Martin Slatter has had Sunday 29th April ringed in his diary for some time.

That’s the date of the North Gloucestershire Rugby Combination cup finals day at Kingsholm, and Slatter will have a front row seat as he has done for pretty much every one of the 46 years he has served on the Combination’s committee.

“I think I may have missed one finals day but that’s it,” said Slatter. “And I was going to finals for quite a few years before I joined the Combination committee.”

It is a love affair that shows no signs of ending and Slatter remains a keen supporter of all things cup rugby, even in these days when league rugby has become king.

“It’s still important,” insisted Slatter. “Talk to Gloucester legends like Mike Burton and Mickey Booth and they’ll still tell you about when they played in the Combination cups.

“And because you don’t get Gloucester players playing for Gloucester these days, for many local players a cup final is the only chance they get of playing at Kingsholm. That’s still a wonderful thing to do.”

Slatter, who will be 70 in September, is an Old Centralians man, but there are few higher accolades for a rugby man through and through than to be asked to be president of the North Gloucestershire Combination.

That call came in 1987 – the Combination’s 75th anniversary – and 25 years later he was asked to be president again to mark the Combination’s 100th anniversary.

“That was quite an honour,” he said with typical under-statement.

And that 2012 cup finals day also gave him one of his most rewarding moments in rugby.

“All the cup finals are big but that was special because Old Cents won the Senior Cup,” he explained. “There I was in the centenary cup final presenting the trophy to my club at Kingsholm. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

The trophy was presented that day to Pete Willetts, who still plays in the Cents back row today.

And the current president of the North Gloucestershire Combination is Stan Fritchley, who is another strong Centralian.