John Hunt is a lifelong football fan, someone who is more than happy to share everything he’s learned over the years with anyone who asks.

The current beneficiaries are the footballers of Bishop’s Cleeve A who play in the Premier Division of the Cheltenham League because, at the age of 60, Hunt can be seen on their touchline every Saturday afternoon encouraging, cajoling and shouting instructions as he tries to tease out a win.

“I’m assistant manager,” he told The Local Answer. “James Trigg is the manager but he’s also our goalkeeper so he asked me to go along and help out.

“I’m there on Saturdays and I’m also at all the training sessions.”

And Hunt is not alone on the touchline because he’s accompanied by one of his great mates, someone who is a Cheltenham Town legend and someone who played 50-plus games for Wolves in the top flight of English football in the mid-80s.

Football fans of a certain vintage will recognise straight away that Hunt’s sidekick is the now 61-year-old Mark Buckland, who Hunt knew when they were young and who he has got to know very well over the past 30 years or so.

And the two of them still share a great love for football despite their longevity in the game.

“We keep saying we’re a couple of dinosaurs,” laughed Hunt. “We keep saying that the youngsters should be taking on what we’re doing but they seem to really like what we do.

“We give them the ball at training but they’re doing lots of running as well, the kids love it. The all-weather pitch at Cleeve is great to play on.”

Hunt and Buckland used to live next door to each other in Clyde Crescent in Whaddon, Cheltenham, and their friendship is clearly one that is built on trust and respect.

“Buckie’s a great bloke, he had a great career and has got a really good pedigree,” said Hunt, “but he never undermines me. At half-time I’ll have my say, I might be explosive, but even if I’m wrong he won’t say so in front of the players.”

This isn’t the first time that Hunt has been involved with Bishop’s Cleeve’s Cheltenham League side. He was previously manager – Buckland was his assistant – and the team were successful too, winning a couple of charities cups.

And his time in football has certainly been successful.

Born and bred in Cheltenham, he first started playing the game as a pupil at Whaddon Primary School and took to it straight away.

It was always going to be the sport of his choice as he grew older, although initially it was in Sunday football that he took his first steps in the adult game.

“I started playing for Bass Canaries in Hatherley,” said the former All Saints School pupil. “They went on to become known as Lokomotiv Bass and Bassalona.

“I had a job working in a hotel so I couldn’t play Saturdays.”

But once he switched jobs it meant he could also play in the Cheltenham League on Saturdays so he joined Gas Green, a club he stayed with for some 20-odd years, although most of that time was in a non-playing capacity.

“I started off in their 3rds and then moved up to the 2nds but I smashed my knee while I was playing for Bass Canaries,” he explained.

“I had to stop playing so I took over as manager of Gas Green 2nds before taking over the 1sts.

“We were in Division Four of the Cheltenham League and we won the title in 1999/2000. We also won the Charities Cup, we beat Tewkesbury Town 3-1 at Newlands.”

Hunt clearly knew what he was doing when it came to running a football team and he was equally adept on the administrative side too because by now he was also secretary of Gas Green.

It was also around this time he joined the committee of the Cheltenham Football League.

“I wanted to give a voice to all council teams,” said Hunt, who took over as the league’s fixtures secretary in 2003, three years after joining the committee. “I was interviewed for the role by Jasper Cook and Peter Jurd.”

They were two men who did an awful lot for football in Cheltenham and beyond over the years, of course, and it’s fair to say that Hunt has been following in their footsteps for many years now.

Back in the day he ran the youth side at Cheltenham Saracens that his son Stefan, now 30, joined as a seven-year-old, taking them all the way through to under-18s.

That age group included Jamie Barnes, Ben Pockett, Mark Buckland’s son Alec and Mike Lepford and it is a source of great pride for Hunt that they are all now with him at Bishop’s Cleeve.

Hunt left Gas Green, who were by then in Division Two of the Cheltenham League, in the mid-noughties but it wasn’t long before Bob Attwood was on the phone asking him to link up with Cheltenham Saracens’ Division Three side.

He knew the club so it was an easy decision. Mark Buckland went with him and they made a pretty quick impression.

“Gerry Oldham, who was the first-team manager, saw us doing a warm-up and he asked us to run their Hellenic League reserve side,” said Hunt.

“We did that for two years, travelling to places like Didcot and Bashley. In the end the travelling got too much so we decided to stop and have a rest.”

But of course they didn’t rest for long.

“Dave Lewis rang us and said, ‘Do you fancy coming to Bishop’s Cleeve?’” Hunt explained.

The answer to that was a resounding ‘yes’ and it’s certainly a decision that neither Hunt, nor Buckland, have regretted.

“They’re a great club and from top to bottom they’re doing really well,” said Hunt.

“Buckie and I don’t just watch our own games, we go and watch other teams play as well, we really enjoy it.”

Back in the 90s they also used to regularly organise 5-a-side tournaments on Whaddon Rec.

“We’d have 200 kids playing,” recalled Hunt. “It got them off the street and gave them something to do.”

And these days it’s not just football that benefits from Hunt’s knowledge and enthusiasm because he is also a very familiar figure at Cheltenham Cricket Club.

“Stefan started playing for them when he was 10, he’s never looked back,” said Hunt. “He was friends with Chris White’s son and it was Whitey who got him down there, he’s been like a mentor to him.”

Stefan is a former 3^rd XI captain and next season will skipper the club’s 2nds, having played for them for the past two or three seasons.

“He’s taken about 290 wickets for Cheltenham,” said his proud dad, who, of course, is doing his bit for the club as well.

“I’ve been secretary for the past couple of years,” he continued. “I also do the scoring for Stefan’s games,” adding with a laugh, “I’m the second best scorer in the club after Geoff Trett.”

Stefan’s mum Debbie is also a big supporter of the cricket, although Stefan’s dad, who only played the game a bit at school, says that was not always the case.

“We’ve been together 40 years,” he laughed, “but in those days she said I could only be involved in either football or cricket, not both!”

He chose football, of course, and that’s also the sport that their son-in-law Ian Swales, who is married to Carly, is known for.

“He’s vice-president of the Cheltenham Football League,” said Hunt. “He used to be the league’s referees’ secretary.

“Carly and Ian used to come round for Sunday lunch, the ladies would be in one room and Ian and I would be in another sorting out all the upcoming fixtures and referees!”

These days Hunt is still playing a bit of football, albeit at a slower pace.

“I go to walking football every Tuesday at the Newlands,” he said. “There’s me, Buckie, Dave Lewis, there’s about 12 of us.”

He also plays a bit of golf – “my handicap is my clubs,” he laughed – and he still works, too.

“I work in IT for Gloucestershire Constabulary,” he said. “The Force have got a vets’ football team and an under-35 side, I’m their manager and secretary!”

Good bloke, John Hunt, very good bloke!