These are special times for Lansdown Hockey Club, who will celebrate their 80th anniversary next year.

They run 12 senior teams, their men’s and women’s sides are rubbing shoulders in the league with Gloucester City and Cheltenham respectively, and they have more than 300 junior members.

They’ve really kicked on in recent times, with chairman James Doughty saying: “It’s been quite a journey. It started 10 years ago when a few key individuals said, ’We need to up our game to compete with the other clubs in Gloucestershire’.”

Ian Matthews and Sara Jane Thompson were the two key driving forces – they are both still involved at the club – and Doughty continued: “Our women’s 1sts are playing in the national league, our men’s 1sts won promotion last season, and 10 years ago our junior membership was about 70.”

These days the club run more than 20 teams – four men’s, six women’s, two veterans’ and 10-plus junior teams and Doughty, who took over as chairman from David Phillips in October, said: “One of our big strengths is that we are one club focused on building a friendly and competitive environment for players from four to 70 years old.”

Doughty has been part of Lansdown Hockey Club since 2016. Originally from Lincolnshire, he moved to this part of the world in 2002 and spent a couple of years with Cheltenham Hockey Club before eventually joining Lansdown.

It’s a move the 57-year-old, who lives in Cheltenham, has never regretted, and his son Alex is now part of the men’s 1^st XI who are establishing themselves in West Hockey Division 1 North.

Doughty has an impressive hockey CV. He first picked up a stick at the age of 10 and took to the sport because he went on to play for Peterborough Town, Leicester Westleigh, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, University of Leicester, Kingston University, Western Universities and English Universities.

And the town of Cheltenham played a part in his hockey journey.

“It’s where I got my break,” he said. “I played in an under-19 county tournament at Dean Close. I came with Lincolnshire.

“I must have done quite well because the umpire said ‘well played’ to me at the end.

“Two years later I went to Liverpool with Leicester University and the same umpire said to me after our game, ‘Are you coming to the Western University trials?’.

“I didn’t know anything about them but I went along, scored three goals and ended up playing for England Universities in my second and third year at university.”

He was an attacking midfielder and he continued: “I was a playmaker, I played just behind the centre-forward, I set up a few goals in my time.”

Doughty, who runs a business with his wife Sally in Tewkesbury, doesn’t play much hockey these days – “I stopped playing week in, week out when I needed a taxi to get from defence to attack,” he laughed – but he continues to give plenty to a sport that has been a big part of his life for so long.

He’s a qualified coach and umpire, he’s a big supporter of six-a-side indoor hockey and he’s been involved with the Gloucestershire Hockey Association since 2018.

He’s been manager of the Player Pathway for Gloucestershire HA and is currently their treasurer, although he will be standing down from that role at the end of the season.

That will allow him more time to devote to Lansdown, of course, but he is determined not to allow the job of chairman to become all-consuming.

The women’s 1sts play their home games at Dean Close while the men’s flagship team play the majority of their games at Brockworth and Doughty said: “I’m not watching games every Saturday, you have to get a balance.

“I still help coach county hockey on a Monday, watch some training sessions on a Tuesday and/or Thursday as well as watch or umpire some Saturday matches. You have to be careful not to do too much or you will burn out.

“There is also a massive amount that goes on in the background that few people are aware of. It’s really important to have your own space and time.

“You have to build a team around you who you can trust, otherwise you are on a hiding to nothing. It is like running a business.

“One of my roles is to make sure that the people who run the club aren’t overburdened. I’m keen to focus on the people side of the club and if we do that well, the performances on the pitch will continue.”

Those performances on the pitch suggest that the club are getting an awful lot right – at the time of writing, the women’s 1sts are second in the English Hockey League Conference West.

“Over the next couple of years we want to maintain our momentum, but we don’t need to grow too quickly,” Doughty said.

“One of the difficulties for clubs and businesses when you’ve enjoyed phenomenal growth is that people want you to keep going at the same rate, but you don’t have to.

“We are attracting new players but our job is to serve all of our members as well as keep the women’s 1st team in the national league and the men’s 1st team in their division.

“Hockey is not a professional sport and we rely on volunteers to run the club. I just want our teams to be competitive and our players to enjoy their time with us.”

And their teams certainly are competitive.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved,” added Doughty. “A lot of people have put a lot of effort into the club over the past 10 years and well before that too.”