Cirencester Town will be very keen to make a fast start to the new football season.

Promotion to the Premier Division of the Southern League is the overriding aim for the upwardly mobile club who will again be among the favourites to step up to the next level.

They just missed out on the end-of-season play-offs last time out, paying the price for a very slow start to the campaign when they collected just two points from their opening seven games in Division One Central.

John Brough’s men recovered to finish sixth in the 19-strong division, one place and four points off the play-offs. And such was their recovery that only one team – title winners Berkhamsted – conceded fewer than their 39 goals and only two teams bettered their goal difference of 28.

“We couldn’t buy a goal, we couldn’t buy a win,” said midfielder Nick Peare, reflecting on those opening seven games. “We just couldn’t get going. I wouldn’t say we were doing anything drastically different once we started to win a few games, it was just one of those spells.”

Peare, who turned 33 at the end of June, has taken on the role of player/coach this season, a position he was happy to accept.

“I did a bit of coaching last season but this season it’s official,” he said. “It’s always something I’ve enjoyed.”

And he’ll enjoy it even more if Cirencester can return to the Premier Division for the first time since 2016/17, of course.

“Promotion has to be the aim,” he said. “Look at the facilities, everything is geared up to playing at a higher level. We play on an artificial 4G which is the best pitch you’ll play on, that’s something we’ve got to take advantage of.”

Peare, who was captain of Yate Town when they won promotion to Premier Division South in 2018/19, admitted that it took him a while to get used to playing on the new pitch but now he says he really enjoys it.

“At times we haven’t always done well taking the ball down and playing it through the thirds,” he said. “When the ball is in the opposition half we play much better, getting there is what we need to improve.

“We didn’t always perform against teams we should be putting away last season, that’s something we need to change. We did well against the top teams but we had a bit of a dip towards the end, you can’t afford to have those spells.”

Last season was the club’s first in Division One Central after being moved sideways from Division One South, a move that means they have to travel farther to away games and one which the club did not support.

That would make getting out of the division just that little bit more satisfying and for Peare, who is Cirencester born and bred, winning promotion would clearly mean a lot.

This will be his third season with his hometown club and the ex-Deer Park School pupil said: “I want to be involved as much as possible and I want to play as much as possible.”

How many games he starts will be down to the manager, of course, and Peare is a big fan of John Brough, who played well over 100 games for Cheltenham Town back in the late 90s and early noughties.

“He’s firm but fair, he’s a winner at all costs and I’m a big advocate of that,” he said. “He’s passionate about the game and he’s got a really good football brain. His knowledge is second to none.”