There was a richly-deserved presentation to Joe Hanks ahead of Saturday’s game in recognition of him reaching 300 appearances for Gloucester City.
Described by his own club as a ‘goalscoring freak of a midfielder’, Hanks followed up his midweek brace in an entertaining 3-3 draw at fellow high-flyers, Farnham Town, with his seventh goal of the season in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Basingstoke Town, a result which strengthens City’s position at the top of the Pitching In Southern League Premier South table.
“I’m extremely proud to break through the 300-game milestone,” Hanks told us. “It’s an honour to play so many times for my home city and I hope that there are many more appearances to come.
“This is a fantastic club and I’m glad to be part of it. To be back playing in the city and seeing attendances continue to rise is brilliant.
“We’ve already created some memorable moments on the pitch since coming back here and having fallen just short in the play-off final last season, we’re even more determined to go one better this time around.”
Such long-service is becoming increasingly rare in the modern game, so what’s the secret behind such longevity?
“There’s no secret as far as I am concerned,” he replied with a smile. “I just love being here and want to be successful.
“I’ve been fortunate to make lifelong friends at the club and just feel blessed to be part of things here every time that I step onto the pitch.
“To be fair, I’ve always had great support from the Gloucester City fans and that is a massive factor. They took to me straight away and I’ve got to know them well over the years.
“Their backing has been important so far this season where we’ve made a solid start, but at the same time, we’re not getting too carried away.
“There are a lot of good teams involved in this League this season and they all have the same aims and ambitions to get promoted.
“As far as we are concerned, the management have put together a competitive squad and hopefully we can be successful and go one better than last time out when we just missed out in the play-off final.
“The standard of non-League football is getting stronger across all levels every year. Each opponent provides its own challenges and you have to be switched on for every game, as will be the case this weekend when we go to Hartpury in the FA Trophy.
“They have made fantastic strides in recent years and are now flying high at the level below us. The fact that it’s also a local derby will add extra spice to the occasion, so we’ll go into it fully focussed and determined to continue our solid start to the campaign.”
So, what are the aims and targets for 2025/26?
“Personally I want to try and score more goals than last season,” he added. “I got 26 last time and sit on seven now; as a team we definitely want to go one better than last season and get ourselves back into Step 2.
“There’s nothing I want more than to see Gloucester City promoted this season and I will be doing all that I can to help make it happen.
“As for another 300 games, who knows? It still doesn’t get me close to the legend that is Tom Webb who racked up 719 appearances, but I’ll definitely try to play for the club for as long as I can!”
IMAGE: Gloucester City AFC
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