Jack Richards and Callum King are both in their early 20s.

They are best friends and have obviously known each other for quite a while. They used to play rugby together and for the past few years they have been playing hockey together.

They are also co-captains of the hockey team they play for which just happens to be the men’s flagship side at Stroud, who play in West Men’s Division 2 East, which is a very decent level.

That’s quite a position of responsibility – they are younger than nearly all their team-mates – but Richards, who is 22, said: “It’s going really well, Callum and I go back quite a long way.

“We both bring different things. I’m the on-field captain and Callum is the off-field captain.

“I’m calmer on the pitch than Callum, he does the pre-match warm-ups and does most of the team talks.”

They select the sides together – “We discuss everything before we make a decision,” said Richards – so it’s easy to see why they are enjoying it even though Richards readily admits that selection is the toughest part of their job.

And they have had a tough act to follow, too, because they took over from the very experienced long-time captain Dan Clifford, who is continuing to bang in the goals this season.

So how did they come to be co-captains?

“Danny had been trying to get the younger players to take on more responsibility,” explained Richards.

“So Cal and I said we might as well give it a go, we’d do it together and share the responsibility.

“Everybody has been really supportive – Danny, the senior players, coach Rob Fynn.”

It obviously helps that Richards, who followed his older brother and former first-teamer Alex to the club, and King have been part of the club for a number of years now.

“I’ve been at Stroud for eight or nine years, they’re my only club,” said Richards, a former pupil at Thomas Keble School.

“I used to play a lot of hockey and rugby when I was younger – Callum and I played rugby at Minchinhampton – but when I was 16 and old enough to play adult hockey I stopped playing rugby.”

And it was clearly a good decision because it wasn’t long before he had progressed into the 1^st XI.

“I started off as a right-sided defender but now I’m a central defensive midfielder,” he said. “I like that position because I can get up the field a bit more.”

Like Richards, King, a former King’s School pupil in Gloucester, has been in Stroud’s flagship men’s team for the past five or six years.

“He’s played hockey for a lot longer than me,” added Richards. “He’s an attacking midfielder or striker.”

Like Richards, he’s an integral part of the team, a team that are enjoying a decent campaign.

Ask Richards what their aims are and he replies quickly: “Promotion is always the aim.” 

So what would happen if they were awarded a last-minute penalty in the final game which, if converted, would win them promotion, which of the co-captains would take it?

“I’d give it to Callum all day long,” laughed Richards. “I can’t shoot to save my life!”