Tony Pierce may have played hockey for the same club for about 35 years but a lot has changed during that time.

For a start, the club’s name has changed, as has their home venue and the type of surface they play on.

These days Cleevillians play their home games on the artificial pitch at Oxstalls Tennis Centre whereas back in the day the club were known as Smiths, taking their name from the aerospace company based in Bishop’s Cleeve.

The hockey players of yesteryear didn’t have far to go to play their games either, just a quick hop over the A435 to the grass playing fields which are now known as The Newlands.

These days hockey is played almost exclusively on artificial pitches – Cleevillians train at Dean Close on Thursday evenings – so the move to Gloucester was a no brainer.

And the name change was equally straightforward as well.

“We changed the name about 15 years ago when the company stopped supporting us and we were looking to attract more players from outside Smiths,” said Pierce.

So why Cleevillians?

“It goes almost as far back to when the club were formed 75 years ago,” explained Pierce. “In that first year the club took part in a hockey tournament in Torbay and in those days every club had a name when they were on tour and Smiths’ was Cleevillians.

“That was what we were always known as when we went on tour in the years that followed, so when we were looking to change the club’s name Cleevillians was the obvious choice. And it’s worked too.”

It certainly has because these days the club run two successful men’s senior teams with the 1st XI playing in the GoCrea8 De Cymru and The Marches 1 under the captaincy of Ben Link, and the 2nd XI being led by Chris Harrison-Townsend in The Marches 2.

“The 1st XI play at a very good level,” said Pierce, who is not a bad player himself and is still a regular in the centre of the defence for the 2nd XI even though he is now in his seventh decade.

He has no plans to hang up his stick just yet either and still loves playing as much these days as when he first took up the sport in the early 80s.

But while he remains competitive on the pitch, the Bishop’s Cleeve-born 61-year-old admits there is an off-the-field motivation that drives him even more than trying to stop the young forwards more than half his age running rings round him on a Saturday afternoon.

“My ultimate aim is to get hockey back into Bishop’s Cleeve,” said the club’s current match secretary, fixture secretary and liaison officer.

“My big hope is that Bishop’s Cleeve School build an artificial pitch. If that happened – and it might – then I think hockey would take off in Bishop’s Cleeve. We would be able to field women’s teams and start a junior section. That’s the next big step for me.”

While that is Pierce’s dream, he’s keen to stress that he’s more than happy with the reality right now. And he’s certainly more than happy that he took up hockey as a fresh-faced 20-something after deciding that football wasn’t for him.

“I wasn’t very good at football,” he laughed. “They used to put me on the wing out of the way. I was quite quick in those days.”

While hockey is a big part of Pierce’s life, it is also a big part of the lives of two of his three sons.

“My oldest son Christopher plays for a team called Wanderers in Battersea and another son Michael plays for Cheltenham’s 1st XI,” Pierce senior said with pride. “They both started with Cleevillians.”

So, did they get their talent from dad?

“Oh yes,” he laughed, “definitely. Please print that won’t you!”

No problems, Tony. And what about number three son, Andrew?

“He doesn’t play hockey,” chuckled dad. “He’s into rock climbing.”

The boys’ mum, Julia, doesn’t play hockey either.

“Mind you, she always comes on our tour to Torbay,” laughed hubby.