Up until just under three years ago, Robert Harding had never set foot in Brockworth Rugby Club.

In fact, he readily admits that he didn’t even know where the club was located, even though he’d played and coached rugby in Gloucestershire for some three decades.

These days he’s head coach at Brockworth, the Counties 2 Gloucestershire North club based in Mill Lane, and he’s loving every minute of it.

And his influence is being felt off the field too because the retired 58-year-old, who worked in IT for many years, is also responsible for the club’s very impressive-looking website.

So how did Harding, who played for Old Patesians and Gordon League, player/coached at Newent and coached at age group level at Hucclecote when his son Jack, who is now 28, was playing, find his way to Brockworth?

“I was invited to a President’s Day,” he said. “Brockworth were playing Matson 2nds and Sam Birch, who I’d coached with my son at Hucclecote, was their captain.

“I whispered something in Sam’s ear at half-time and it must have worked because they went on to win the game.

“I had quite a lot to eat and drink that day and by the end of the evening I was a member of Brockworth Rugby Club and part of their coaching staff!”

Harding said he had to check the following morning just to ensure that was actually the case, and initially he was their forwards coach for just under a year before taking over as head coach in February 2022.

Brockworth, who have been going since 1976, have built up a strong reputation over the years and they are very much a club who will take on anyone, anywhere, in the end-of-season North Gloucestershire Combination Cup, something that has impressed Harding.

“It’s a proper rugby club,” he said. “It’s a very committed, old school rugby club with a great social side.

“There’s a great emphasis on the team and the members. It’s a great place to be.

“To be honest, I feel as though I’ve missed out over the years because it’s a cracking rugby club.”

And Harding nearly missed out on rugby altogether because it certainly wasn’t a game that he was born into.

“I come from a football family,” he said. “I’m from Birkenhead, we moved to Charlton Kings when I was three.

“My dad was an Everton fan – I supported Liverpool – but I remember going to Goodison quite a lot.”

His dad Jim was also a professional referee, good enough to officiate in what is now the Championship back in the day.

“When we moved down here he had to start at the bottom again because there was no affiliation between different areas,” Harding said.

“His first game in Gloucestershire was at some dark and dinghy place in the Forest of Dean.

“But he stuck at it and reffed into his 60s and was very well known on the referees’ committees in Cheltenham.”

And while his dad was obviously a big name in the sport in and around Gloucestershire, young Robert was also making a name for himself as a promising goalkeeper.

“I played for Charlton Kings,” said the one-time pupil at Charlton Kings Secondary School, now known as Balcarras School, “and I also played at county level.”

Harding was obviously a pretty decent goalkeeper, so how did he get into rugby?

“A friend of the family introduced me to Old Patesians when I was about 15,” he explained.

“I used to play football on a Saturday morning, rugby in the afternoon and then football again on Sunday morning.”

He was a good size for a goalkeeper – he stands 6ft 3in – which meant he was also a good size for rugby, and he was soon fast-tracked into Old Pats’ under-17s.

“They put me in the second row,” he laughed. “I was a county basketball player so I had a good leap but I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t even know how to bind.

“Dave Kingscott was my second row partner that day and we went on to play County Colts and in South West trials together.”

Harding was obviously a quick learner and was starting to make a name for himself in the Pats 1^st XV when he was struck down by injury.

“I ruptured a disc when I was 21, I needed surgery,” he recalled.

He returned to play for the Pats but then moved to Gordon League, who in those days were one of the stronger clubs in the area.

“They were playing at a higher standard,” he said. “They were playing in South West 1 and we got promoted to the old National League Division 4.”

Harding spent half-a-dozen years with Gordon League before he was struck down by another back injury.

When he was fit again he returned to the Pats. “I consider them to be my rugby home,” he said.

“I just played lower level rugby to start with but I got back into the first team and played a couple of seasons for them.”

He also linked up with his old mate Dave Kingscott.

“He was playing quite a lot at number 8 by then,” recalled Harding. “He used to bind by putting his hands in my pockets which he used to then rip. I’m sure he did it on purpose, he cost me a fortune in new shorts!”

Another back injury put Harding on the sidelines again and when he returned to action it was to Newent where he enjoyed four successful seasons as player/coach, being part of a couple of promotions as the Forest of Dean club climbed the divisions.

But when he left Newent, he left rugby.

“I was a season-ticket holder at Gloucester but I missed more games than I went to,” said the father-of-two who lives in Gloucester with his wife Deb.

“I was out of club rugby from 2004/05 until 2021.”

So what had changed in rugby when he returned?

“Covid,” he said, without a moment’s hesitation. “It’s had such a big impact and it’s such a big issue.

“There just aren’t the players playing that there used to be. When I was at the Pats they’d have four or five teams, now they’re struggling to put out two.

“We’ve got a first-team squad of 27 at Brockworth and this season for the first time for five or six years we’re fielding a 2^nd XV.

“They play in the Gloucester and District 2 League and play once or twice a month, but one of the things we’re actively trying to do is to attract former players back to the club.

“We want them to return to the rugby family.”

And those ex-Brockworth players who do head back will find their old club in pretty good shape.

Scrum-half Alex Fisher has taken over as skipper from number 8 Sam Birch, who is the new vice-captain and someone who Harding describes as the club’s best player.

And while the current 1^st team are more than holding their own in Counties 2 Gloucestershire North, there is plenty of optimism for the future too.

“We’ve got a really good youth section up to under-14s,” said Harding. “The under-14s played in a final at Twickenham not so long ago and won.

“When they get to under-17s they’ll be able to play for the first team.”

But, whether clubs like it or not, they are nearly always judged on how their first team are performing, so what are the aims for Brockworth’s flagship team?

“We want to win promotion this season, although with teams like Old Pats and Stroud in the division we realise that will be difficult,” said Harding.

“It’s a good division and you can’t predict results. The only issue is that every game is a derby, which is quite telling on the players. They are putting their bodies on the line.”

Harding isn’t putting his body on the line these days, but he’s certainly putting his heart and soul into a club he fell in love with less than three years ago.