Steve Ratcliffe will reach 20 years as chairman of Cheltenham Rugby Club in 2018.

The club have seen a lot of changes in that time, of course, most notably the move from the Prince of Wales Stadium to The Newlands.

Ratcliffe, who was a player for Cheltenham before taking on the role of chairman, was the driving force behind that move and many of the other changes that have taken place at the Western Counties North Club over the years.

Cheltenham Rugby Club is a big part of his life and if you ever want to speak to him the chances are that he will be at the club.

He was at The Newlands when he spoke to The Local Answer and when asked if he spends more time there than at home, he laughed: “According to my wife I do!”

Ratcliffe is pleased with the progress being made off the field since the club decamped to Bishop’s Cleeve 10 years ago.

“It’s getting there,” he said. “It’s taking shape but it’s a long old process. It’s one small step at a time.

“We’ve got a nice clubhouse now and it’s starting to look like a proper rugby club with all the memorabilia on the walls.”

It’s a case of one step at a time on the field as well.

“I’d like to think we can finish in the top five,” he said. “We need our better players to be available. When they were available last season we tended to win our games.

“We’d obviously like to get promoted but that is a big challenge.”

Ratcliffe, like many rugby officials around the county, is concerned about the ongoing issue of player availability and he has a novel idea to try to overcome it.

“I get that we’re a 24-hour society and that people don’t work 9 to 5 five days a week,” he said.

“My family play hockey and hockey teams can play their matches any time from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon.

“Maybe that’s something that rugby could consider. At the moment matches kick off at 2.30pm on a Saturday afternoon and that’s it. I think we need a bit more flexibility.”

That is something that may be debated in the weeks and months to come, but more immediately Ratcliffe is happy that he has assembled the best possible team to look after the players at the club.

“We’ve got a good coaching structure,” he said, “but we’re not chasing players and we’re not incentivising them.”

The coaching set-up will again be headed by Tom James, with Gareth Taylor and one-time Gloucester prop Dan Murphy providing support. Charlie Becket and Tom Hudson front the ladies’ coaching structure under Bee Mocellin's leadership with Clive Stuart-Smith returning to provide guidance and structure for the 14-to-18-year age groups and assisting in the transition from youth into senior rugby.

Taylor and Murphy will have big roles to play this season because James is restricted in his movement at the moment after having reconstructive surgery on a knee at the end of last season.

“It was a major operation,” said Ratcliffe, “but he’s been coaching even though he’s on crutches.”

Ratcliffe, a former hooker who was at Cheltenham North before making the short move down the road to Cheltenham in the early 90s, will help out in any way he can, of course.

When asked how long he plans to continue as chairman, he replied: “That decision isn’t up to me. I’ll stay for as long as I’m wanted but it’s a club decision not mine.

“I’ve still got four or five projects I’d like to get completed – the all-weather pitch, the new changing rooms, our ladies challenging for Premiership rugby in three years’ time, more floodlights on the training pitches, extra pitches, the front entrance, additional car parking… that should keep me going for the next four or five years!”