Ben Smith, the new head coach of Stroud Rugby Club, is looking forward to the new season.

The 36-year-old will lead the club in the newly-formed Counties 2 Gloucestershire in 2025/26, a division which will see them take on the likes of Smiths, Old Patesians and Dursley.

But although the 12-strong division is new, many of the teams in it will be familiar to Smith, who was part of the coaching set-up at Old Pats for six years.

Stroud only just made it into the division – they finished fifth in Counties 2 Gloucestershire North last season – but Smith said: “I like a challenge.

“The club did well to get into Counties 2 Gloucestershire, it’s going to be tough, there are some really strong teams.”

There certainly are, with the rest of the division made up of Bream, Cheltenham North, Cinderford 2nds, Frampton Cottrell, Old Elizabethans, Old Richians, St Mary’s OBs and Tewkesbury. 

“It’s going to be a real challenge but I’m not looking short-term,” said Smith, who will be without club captain Sam Leworthy with an ACL injury for the first half of the season.

“I’m building for the next three to five years, it will take time. I want the players to play to the best of their ability and have fun along the way, the results will look after themselves.

“I don’t want them worrying about their position in the table, I want them to enjoy their rugby.”

Smith took on the job in the summer and when he spoke to The Local Answer he’d been in the role for only three to four weeks, but he said the early signs were good.

“The boys are hard workers,” he said. “They’re all doing extras after training and away from training. There’s a great culture, their energy is really good.”

And Stroud are a really good club, of course, a club that have been in existence since 1873 and one that went toe-to-toe with the likes of Gloucester, Leicester and Harlequins back in the day.

“They are a proper town club and a proper rugby club,” said Smith, a former head coach at Ledbury. “They’re more than 150 years old, they’re a sleeping giant, they’re a big town club similar to Ledbury.”

Ledbury were playing in Regional 2 Midlands West alongside the likes of Cheltenham last season, which is a couple of levels above Stroud.

“Hopefully in the next two or three years we’ll make an impact,” said Smith. “The aspiration for any club is to go up the league, but everything has to be right for that to happen.”

Smith has an impressive CV. He works for the RFU as a club developer, he’s head coach of Gloucestershire Under-20s and was in sole charge of the Pats at the end of last season following a coaching restructure.

And he’ll soon be meeting up with his old club because Stroud’s first home fixture of the new campaign is against Old Patesians on Saturday 13^th September.

The Pats have appointed former Gloucester forward Chris Raymond as their new head coach and Smith is looking forward to locking horns with his former charges.

“I’m excited,” he said. “It will be good to see some good friends and see how the boys play, although it will be a bit weird because I’ve known a lot of them for a long time.”

Stroud open their league campaign at last season’s Counties 3 Gloucestershire North champions Tewkesbury and while all eyes will be on the club’s flagship men’s team, there’s a lot more happening at the club.

“There’s so much going on,” said Smith, a married dad-of-two who lives in Gloucester. “The Nomads and the Colts are a big part of the club, getting the transitions right from youth to Colts and senior rugby is so important.

“The club are also hoping to get a women’s team up and running.”

Some of those teams will enjoy the thrill of Friday night rugby under the lights at Formehall Park and Smith is a big fan.

“It’s a very exciting time for the club,” he said.