In another exclusive interview here at UTCIAD, Matt Harrison is joined by former AFC Bournemouth Centre Back Karl Broadhurst who was part of the School of Excellence before having a fruitful career with the club playing in over 190 games before moving onto Hereford United.
Here Karl talks openly about the players he got on well with during his time at the club, the rise of Eddie Howe and if he saw what success was to follow and of course his great relationship with the one and only Big’Un! Of course Steve Fletcher with plenty of stories.
Karl talks about his early days growing up in Hayling Island and his influences in the sport plus his challenges with injuries. Steve Evans gets a mention who he worked with at Crawley Town plus we cover off his time at Telford United and Solihull Moors where he got his first coaching position.
Finally we wrap off with what he does at Wolverhampton Wanderers and whats next for Karl Broadhurst.
We hope you enjoy this interview with Karl and we thank him for joining us.
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[Music] [Applause] hello cherries fans and welcome to up the cherries in all departments today I’m joined by a former player who started out within the School of Excellence who went on to Captain the club and is now a youth team coach at wolver Hampton wanders today I’m joined by former Defender car Wurst hi Co welcome to the show thanks for having me it’s a it’s a pleasure yeah now it’s great thanks for uh agreeing to come on um so born in Portsmouth what was it like growing up during the 80s in in pompy um I actually lived in a little island called haling Island um so I was born in Portsmouth but lived in a little island um haling Island it was um had a really good childhood to be fair because it was obviously a small island with with lots of beaches so my life was something like out of a movie if I was if I’m honest so you know cycling my mates down to the beach spending all day down the beach and then going home for dinner and then having a kick about um in the field so yeah it was um it was good time um and and football was you know wasn’t prevalent in my life on the early stages but then I sure we’ll allude to it later on that it came into my life at a later stage okay exellent um who were Your footballing Heroes you know which players did you admire um being a center half and an Arsenal fan Tony Adams he was kind of uh my role model in terms of you know out andout Defender and then how he sort of changed his career towards the end when arson venger came in I think most people saw Tony Adams as he had the nickname of the donkey just a big head on the stick who would you know eat eat Center forwards alive but then he actually showed a really um sort of mature and um how do I put it like a flare to his game I don’t think anyone really seen and I think arson Wenger managed to tease that out of him in the lat stages of his career so that showed the measure of the man really that he could adapt his game even at a very late stage in his career to sort of the demands of what arser wanted for his Arsenal team yeah excellent um before joining Bournemouth which teams did you represent during your youth days um it was just a local side um called haling St Andrews um so just to give you a brief overview really I didn’t particularly like football that much um and then it was probably around 10 or 11 where I started to get into it having a kick around with my mates in the in the um in the playground and then I got invited to um go and train for the team that they’re all playing for um had a little trial did well um and then that was the team that I stayed uh with until obviously I signed forms with with Bournemouth and couldn’t no longer um play for my Sunday League side so yeah it was just haing St Andrews and then obviously school games and things like that really so that was that was my sort of early Inception of of getting um you know my foot under foot in the door in terms of playing football and then going onto my Bournemouth Journey excellent who was your biggest inspiration as as you developed as a young player um I’d have to say my dad to start with um because he was from a young age he was trying to encourage me to get into football he’ try and make me watch football and stuff like but I just I was quite resistant if I’m honest I had other activities that I like to do I was I was um I really enjoyed Athletics and things like that so that was a passion of mine um but some like I said just something after I think it was after the 1990 World Cup um something just clicked really I watched the England team and you know the famous gascoin scenes of him crying and you know getting knocked out on penalties by West Germany something sort of ignited a passion in me there in terms of seeing you know the emotions attached to football and then that’s kind of how we got into it and then my dad was um kind of the inspiration in terms of helping me and helping me develop so he would take me out and you know do some stuff with me to help me learn the game quickly because obviously I was entering the game relatively late um so I was behind all the other boys so it was kind of a fast learning process really and he to be fair he put a lot of time into try and just help me to like sort of nail down those those Foundation those fundamentals of the game really okay so you mentioned the 1990 World Cup there is it right that you admired pet Peter Shon and you started out as a goalkeeper yeah so the way it was you know we we we H you know what it’s like back to the 80s early 90s um if you weren’t very good at football you normally just chopped in goal um so like all all my mates were like look just get in Gold because you don’t know how to play football and um I liked it it was just um it played to my strength I was quite an agile kid um so I was you