Phil Watters has packed an awful lot into his rugby life.

Still only 51, the current Cheltenham Saracens director of rugby has an impressive CV, one that is as varied as it is impressive.

He’s been a player, a coach and a referee. He’s also been an assistant referee and match official at the very top-end of the sport, rubbing shoulders with some of the best-known names in the game.

It’s been a remarkable journey, one that has taken him all around the globe. And he’s not putting away his passport anytime soon because only a few months ago he was working at the Paris Olympics as part of the Rugby Sevens for World Rugby.

Watters’ rugby story began, like it did for many in this part of the world, when he was a pupil at Cheltenham Grammar School, although he admits rugby was something he “stumbled across”.

“Cricket was always my main sport at school, but I enjoyed the rugby,” he said. “I was lucky because two of my rugby coaches at school were Peter Kingston and Ruari Maclean.”

Both of them played for Gloucester – Maclean was playing for the Cherry and Whites at the time and was a Scottish international – and their knowledge and enthusiasm certainly impressed the young Watters, so much so that he joined Cheltenham Rugby Club when he was 13 or 14.

In those days Cheltenham were renowned for having one of the best junior set-ups in the country and their Colts team were the envy of pretty much every other club in the land.

“Playing for Cheltenham Colts was special,” recalled Watters. “We used to play all the top Premiership clubs and all the Welsh sides.

“As youngsters we used to live for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.”

And that passion for the game certainly paid huge dividends.

“We were very successful,” continued Watters. “I remember one season we lost just one game, to Cardiff. We beat Northampton, Wasps, Leicester, Pontypool, Pontypridd, all the big sides.”

That defeat to Cardiff still rankles Watters.

“It was my interception pass,” he said. “I think I was playing in the centre, maybe full-back. It sticks with you over the years, you remember the high points but also some of the low ones.”

The highs far outweighed the lows, of course, and there were some very good players playing for Cheltenham Colts, including the likes of scrum-half Ben Maslen, who Watters describes as a “phenomenal player”, and captain Rich Milner.

Others from that era included Matt Mudway, Mike Crisp, who sadly passed away from MND a few years back, and Mark Pitman.

Watters went on to captain Cheltenham’s under-21s but by then he had already made his debut for the club’s 1^st XV, a game he remembers well.

“It was against Plymouth,” he said. “It was just after my 18^th birthday, if the ships were in Plymouth were a good side.”

And that day they were in.

“I got whacked by an enormous winger who broke my nose,” said Watters. “If it wasn’t for Dave Eyre running 30 metres to sort him out, I may have been in a spot of bother!”

That was a taste of what was to come in those early days for Watters.

“Cheltenham used to play regular midweek fixtures,” he said. “A lot of the older players weren’t able to play in those games so the youngsters would get called up. We used to get beaten up in the rain at places like Treorchy and Ebbw Vale.”

And while it could be tough, Watters wouldn’t have changed it for anything.

“They were phenomenal days, really enjoyable,” he said. “I played with some great Cheltenham players – Tim Clink, Geoff Cornish, Pete Lodge, Pete Holmyard, Mike Steele, Paul Sargison – those guys were tough old boys.

“Then there were the Gloucester guys – Richard Pascall, Bob Phillips, John Brain, Malcolm Preedy, Derrick Morgan, Nick Marment and Don Caskie. What a pleasure it was to train and play alongside some Kingsolm legends.

“We had a really good team and we went through the league structure and were promoted to the national League.

“We won promotion at Newbury and I played in that game with the likes of Roger Brown, John Wood, Mark Pitman and Phil Stanlake.

“Roger Brown famously missed his sister’s wedding to play in that game, I would have done the same thing.”

Watters reckons he played some 350 to 400 games for Cheltenham’s senior teams over the years and he continued: “Back in those days Cheltenham’s 2nds were exceptionally strong. I played quite a lot for the 2nds alongside the likes of Dave Parry and Pete Holmyard, but all those guys could transition to first-team rugby.”

Watters was comfortable playing full-back, centre and fly-half, so what sort of player was he?

“I was pretty safe under the high ball,” he said. “I had good hands and I was strong in defence. I wasn’t the quickest but I could run a good hard line.”

And he could place-kick.

“Kicking was my thing, I worked hard on it,” he said. “There was myself, Matt Watts and Phil Stanlake at Cheltenham, we were all good kickers.”

Watters was very good for Cheltenham and Cheltenham were very good for him, but after close on two decades with the club he decided the time was right to move on.

“I went and played for Stourbridge for three years,” said Watters, who was a police officer for many years. “I’d been selected to play for Great Britain Police and the captain Neil Mitchell, a big second row who played for Stourbridge, said I should give it a go.

“It was a tough decision, I loved Cheltenham, but it was good to be exposed to National 1 rugby and also play against some Championship teams.”

He played alongside some good players such as Ben Harvey, Joe Ewens and Duncan Hughes, and also against some good teams, including Moseley and Coventry.

By now Watters had gravitated towards playing 12 and he said: “My job was easy, I just ran straight lines and then left it to the good players to take over!”

