Steve King started playing football for Uley when he was 16.

That was 33 years ago and he’s still putting his body on the line for the club’s first team in Division Two of the Stroud League today.

He had one season with Slimbridge when he was in his mid-20s, but apart from that he’s been a Uley man through and through.

It’s been some journey, one that has seen him win a couple of Stroud League Division Two titles, a charity cup and play alongside some good players.

King plays at the back these days and he’s very proud to play alongside Shaun and Jaden Chapman, his two nephews, while off the field he’s been club secretary for close on 10 years.

He’s also joint manager of the club, a role he took on at the start of the season alongside Lee Hill.

Born in Bristol, King moved to Dursley from Yate with his family when he was 10.

By then he’d already started to play football and he soon joined youth team Cam Everside where he played for five years.

“I was a centre-forward or winger in those days,” said the former Rednock School pupil. “I was left-footed, I used to get a lot of goals for the school.”

And that happy knack of scoring goals didn’t desert him when he played his first game for Uley’s flagship team.

“It was against Minchinhampton away, we won 8-0,” he recalled. “I played left midfield and I can remember my goal as if it were yesterday.

“I ran onto a through ball and hit it left-footed into the corner from the edge of the box.”

King had made his senior debut for the club’s 3rds earlier in the season and he continued: “I think when I joined Uley, the 1sts were in Stroud One, the reserves were in Stroud Three and the 3rds were in Stroud Eight.”

King has been a fixture in the club’s first team since he was 18, apart from that one season away.

“It was after we’d won Stroud Two, the entire team moved to Slimbridge,” he said. “I stayed and did a year as player/manager but I didn’t enjoy it, I was too young, I was 25.

“We’d lost a lot of players and it was difficult, so I also went to Slimbridge but I soon went back to Uley.”

He was a regular on the left side of Uley’s midfield for the best part of 20 years before moving into central midfield.

For the past five years or so he’s played at left-back or in the centre of the defence, although he’s certainly not your typical centre-half.

“I’m 5ft 8in so I’m more of a sweeper, I talk a good game,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t have a favourite position, I don’t mind where I play, I just like playing the game.”

And he’s enjoyed playing with some good players over the years.

“Jeremy Williams in the early days, he was a one-club man,” he said. “He was a centre-forward, he scored over 1,000 goals for Uley, he was an absolute legend.

“Danny Chandler was another, he was also a centre-forward. He’s playing for Nailsworth now. He’s one of the best, he’s exceptional, he’s been around the Stroud League for a long time.”

King has been around the Stroud League a long time too. He’s 50 in November and he admits he’s thinking about retiring.

“I’d like to hang up my boots,” he said. “It takes a bit longer to recover from matches, it affects my Sundays and Mondays.”

If this season does turn out to be his last he’s not sure whether he wants to continue as a manager – “It’s not on my radar at the moment, we’ll see,” he said – but he’ll still remain very much part of Uley Football Club.

“I’ll carry on as club secretary,” he said. “And I’ll still come and watch my two nephews play.”