know pulling off the these worldy saves in the playground and obviously that ignited my passion for football but then I was obviously looking at what other goalkeepers were doing and you know Peter shilon I think he had a really good World Cup that that World Cup as well so um just had a little look at him really uh trying to learn from him um and then yeah just throwing myself around on the playground like a nutcase it was it was good fun Yes sounds like it I mean at the age of 12 he joined airc bourma School of Excellence um what can you remember from the setup at Dean Court of the time um we were based at uh chapelgate I believe that was where the center of used to take place um and also at the little down Center have a sort of 4G there so that was kind of where we were based at the center of excellence um and if memory serves me correctly we would train twice a week so um obviously traveling from haling Island that’s just over an hours drive um and I just remember um when I was first bought into the center of excellence kind of had a like a little trial period and then I was showing around Dean Court um and we all know what the old Dean Court was like it was a you know you know uh it seen better days but it had a had a certain Nostalgia about it um and you know it was it was dilapidated in certain areas but when it was full it had a certain charm about it and I just remember being shown round obviously the change rooms and stuff you know as a as a 12-y old boy it all it was all just fascinating to me and I’ve never really been in a in a stadium or anything like that before um and then yeah as I said we were based at chapelgate which was at the time was decent facilities I remember um and yeah that was kind of what I remember uh you got unat it’s a long long time ago I’m getting old now so try to that long ago um it’s a bit difficult but yeah I just remember everyone just being really warm and welcoming um remember my first couple of training sessions all the boys were uh Rel there was quite a few new Lads at the time I think theyd had an influx of of trialists um and I think there was two two Lads from my Sunday League side had come up with me as well so that that made it a little bit more easy for me in terms of like you know amalgamating into the group unfortunately their tries weren’t successful and mine were and then you know kind of the rest is history really well sh Driscoll was one of the coaches that that coached you um we touch on him a little bit more more later with the first team um but as a youth coach how did he impact your development as a player um he’s had a really big influence in terms of how I coach now um I think Sean um I don’t I’m not going to speak out of turn here I don’t think he was appreciated for um his sort of approach to the game even when he was like first team manager he would always encourage us boys to take ownership of our development ourselves and give us the confidence and also the license to change things so I remember you know when I was playing in first games he would if I wanted to change the system or something he would back me to do it um and he would trust that we were doing it for the right reasons and I think there’s not many managers that would give that ownership to their play players and that trust in their players and I think he made us think about the game in a different way um I know sha can be a bit prickly and a bit spiky especially in the media um and I think he got a bit of a bad rap but that was his way of kind of protecting the players and himself um but yeah training sessions were were excellent they were always like really thought out and there was always an element of problem solving within the sessions because he was a big believer on youve got to solve problems in games so let’s replicate that in training and now I’m coaching obviously at walls and I’m working with young players that’s something that I’ve it’s kind of really stuck with me and you only have to see the kind of crop of like talent that have gone on to have like successful coaching careers that were under sha stewardship at Bournemouth it just shows the measure of the man and how good he was and how certain things resonated with with individuals and how their coaching career have kind of taken a similar vein to the way sha coached yeah ni totally agree there um which players at the club during your youth days did you enjoy playing with and was there any players that didn’t make it through the youth system that you thought could have could have become Pro um yeah we our youth team was quite uh we had some quite talented players in there and and obviously as you know you know the stats you know don’t lie that is a very small percentage that will actually make it into professional career so I find myself very fortunate to have had a professional career and you know I look back fondly at that um and obviously myself and kyl Fletcher were the only two that kind of made it out of our youth team to go on you know and have a pro contract to Bournemouth but yeah uh my roommate um Jody Welsh lad I think he was from Barry Barry Town um little tricky um Striker um physically wasn’t um as developed some of the other boys but his his brain was really quick he was very sharp um he had an eye for goal as well um I really enjoyed playing with him um I used to enjoy having battles with him in training as well because I’d go up against him at times and he would help me develop my defending because I was the big one of trying to um make sure I was going up against the best in training to develop myself so he was one that helped me sort of develop my defensive side of my game uh we had a a midfielder called Rob Johnson as well um technically very good player um had a really good engine on him as well um and he was one of those players in Midfield that if I was playing