AFC Bournemouth, the Fall and Rise

Neil Meldrum

Description

AFC Bournemouth: The Fall and Rise is the ultimate rags-to-riches football story, exploring how a small lower-league club on the south coast fought back against all the odds to reach the riches of the English Premier League. With fascinating insights from renowned manager Eddie Howe and all the key players, the book reflects on the club's day of destiny against Bolton Wanderers in April 2015, when Premier League promotion was secured just six years after the club almost went out of existence. Former captain Tommy Elphick candidly reveals how Howe plotted the Cherries' route out of the Championship, while club legend Steve Fletcher tells the emotionally charged story of his return - and the goal in 2009 that halted the club's slide into non-league. Howe, meanwhile, provides amazing detail into how he took a club on the brink to the top of the beautiful game.

Sujets

• Dorset

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 04 octobre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785314735
• Langue: English

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2018
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Neil Meldrum, 2018
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 978-1-78531-442-1
eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-473-5
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Eddie Howe
Introduction
Prologue: Dream the Impossible Dream
1. Setting the Scene 2003-06
2. Head Examination 2006-08
3. We ve Got No Chance 2007/08
4. The Rookie 2009
5. The Big Man Cometh 2009
6. On the Up 2009/2010
7. The End of an Era 2010/11
8. Paving the Way 2011/12
9. The Miracle Man Returns 2012/13
10. So Close Yet So Far 2013/14
11. The Promised Land
Epilogue: Up With the Big Boys
The Miracle Men from League Two to the Premier League
League Tables 2008-2016
For Neve and Caleb... My two constants from League Two to the Premier League xx
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I ALWAYS thought I had a book in me. But having worked in the relentless, cut-to-the-quick newspaper industry since my early twenties, I can only admire the likes of Mike Calvin, Ian Ridley, Matt Dickinson and Ian Herbert for simply finding the time to craft and polish their extended prose to such an awe-inspiring standard. They are the benchmark and the inspiration.
Leaving the Daily Echo after 15 years in 2017 was not as much of a wrench as I had feared. My time had come, as it does for most senior newspaper executives in a media age where making both print and digital pay becomes harder with every passing week. I departed with handshakes, embraces and fond memories - none more ingrained in my psyche than my time as sports editor, covering AFC Bournemouth between 2006 and 2015.
I must pay tribute to the people who got me to this point, who believed in me when a career underwriting mortgages beckoned.
The late Neal Butterworth, a giant of regional journalism and a loss to it still felt today, gave me my first freelance job at the Echo - sub-editing sports pages on Sunday afternoons - before offering me a permanent position in 2002 as I was about to book myself in for CMAP revision. I miss his wisdom, his wit and his love of the Beautiful Game.
Andy Goodall, my first sports editor, recommended I take the reins despite me being just 26 and with a mere four years of press experience. I am forever grateful for that opportunity.
A man I had first met as a student in 1999, Neil Perrett is a well-known and much admired reporter on the AFC Bournemouth beat. From the old school, he taught me too much to mention here, then embraced my role as his boss despite the gap in years. More importantly than that, he is a friend and I thank him for so many laughs, for red wine and Wensleydale, ill-advised bets and so many near misses on the M6. His name features heavily in this book, such is the influence he carries around the corridors of Dean Court.
My other colleagues on the Echo sports desk over the years, Ian Wadley, whose help proofreading this book was much appreciated, Ned Payne and Paul McNamara in particular, also provided professionalism and good humour often in the face of impossible workloads. They are some of the most dedicated people I have ever met and ever will.
My thanks, also, to Andy Martin, who made me his deputy editor in 2015 but allowed me to continue covering AFC Bournemouth and who permitted me to raid the Echo s picture archive and print the astonishingly good images you see in this book.
I met a wonderful bunch of journalists over the years covering the Cherries. Graham Nickless of The Sun , Alex Crook of M Y News Agency and Kris Temple, Johnny Cantor, Paul Scott and Andrew Hawes of the BBC must all be thanked for their banter and expertise in their fields. I was also lucky enough to bend the ears of the likes of Kevin Kilbane, the former Republic of Ireland midfielder, and other high-profile pundits.
Thanks, also, to Jacqui Oatley, who offered her support in promoting this book. I first met her covering the Cherries match at Brighton s Withdean Stadium in 2010 and I can confirm she does have lovely eyes ( she ll get the joke )
