Gloucester City AFC midfielder Joe Hanks reflects on the pain of the play-off-final loss, the challenges of being a policeman and playing high-level football, and why the club is in a good place on and off the pitch.
Watch the full interview with Joe Hanks below:
The pain lingers
The dust may have settled on a heavy defeat in the Southern League Premier South play-off final, but seasoned Gloucester City AFC midfielder Joe Hanks told Sport and Life it’s still hard to take.
Especially as the team had fallen at the final hurdle in 2025 too.
“It was a tough end for us. Two years in a row falling short. It was really raw at the start.
“You always look back at what ifs and what could have been done differently etcetera. But it was just tough to take, especially in the manner of how the second half went in that final.
“You see them celebrating at the end and obviously our fans that turned up, and sold out their allocation, all disappointed and gutted and essentially that’s where we’re at.”
Leaving Cheltenham Town for Gloucester City
Hanks’ pain at the 5-1 defeat at Farnham is palpable.
But promotion to the National League North may have lead to a familiar dilemma for Hanks, with the player observing that a lot of sides in that division are full-time.
Alongside playing high-level football Hanks has built a career in the police to complement Gloucester’s semi-pro setup.
He had originally dreamed of being a footballer by trade – and made 37 league appearances for Cheltenham Town between 2012 and 2016.
But in that period he’d had two loan spells at Gloucester City and when released by the Robins he decided to build his football career alongside a solid day job – in the city of his birth.
“The decision at Cheltenham was taken out of my hands. The manager Gary Johnson told me early on I wasn’t going to get another year.
“I was 21, what do I do? I look at young kids coming through and I look at them and think what are you going to do if you don’t get the next contract?
“I was worried about getting to the sort of age I am now (31) and not knowing what I was going to do with myself.”
“I’m glad that I don’t have any regrets. I’m glad I did what I’ve done.”
To be pro or not to be pro
Something I’ve learned in recent years speaking to footballers for Sport and Life is that life in that grey area between part-time and full-time can lead to some tough decisions and some soul-searching.
And six years ago Hanks had to leave his home-city club because they wanted to go pro.
“Gloucester went full time at one point, which is why I left and went to Chippenham.
“I was working shifts at the time, and you can’t work a night shift and then play. I just didn’t see it working.
“So thankfully not doing shifts anymore, haven’t done for a number of years, which is quite good.”
Not only has Hanks finished a taxing period doing night shifts, his current role with the police fits nicely alongside his football commitments.
“Work are brilliant and support me with the football side of things. I’m able to fully commit with Gloucester, which is great.
“When I first joined Gloucestershire Police, I was on the front line, but now I’m office based, especially with the football side of things.”
Of course, logistics were a big concern for all involved with Gloucester City. Made homeless by the 2007 floods the club had spells of ground sharing with several clubs over 13 years – often playing home games quite a distance from Gloucester.
“In my first spell at Gloucester we were at Cheltenham’s ground, then Evesham, Cirencester and Forest Green.
Great scenes at Gloucester
Then Gloucester went full-time and I left. So thankfully I’ve come back the last three seasons and had some good moments, good times and some good scenes with some goals and some celebrations.”
A look at Gloucester City’s social media feeds corroborates Hanks’ reports of great scenes at the newly refurbished Meadow Park with its rain-repelling artificial turf.
But he’s determined one even bigger celebration will come next spring.
“It’s all worked out quite nicely so far. I just need that promotion at the end of it, I think and hopefully this year can be the one.