out from the back as a center back I could trust him with the ball um I think that’s a big thing you know with when you’re playing in the team with players you got to trust you know that you know given them the B you got to have that level of trust and he was one that you could kind of go to um and I think if he spoke to KL Fletcher he would agree that him and Rob had a really good partnership um in that youth team Midfield and uh that was an area where we were very strong and we would dominate the opposition in that area Okay um during your time in the uh youth setup at the club obviously the club was going through a lot of uh difficulties sort of financially um we had receiver ship uh we had the save the cherries campaign the winter gens meeting and then eventually we created the first Community owned Club in Europe um were you aware about all the dire situations at the club being in the youth team yeah um I was one of the ones carrying the buckets around the Winter Gardens asking fans you know to dig deep and put money in their pockets and um it was a real surreal situation really because I just um obviously left school and kind of moved to Bournemouth and and been you know I’ve got an apprenticeship scheme but that apprenticeship G um scheme may be null and void um which was obviously you know a young man moving home and stuff and and and you know wanting to forge a career in football it was a really uncertain time for us but also an uncertain time for everyone at the football club you could only see really how much it meant to all the people of Bournemouth all the fans that they just didn’t want their Club to die um you know and and the kind of resilience and the sort of um the rally and cry from the fans that we’re not going to let has happened was was was amazing really um and I think you don’t I think a lot of these it’s different now because obviously most of the fans are used to born with being in the Premier League um but the older fans will remember at the tough times where the club felt like a community club even before it become a community club and and I think that was Testament to the people of Bournemouth that you know they turned out in numbers and I remember we’re having meetings with you know like I think it was Mel Ma and Willow were like you know talking around like what’s going to be happening and um I think there was an appeal um in the Winter Gardens and Harry rnap and all other famous faces were coming on the video you know saying you know dig deep we need to save the club and stuff so um I think Bournemouth as a club had a um carried a lot of affection around the football Community um you know it’s a club that’s kind of buried in the in the in the wilderness in terms of it’s not a big football in town it’s not a big football in you know a massive Club but um it has links to Big teams so you know the links with West Ham and the likes of that so there’s a lot of affection for Bournemouth around the country and I think um a lot of people just didn’t want Bournemouth to to to fail and and and and to disappear you know and luckily um you know you know history speaks for itself that the club was saved and yeah it was it was a really strange time but also quite a galvanizing time at the same time so it was it was um it was a pleasure to be part of in a in a weird way if that makes sense yeah yeah I mean it’s it’s definitely definitely different to uh the club now um you know it’s it’s it’s amazing when you think we spent like 100 million pound in the last summer transfer window and and 20 years ago we couldn’t even find 100 grand for a player so it’s it’s amazing transformation over over the sort of last 20 25 years so um but yeah I remember those days well and uh you know you never know if you were going to your last game at Dean cor or or what you know it was worrying times but um how times have changed um the season after you we made the trip to Wembley uh for the 1998 Auto windscreen Shield final um I believe you’re still in the youth team at the time if I remember rightly um but as you were sort of in and around the first team did you get the chance to go up to Wembley and be part of the day with the first team or yeah it wasn’t um with the squad though it was kind of we were given tickets um friends and family were given tickets um so yeah I did I did traveled up um I went with my mom um and we watched the game um and yeah I was I was kind of wasn’t in and around the first team as such I was kind of used in training sessions as kind of like a body or or a mannequin or as you would say then you know if they an extra extra body um so yeah it was um yeah it was it was a it was a good day and a bad day at the same time because obviously I think Eddie played in that game and obviously he was a a youth team graduate so it was really nice to kind of see that there was a pathway at the club for young players to come through um and I believe he had he had a decent game that game as well and um if memory says me correctly we lost on Golden Goal so that was one of the first Finals to be um sort of won on a Golden Goal um but yeah it was a again it was an amazing day for me as a young player to see you know like a packed Wembley um and my team playing at Wembley so it just it was one of those days where it kind of spurred you on to actually you know the getting on that first team pitch is a tangible outcome for me so yeah it was um it was a it was a good and bad day for that not a bad day in terms of result um but a good day in terms of you know helping me with my development and like I said seeing a pathway into that first team yeah yeah and now you know I was 13 at the time and uh great experience but then um heartbreaking from the fans point of view but um yeah yeah great memories um so you touched on it there while you were part of the youth um Squad you