ankle seven times in 18 months while working that he decided enough was enough and an MRI scan duly showed that there was “significant damage”.

Seven months ago, he had a double ligament reconstruction on his left ankle which is pretty serious stuff although he hopes to be playing again in Spring “when the pitches get a bit better”.

If and when he does return to action that will clearly be a bonus for Tewkesbury because he is certainly a decent player.

“I had a season with Epsom and Ewell and I was playing first-team at 16,” he said. “That was a big step up for me because I was so young.

“But it helped me develop into a coach. I’ve seen a lot of different teams and a lot of different styles of manager.”

He’s not a big believer in player/managers so when he does start kicking a ball around again his coaching may well have to take a back seat, certainly on Saturdays.

“I’d been fine with doing the training but it’s different on matchdays,” he said. “It would be difficult to give a half-time team talk after being out on the pitch.

“It would be tough to give a realistic view while I was caught up in the whirlwind of playing. Maybe I could coach the Sunday team, that might be an option, let’s see what happens.”

So which does he prefer, playing or coaching?

“My heart lies with playing,” he said, “but I’d probably say I’m a better coach although I only say that because it’s my job.”

It’s only his hobby at Tewkesbury Town, of course, but he takes his role seriously, so what has he tried to bring to the club?

“A bit of tactical awareness even though we only play in the Cheltenham League,” he said. “The players have responded very well in training and the intention is to challenge for the league title.

“Cups are by the by, we haven’t got the squad depth to compete across four competitions.”

And while winning is obviously very important, so is enjoying the game.

“We’re more likely to win if we enjoy it,” added Layton-Hill. “We all go to the pub after games and we all meet up in midweek. It’s important to remember that we’re all mates.”

It’s probably fair to say that Layton-Hill’s wife Lucy – they got married in August – would enjoy hearing about the football more if her husband decided to concentrate on coaching rather than playing.

Lucy is a very talented horse rider so knows her sport and Layton-Hill admitted: “She’s very sceptical about me playing again.”

However, she may be encouraged to know that Layton-Hill has another concern apart from his ankle when it comes to playing.

“Every time I head the ball I think I’m losing a few more hairs!” he laughed.