Tewkesbury Athletic Football Club have come a long way in a short time.

So far, in fact, that in just their fifth season in the Cheltenham League they are now on top of the pile in the Premier Division after winning six of their first seven games.

They started life in Division Four in 2018/19 but, helped in part by the league’s restructuring, they have made very rapid progress.

“We’re doing really well this season,” player/manager Tom Neath told The Local Answer.

“It would have been nice to have made it seven out of seven but we fell short in our first game.

“We’ve had to grind out a few results and we’ve scored a couple of last-minute winners but in some games we’ve won comfortably.”

That opening-day defeat was at AFC Cheltenham and 29-year-old Neath, who is in his third season as player/boss, has been playing football long enough to know there are many tough games ahead in the 11-strong division.

“Both Whaddon United and FC Lakeside Reserves have got 100 per cent winning records this season,” said Neath.

“They haven’t played as many games as us but Whaddon gave us a bit of a hiding in the County Cup, hopefully we can give both teams a game when we play them.”

And while Neath is obviously being realistic, he is also ambitious.

“We want to get into the Northern Senior League,” he said. “We want to go as far as we can.”

Neath, who is in his fourth season with the club after joining from Tewkesbury Town, will have a key role to play both on and off the pitch if those ambitions are to be realised.

The big centre-forward has been their leading goalscorer for the past two campaigns and is their joint top scorer this time around.

“I try to be the target man,” he said. “I like scoring goals but I chip in with a few assists too.

“We play 4-3-3, we play out from the back, everybody is comfortable on the ball.

“We knock the ball about and try to play the ball through the thirds, progress down the wings and then see if we can do something in the final third.

“If other teams play out from the back we try to press, we want the players to be brave in and out of possession.”

And the results certainly suggest that it’s all adding up for Neath, who is a qualified accountant.

And it’s not just the club’s first team who are enjoying a good campaign. The reserves, who are in their second season, have made a solid start in Division Two and are also through to the next round of the County Cup after knocking out Blockley on penalties.

And their Sunday team are setting the pace in Division Three of the Evesham Sunday League after winning six and drawing one of their opening seven games.

All three teams play their home fixtures at Tewkesbury School – the flagship team play on the Astro and the other two teams play on grass.

“The aim in the long-term is to find a bit of land that we can call home with our own clubhouse,” said Neath, a former Tewkesbury School pupil.

Tewkesbury Town, Neath’s former club, are established at Northway Playing Fields and they are currently riding high in Division Two of the Northern Senior League.

“It’s great for the town that we’ve got two teams who are doing well,” said Neath. “A town the size of Tewkesbury should have a football club playing at a higher level.

“Look at Bishop’s Cleeve, they won the Hellenic League last season, now they’re playing in the Southern League.”