did um train with the first team how did that come about is it just a case like you say just to make up um numbers or was there because there was an Insight from M that you thought that you would eventually become part of the first team yeah I think um there was a longterm ey for me to be around the first team but you know when we used to train at chapelgate uh the youth team we used to train like right alongside the first team so um it’s it’s very different now but back in the day it was like if there was an injury or a player pulled out in training um the gaffer would shout out to Shan I need a player and then he would send one that he thought thought would be a to cope um and it be sent over or it would be the first team need the goals moving so our training session had to completely stop we’d go move the goals for the first team and then we’ll carry on cracking on with our training session so um yeah I I dipped in in and around the first team a couple of times just when they needed an extra body but I think there what there had been discussions between um Mel and sha in terms of like players that they saw um that could develop and and move into the first team from the youth team and and as I said like myself and car lecher were the ones that made it so I think there was conversations around us two um and then the following season we were around the first team pretty much all the time so um I think that little that approach of little and often was quite good it gets you used to that environment and you know the first team like to make it known that you’re the young player in the group and they test you in certain areas so it’s nice to have that little test and then come back into your own group and um trying to remain humble as well so you know you might have trained with the first team on the Tuesday but then on the Wednesday you scrubbing the showers and and doing all that business around around Dean court so um yeah it was a it was it a great learning curve for me and like I said The Following season um I had more exposure to the first team and then sort of kicked on from there really yeah so let’s talk about your debut I mean breaking into the first team um you made your debut against uh Charon in the league cup I believe I remember rightly um I think they were pushing for the Premier League at the time they were quite high up in the old first division um and your debut you got scored a nine out of 10 man of the match in the daily Echo what what memories of your debut have you got uh a lot um I remember it was a bit of a worldwind to be fair I think we we trained the day before um and I know we’re the first team at the time were’re playing a back three then um and I think it was I can’t remember who was injured but like someone had someone hadn’t trained on the Monday so I was in the first team just you know I just thought I’m just being a body to the first team we played like an 11v 11 bit of a shape game to to go through some stuff how we how we’re going to play on the Tuesday um and after training like some other Lads were saying I think you’re going to start I think you’re going to play and I was like no don’t be silly like just brushing it off like don’t be silly and then um obviously traveled down um to the F traveled down on the Tuesday um morning down to London and just in and around the hotel and um Willow pulled me he said like car needs beat to and I went okay cool he went I don’t doing it at the right time or not but you’re going to be starting tonight just thought I’d let you know so I want you to get your head around that and then that was it so like obviously the nerves um started straight away and then I was obviously on the phone to my parents letting them know so um they they were scrabbling around I said I can leave tickets for you so like they they were like obviously you know really excited but nervous for me at the same time um and then you know they managed to watch the game which was great and then um just the time in the hotel was a bit of a blur really because I was just like obviously really nervous um and it was a big game you’re right at the time I think CH were top of the league and they actually got promoted to the Premier League that year so they had a really good side um and they played their full they played their full strength side against us as well because OB they were home they weren’t messing around um and I just remember before the game um The Lads were brilliant with me like Ian Cox um John Bailey and that were just getting around me like because they were the older heads in the change room just you know you’re here because you deserve to be go and enjoy the experience you know you know first couple of touches just try and get some good touches in the game win your first Contact win your first header or tackle and that will settle you down um the game if I’m honest mate I can’t remember much of it I just remember Snippets because again it was just a blur um the only thing that sticks in my mind is I remember um it was a draw at the time and Andy Hunt was playing up front for them which was a weird turn of events really because my dad’s a massive West Brom fan and i’ I’d actually watched Andy Hunt at West Brom um so to be playing against someone I’ve actually watched before was was really surreal um and I just remember a cross came in from the right hand side um looping at the far post and Andy Hunt was lining up this header to go and score and I managed to just flip the ball away from him um and it was right in front of all the bourma fans and they they went mentor and all all the lads were like you know that was you unbelievable interception because it was a it was a it was a shoeing for a goal um and then that was it and then the final whistle went and then I just remember um clapping the the bourma fans and and coxy got me