Tewkesbury are champions of Counties 3 Gloucestershire North.

They clinched the title on Saturday and they didn’t even have to get their boots on because they were given a home walkover by Matson 2nds.

They’d have preferred to secure top spot by winning on the pitch, of course, but that certainly doesn’t detract from an outstanding season that has seen them win 14 and draw one of their 15 games.

Head coach Gareth Evans will now be hoping they can go through their league campaign unbeaten – they have three games remaining – with their next game at home to Old Cryptians on Saturday 1^st March.

Their final two games are at Norton on Saturday 8^th March and at home to Minchinhampton two weeks later and chairman Dave Randall is certainly hoping for a grandstand finish.

“It would be good if we could win our last three games,” he said. “It’s been very pleasing. The lads have played really well and they’ve improved all season.”

Tewkesbury will play in a new-look Counties 2 Gloucestershire next season, a 12-strong division which will be made up largely of the teams currently near or at the top of Counties 2 Gloucestershire North and South.

It will not include the end-of-season North and South play-off winners – they will be promoted to Counties 1 Western North – but it will include teams relegated from the level above.

“It will be a step up but you’ve got to play the better sides to keep on improving,” said Randall.

The division is almost certain to include the likes of Cheltenham North, Old Patesians and Old Richians with Gloucestershire RFU official Keith Gee saying that the reorganisation has come about at the request of the clubs.

It means the Counties 2 Gloucestershire North v South play-off game will be scrapped after the current campaign with the winners of Counties 2 Gloucestershire next season gaining automatic promotion.

The teams finishing nearer the bottom of Counties 2 Gloucestershire North and South this season will play in Counties 3 Gloucestershire North and South in 2025/26 – both divisions will be 12-strong – with Gee explaining that it’s a reorganisation, not a demotion.

Gee also said that it is hoped that the current Counties 4 Gloucestershire may be split into two divisions of North and South.

“The reorganisation has come about through a lot of hard work between ourselves and the clubs,” added Gee.

“It’s what the clubs wanted, it’s not something we’re imposing on them.”

Meanwhile, Tewkesbury, who have the Papa John’s Cup to look forward to in April, are the second high-profile club in the town to win promotion in the past six months.

Tewkesbury Cricket Club won the Gloucestershire Division of the West of England Premier League at the end of last summer – they will play in Premier Two Glos/Wilts this season – while Tewkesbury Town Football Club are hoping to make it an impressive hat-trick by winning promotion from Division One of the Northern Senior League.

They have a seven-point lead over second-placed Whaddon United, although Whaddon have three games in hand.