Watters returned to Cheltenham in 2006 as player/coach but soon after his return his playing career was cut short by injury.

“I transitioned into coaching, I took my coaching badges at Hartpury College,” he said.

But his coaching soon took a back seat because ex-Premiership assistant referee Alan Biggs and former World Cup referee Chris White told him that with his background he should become a referee.

“They told me I’d be a better referee than I was a player,” he said. “I very quickly transitioned into refereeing.”

He certainly did because in his first season he took charge of 86 games.

“I refereed the juniors, schools, universities, league games on a Saturday, women’s games,” he said. “I threw myself into it to see if I liked it.”

He certainly did like it and, just as importantly, he was good at it.

“I was able to communicate with the players on the pitch,” he said. “And because of my background as a police officer I was able to spot any trouble and deal with it. I enjoyed that.”

Watters was in his mid-30s when he took up the whistle, which is later than most top-level referees, but he was a very quick learner and good enough to get all the way up to the Championship.

However, that was to be as far as he would go as a referee.

“It was about 2014 and I was told I was doing very well but they said they weren’t going to invest any more time in me because I was too old,” explained Watters.

“But they said, ‘Why don’t you become an assistant referee?’. So I became a flag waver.”

There’s a lot more to being an assistant referee than just waving a flag, of course, and unsurprisingly, Watters was a very good assistant referee.

He also became a very good match official and said: “I was the number 4 official at three World Cup games in 2015 and I’ve been the fourth official at 6 Nations games.

“I’ve been involved as a match official in more than 200 Premiership games and 35-40 European club games.

“I’ve been to La Rochelle, Toulouse, Toulon and many more French clubs. I’ve been to Russia, the Maccabiah Games in Israel, I’ve refereed in New England in the US and in Italy.”

They were all great experiences and Watters loved every minute, but put him on the spot and he’ll say that French club rugby is a different level.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “All the superstars are involved, the crowds are incredible, it’s fantastic. To be part of it was an honour and a privilege.”

Watters, a dad of four, retired as an assistant referee and match official at the end of last season but he remains an integral part of the global game through the World Sevens.

Former New Zealand referee Paddy O’Brien got him on board and he worked at the recent Olympics supporting O’Brien, Craig Joubert and the teams of match officials for the event.

“It was without doubt the highlight of my rugby involvement,” he said. “I was part of the performance management team.

“I will continue to work for World Rugby on the 7s circuit, it’s a fantastic environment.”

Creating the right environment is a huge part of what makes rugby at all levels so special, of course.

The sport has its own very unique culture and Watters is tapping into that now that he is director of rugby at Cheltenham Saracens.

He is in his third season with the club and is clearly having an impact as they push for promotion from Counties 3 Gloucestershire North.

And it should come as no surprise that the club are doing well because Watters has been there and done it in the past.

“I started coaching when I was in the police a few years ago,” he explained. “I was backs coach of the newly-formed England Police set-up for two or three years and then I was director of rugby for four years.”

Watters stood down from that role in 2021 when he left the police, so how did he end up at Cheltenham Saracens?

“I was playing golf with Neil Francis,” he explained. “He said Sarries were looking for a new coach and would I be interested.

“They were in a transitional phase and they were struggling, but I liked the idea of the challenge.”

And it certainly was a challenge because Saracens were relegated in his first season and finished mid-table last time out.

“It was a very tough first season,” admitted Watters. “We had limited players and limited commitment.

“We lost every game but relegation was the best thing that happened to us, it gave us time to take stock.

“I said it was now about re-establishing ourselves, going on a journey and showing togetherness.”

The club won the Cheltenham Combination Junior Cup last season and Watters continued: “That was a big turning point. If there isn’t player commitment I can’t do too much but some of the older guys could see that things were happening.”

And they’ve continued that form this season with Watters excited by some of the younger players coming through into the senior ranks.

“We have a very good relationship with the Colts, that transition is key,” he said.

“Adie Clarke and Matt Dawson are doing a brilliant job, the Colts are firing.

“The future is the youth. Five or six of last year’s Colts have played first-team rugby this season and two or three are regulars, but I don’t want them to be over-exposed.”

The club’s newly-formed 2^nd XV will help them adjust to adult rugby and Watters continued: “At the moment we’re thriving. After Christmas eight or nine of the Colts will be 18 and my plan is to involve them in the Junior Combination Cup rugby.”

Watters has brought in forwards coach Josh Stevens and backs coach Buster Mazowiec to work alongside him this season and the new set-up is working.

“We all learn from each other and challenge each other,” he said. “We’ve got a great bunch of guys at the club.

“It’s a proper grassroots club, we want to keep the club going and have fun.”

And Watters has been having fun ever since he first laced up a pair of rugby boots four decades ago.

“I’ve been super privileged,” said Watters, who is married to Erica. “I love rugby and I’ve embraced every phase of the game that I’ve been involved in. I loved playing, refereeing, being an assistant referee and a match official. I love what I do now.”

Watters is still in full-time employment so how does he find the time to fit in all his rugby commitments?

“I have a very supportive wife,” he said with a laugh. “She understands my passion for the game.”