and he went get to the front young and you deserve this and he pushed me to the front and I was just clapping the fans and it was just I managed to see like my parents and my mom was absolutely crying her eyes out like she couldn’t catch her breath and it was just um I don’t know it was almost like an out of Body Experience like you’ve you’ve dreamed of becoming a footballer and you know you’ve done all the hard graft you know in the youth team the club almost going bus going under and then you’ve just gone to Top of the championship side and and got a draw and and to be fair I thought we deserve I thought we deserved more than that in the game and then obviously I know I knew I’d played relatively well and then just getting the agulation from the fans and that it was um it was a really really special moment it’s something that my memory is not great anymore because I think for heading all those balls up that’s something I don’t think that will’ll ever leave me until until my dying day yeah it was just um unbelievable experience and something that I try and talk to my boy about it now because he’s into football and try and explain to him but I can’t convey the emotions I was feeling at the time um yeah really special day yeah yeah thanks for sharing that that’s uh it’s a great vision of a debut there um but after your debut and I don’t know if I’ve got this quro completely right but Sean o Driscoll said something to you along the lines of um you’ve got it now you’ve made it and the hardest part is staying there um what kind of what did that advice do for you um I think that was the way sha worked it was about snapping you back to reality like I said said the next day um I I I went and trained um so like most of the lads had the day off um like Sean called me in and he said look amazing achievement getting into the first team but that’s not the hard job the hard job now is staying and and and kind of having a career um and at the time I don’t think I fully appreciate what I appreciate what he’s saying because I had a lot of respect for sha and when he said when he told you something you listened um but not not probably not until the latest of my career that I really appreciated what he said um and kind of how it resonated me at the time but I didn’t fully appreciate it that he was basically trying to say look you’ve had your debut but there’s many young players that have that you know have a season in first team football and then for whatever reason they fall out fall out of the game or they drop down the league so it was basically what you’re saying was you made your davut which is a great achievement but try and have a longevity in your career Now by doing all the things right and having that sort of humble approach to your game um because it’s only one game um and as you know you’re only as good as as as sort of your last game so if your next game’s not great and you’re not in the first team then you know the debut becomes irrelevant so um Shan was really good like that and I think we’d obviously developed that relationship with him being my youth team coach for so many years and um sha was never um scared to speak frankly to people and I really respected that um I’m the type of person uh I just want to know and I want people to be direct with me and he he me and him had that relationship and um yeah those those words did did live with me and and through sort of like hard times in my career I would you know go back to those that day when he pulled me and just said look you know do all you can basically saying do all you all you can to stay the game okay excellent um if we could just uh briefly um talk about melm um who was manager at the time when you broke into the first team um how did you find him as a coach and a manager um I would say he was the archetype of manager where I’d say sha adris was um like a first team coach so I know like you know Everyone likes to use fancy words for different job titles in that nowadays but I would say he was a manager he would kind of make decisions um around the first team and stuff and Willow would kind of take on the training role um I think they worked out that Dynamic um quite well um Mel was a hard Fast Master again he didn’t take any crap from anyone um and it was kind of his way all the highway um and he’d obviously gained that respect for you know the teams that he’ managed previously as well um but yeah I mean i’ I found him okay he gave me my debut um and you know he carried on selecting me while he was manager so for me um I thought I had a good relationship with him I didn’t speak to him on a daily basis that often I don’t think he was a big one for well he he kind of grabbed itate towards the um the older players in the group so like the leadership group like I said like the John Bailey’s and the in coxes and that um he would kind of more have a rapport with them and then I think he trusted them to filter down all the information to the to the younger lad so um yeah every time I had interactions with him they were relatively positive um probably the most I ever spoke to him was when I was signing a new contract under him we’d have a chat in his office um yeah but he was kind of one of those guys that if you knocked the door of his office you better be coming with something worth talking about otherwise you were sent straight back out the office um that was kind of how he was but he I found him a really I find him a really nice guy um and like I said I got massive respect for his his career he had in management and again he gave me my debut so I’ve got nothing but but thanks and love for him really um during obviously when you broke into the uh first team during that era um we had quite a solid back four you know names that you could always see were probably the first on the team list of the likes of Neil Young and in Cox um