During my time covering the club, I met some seriously talented footballers and some wonderfully honest, down-to-earth and humble sportsmen. The likes of Warren Cummings, Danny Hollands, Neil Young, Mark Molesley, Stephen Purches, Marvin Bartley, Alan Connell, Brett Pitman, Matt Tubbs, Shwan Jalal, Shaun Cooper, Anton Robinson, Ryan Garry, Josh McQuoid, Steve Fletcher, Steve Lovell, Danny Ings, Marc Pugh, Harry Arter, Simon Francis, Shaun MacDonald, Steve Cook and Tommy Elphick were and are a pleasure to deal with. Most, if not all, fronted up during the tough times and faced difficult questions. I thank them for that.
I must also mention the managers. Kevin Bond faced an impossible task but did so with grace and a smile. He was still smiling when I met him late in 2017 for this book and I thank him for his honesty and for his time.
Also Lee Bradbury, a loyal and sincere man who wiped the slate clean to meet me and discuss one of the club s most tumultuous periods. We fell out, had our differences as most journalists and managers do at one point or another, and wasted far too much time on phone calls where neither of us would budge. But Lee doesn t do grudges and welcomed both myself and this project into his life with open arms.
Jimmy Quinn s spell at the club was brief. He was on a hiding to nothing if truth be told, but again he dealt with the media in a professional and engaging manner even if his threat to get the boys over from Belfast does still send a shiver down my spinal cord.
The club s media team has grown along with its presence in the English game. I must thank the late Mick Cunningham, a red and black supporter through and through and a truly gifted sports photographer. He is much missed on both a personal and professional level.
Thanks go to Max Fitzgerald, the club s first proper head of media, who has gone on to achieve great things with both West Ham United and now Wolverhampton Wanderers. He banned the Daily Echo in 2012 only to find out the next day that the newspaper had banned the club in return. A learning experience for both of us, yet we remain friends.
Anthony Marshall is the club s current head of media and a former newspaper man who sees things from the other side of the fence. Thank you, Anthony, for your assistance and support alongside Becky Stimson and Rob Mitchell in the commercial department as I toiled through penning this book.
Keely Stamou, Eddie Howe s PA, was instrumental in pinning down both her boss and myself during busy schedules and thanks go to her for her patience!
As I reach a close, I must thank both Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly for their wit, commitment and unprintable humour during the most difficult of periods for the club. It s a well-known fact that had Jeff s pockets not run as deep as they do, this football club would not exist. They deserve the utmost respect. I will never forget the look on Jeff s face in the tunnel at Dean Court after the Echo boys informed him the players had just been paid in readies from a Marks Spencer carrier bag.
On a personal level, my love, admiration and heartfelt thanks go to my wife Stephanie and children Neve and Caleb simply for being there and loving me back. I could not have completed this book without their support and patience. My love for you all cannot be put into words.
I send thanks to my parents, Les and Kay, for allowing me to pursue a career in newspapers when, if they re honest, they would have preferred me to become a plumber or an electrician. I hope my successes have repaid your faith.
Finally, my respect and admiration for Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall, two of the most hard-working and inspirational people I have ever met. This story is their creation and would have been very different had Eddie not said yes, Adam on that monumental New Year s Eve of 2008.
To steal a quote from Tommy Elphick, this is their masterpiece and I thank them both. We all do.
Neil Meldrum Poole, January 2018
FOREWORD
BY EDDIE HOWE
W HO D get into football management? Me, as it happens, although I m still to this day not completely sure how it did happen.
It s a funny old game, as they say, and the night Adam Murry phoned to ask me to take the team changed my life forever.
The story of what followed has been well covered in newspaper articles and TV documentaries but those only tell part of the tale. This is the first comprehensive piece of writing to document everything that happened to this wonderful football club from the summer of 2006 to that glorious, memorable night in April 2015 when we sealed Premier League promotion.
I have tried and failed on many occasions to put it all into words, but one thing I can say is that it has been a journey inspired and underpinned by dedication, hard work and a lot of very talented and loyal people in the playing squad, management team and behind the scenes.
This is the story of what can be achieved when those things come together. Our club motto is Together, Anything is Possible and it really is. I feel both humble and proud to have played a part in the football club s rise to the Premier League.
This is also a story written by someone who, alongside his colleagues at the Daily Echo in Bournemouth, witnessed f