Eddie how and obviously like the late Jamie Vincent I mean how did these players affect you during your early early days as a player in in this uh first team setup um I think it’s just you learn I think for me it wasn’t necessarily learning um how they are as players learning how they are in terms of their habits and their behaviors the way they conduct themselves in around the training ground and also away from the ground as well um I think work ethic was a big one for me as well like seeing how much graph these players put into their game as well so it wasn’t just what you saw on a Saturday it was all the Graft in the gym all the extras on the training ground um all the studying of of of film because you got to understand back then it was still VHS going into DVD not like it is now like I see some of the access the woles boys now even at Under 12 they get everything like games clipped individual stuff put together they have a whole analysis account where back then we had to go and search and sniff out stuff ourselves um be asking the media guy could be one person you know can we have the tape from the from the game so I can have a look a look at stuff like that none of our training sessions were filmed or anything like that so um you really had to search for those little like you know those one or two perent but the way you could affect stuff was how you conducted yourself off the pitch so right diet um right lifestyle um and then massive work ethic and I think probably that’s what I took from those names that you just mentioned then they all had an unbelievable drive and work ethic and I think for a young player looking up at um how players conduct themselves in around the building I think that’s massive and then Talent is is Talent um you need that drive and that work to to make sure that your talent flourishes and that was one thing that and were hard on the young Lads as well but in the right way so when you come in you were expected to to be at the level and if you weren’t at the level then you were told pretty quickly because it’s important that you’re at the level so you again I’ll go back to that trust thing they had to make sure they trusted you as a young lad coming into the first team squad that if you did play in the first team that they could trust you to do your job um so yeah that’s kind of the main takeaways I had with with with playing with those extraordinary players yeah excellent um who was your best mate during the time at the club and and who was your roomy on the way days uh Wade Elliot so uh we were roomies for well pretty much his whole time at Bournemouth so um I don’t think I had another roomy while he was while he was there um he’s he’s Godfather to one of my children as well um so yeah we’ve we had a really close relationship obviously he came into the game late as well coming from non League um and I think he found it a bit not tough but you know bit of rabbit in the headlights at first so I I was like Josh Mo say I took him under my wing a little bit just to show him what it was all about and um obviously yeah he’s um he had a really good career at Bournemouth and again I joke that I got him his move to Burnley because I used to do all his defending for him um I’d let fany stuff that caught the eye and and I’d do all the the horrible jobs that he didn’t want to do so um yeah we had a we had a good um yeah we had a good relationship and we we were really close and you know we would you know we go for meals together we went on holiday together as well with our partners and that as well so uh yeah he was kind of the one I sort of gravitated to but um I used to get around everyone really um I just it’s it’s important that you do have those relationships with everyone listen not everyone gets on with everyone in a in a team it’s it’s it’s a fallacy if if fans think that everyone likes each other and a chang room but you have that mutual respect for each other that you are a team and you have to put those differences aside sometimes and you just make sure things are civil um and if you do have a kind of a gripe with someone that has done in in the right way um but I always just made made a point of just getting around everyone really and just finding out a little bit about each individual because you know within a team there are individuals um so yeah it was important to try and build those relationships whether they were strong or just you know soft relationships really yeah um as a homegrown player yourself uh you played alongside Eddie how and KL Fletcher um obviously both homegrown players like yourself um what was Carl like as a player and a captain um unbelievably driven um selfish but in the right way he knew what he needed for himself um to get where he wanted to get to um and I think when he when he came into the first team um I think he found a little bit rocking a bit tough at times but he was competing with some you know really good Center midfielders you know like Steve Robinson um Scott mean and so like there were some really established players in there um but he eventually found his Fe feet and then yeah he just again another player that his work rate and his Drive were were off the charts and you could kind of see as he got his feet in the first team that he probably wouldn’t be staying with Bournemouth for very long um he just had the the sort of hunger to go and push on with his career and you know he was fortunate with injuries that he got a lot of games in that as well so you know he wasn’t hampered by any big injuries and yeah his game just developed from there and then you know like I said I can’t remember the season you left but you kind of knew things were were going that way he got a call up for Wales um before he moved to West Ham um so you could kind of see that the writing was on the wall he was going but yeah um tough tough player as well like did the dirty side of the game as well but um had really good techniques on the ball and obviously he played alongside me at the back as well at times he played center of a back three um which I think helped develop his game as a midfielder as well so yeah it was a it was good playing alongside him you knew again go back to trust again you trust him to do his job um you know in some of the horrible ugly games you know like Lincoln’s away and stuff which is not really a game of football it’s just going to be heading the ball 90% of the game you could trust that he would be there and do his job and he’d be covering my back I’d be covering his back so yeah it’s um yeah but like I said you could tell he had those those traits that he wasn’t made for league league two League one football he was made for better things and you know obviously his career proved that in the end yeah that’s that is true did G on to uh represent West H and Palace I think wasn’t it yeah yeah so he had a very good career then he I think he even made an FA Cup Final yeah against Liverpool yeah yeah the Gerard final yeah that’s the one um Eddie how um we can just touch on him for a little bit um he was said to be a very intelligent Defender and a bit ahead of his time when he was at Bournemouth um when coxy Departed I think you made a partnership for quite some time you and Eddie what what was it like partnering Eddie at the back um again another player that kind of looked up to and and tried to learn from really um we were both different in terms of Center half like he was technically better than me that’s probably the area where I wasn’t as strong um but also for a center half that was kind of you know I’m not I’m not speaking out a turn here he was short of stature for a center half in those days um but athletically was excellent um and like said his brain was ever so quick that he was one of those Defenders where he would know where the ball was going to be before it was played so he sort of those shortcomings in terms of height and that didn’t really they weren’t really prevalent because he was intelligent enough to read situations and intelligent enough to know who he was playing against his direct opponent and work out problems again I go to that problem solving stuff of working out the problems that different types of forward would give him and then finding Solutions um so that intelligence was probably one of his biggest assets but again he had he had a massive heart as well um he would you’d never see him Shing out of anything um and he was he was very brave but again technically very proficient and another player that um would spend hours doing extras um and unfortunately that’s where one of his injuries came from doing extras when when he we had his knee injury he was he was just doing some extras with another player um and I believe he fell awkwardly and that that’s to his his um his injury so um but yeah top bloke as well really good um good communicator as well um and again really reliable you just knew what you going to get from Eddie week on week on week um he was normally a seven or eight out of 10 very rarely you see him have a poor game um you Pro he’d probably have small poor periods in in in a game but he he’ very rarely have a poor whole game um but yeah the the St again I’ll go back to standards and behaviors his standards and behaviors were outstanding um he was an elite player at a at a sort of lower league level and again you know if if he hadn’t got his injury I don’t like to speak about ifs and buts but I think he would have had he would have had a career at a very high level um and you only have to see the type of manager he is now um and the way his brain works that his brain works at an elite level and that’s why he’s he’s doing the job he’s doing um at the moment at one of the biggest clubs in Europe yeah um while you were playing with him did you ever see anything in him that you’d think he’d become a manager one day or a coach yeah I think so I think um it’s weird it’s the way the way players talk to each other you can kind of tell that they’re going to have that sort of coaching or managerial um sort of outcome later in their career um because again you have to deal with the in game you have to deal with the individual and you have to know what the individual needs to get them ticking so sometimes it’ll be a rolicking sometimes it’ll be a bit positivity on arm around the shoulder and and Ed Eddie was really skilled at that um and he would know the times when to do it as well so sometimes it might not be on the pitch it might be safe to halim and pull someone on onet to one or um or he would use someone else as a vehicle to deliver that information so for example he may use me to speak to Wade because he knows I’ve got a good relationship with Wade whereas if it came directly from Eddie Wade might not take the information as well as it came from me so things those little sort of soft skills um really important and that’s obviously translated into him as a manager now because I think a big thing that most players that have played under Eddie have said about his his man-to-man management skills are outstanding and I know he puts a lot of time into speaking to players on an individual basis which a lot of managers don’t do and I’ve had managers in my career where they just don’t speak to as an individual um so I think most footballers are like I like kids they just like to feel valued and trusted um and if the manager can make them feel that then you’re more likely to get a positive outcome from your players and I think Eddie’s Eddie’s doing that in abundance at the moment like I said you know a high-profile Club playing in high profile games yeah that’s great Insight um if we can go back to the 20201 season which uh is affectionately known as the Jermaine defo season um at the beginning of the Season we couldn’t really score goals I think we were struggling in front of goal if I remember rightly and we started sort of nose diving towards the uh wrong end of the table um but then by the end of the season it was a side that could have got promoted um how did the likes of Jermaine defo and Warren feny coming into the squad Lift Us and and as a fan that was there on the day reading at the majeski stadium um the Heartbreak of the of the redin um game where we drew free free what what was that like for for you and the rest of the squad um I think I asked the first party question in terms of players coming into the group I think um I think that was the skill of the manager and the skill of the club um recognizing that that we as a squad needed an injection of something slightly different um and as you can see the the records be themselves that both additions had a massive part in us being successful so sort of turning not turning our season around I think sometimes as a squad you’re doing everything you can and you’re playing well but you’re just not getting results and it’s just that that that little thing that you need to just push like draws or losses into wins and I think them those two players that you mentioned in particular uh Warren and and Jermaine were were the were the Catalyst for us actually believing in games because there’s a danger when you’re playing really well and you’re not getting the results that you sort of lose belief and then you think well where’s the next positive result going to come from and you’re almost sort of staying in games and hoping something will change rather than taking the impetus of making games change M themselves um so yeah I mean obviously Jermaine broke broke the uh the league record I believe for scoring the you know goals in a row and he was just um yeah just again watching a player that had a big reputation coming in anyway um because I believe West Ham had paid quite a bit of money for him back then um and he was in around the England stuff so when you have players I’ve had I played with a lot of players that are coming on loan with with big reputations with Bournemouth and Herford and Crawley um you’re almost eye boiling what they like when how they conduct themselves when they first come in are they going to be coming in with a Swagger and thinking you know I’m playing down a few leagues you know it’s going to be easy um or are they going to go actually you know I know what this is going to be like on playing men’s football because a lot you got to understand a lot of these Lads have just come from youth team football um and the jump from youth team football to first team football is humongous it’s massive um and I don’t think players fully appreciate that how different men’s football is to youth team football so you know we’ve had a few Lan players where have excelled and I’ve played with a few loan players where it’s just been far too much for him but Jermaine had that Swagger about him but with a little bit of humility as well um and then the first couple of training sessions I think his first game was Stoke away and he scored a header um and he’s only like what three foot two or something like this kid’s something else um and I remember sha used to be hammering him all the time about how lazy he was though he said like you don’t do anything off the ball but then he’d score goal so you you couldn’t Hammer him too much because he’d do nothing for 80 minutes in some games and then just go and score two goals out of nowhere um and I just remember um Jermaine won’t mind me saying this but he wasn’t the brightest back then so um sha said after a game we had like a uh postmatch um sort of debrief on the Monday and I think we’ we’ we’d won and Jermaine had scored and I think Jermain had got um he got substituted and um Shan said oh I saw Harry rnap because Harry rnap would come to watch the game and he said um I saw Harry rnap um he gave you a stand and Ovation he said can you can you think of when when he gave you stand anation and Jermaine went what when I when he bought when you bought me off like and he’s like we all started laughing no he said because I’ve actually seen you close down a fullback and you and you’ve got a tackle in on a fullback and that’s what I’ve been on at you the whole time and he said that’s the biggest round of pause you got from Harry rnap because that’s what he wants to see from you and then like Jermaine’s just sitting there like and we’re all like you know taking a then I think the penny dropped for him then in terms of like appreciating the other sides of the game and then I think after that he was just he was like a man possessed out of possession and it was like because that was something we kept hammering him about like in games like come on Jermaine you’ve got to do a little bit out of possession and then after that he was just unbelievable and then he was just a nightmare for Defenders so if teams were trying to play out from the back he was hassling and Haring them to making mistakes but then when he got the ball he was he was twisting him up and just yeah he was um he was was a very very good player and again another player that super driven super driven um um we had a a goalkeeper on loan I won’t name the goalkeeper but we had a goalkeeper on loan from another Premiership side at the time um and Jermaine’s doing um finishing he wanted to do a finish and drill extras at the end and um the goalkeeper wasn’t taking it as seriously as he should have bearing in mind Jermaine’s 18 at the time and he stopped and he put his hand up and went right get out and he was like what you want about he went get out the goal I want a youth team player in in the goal so just if you’re not going to take it seriously get out he said if you’re not going to make me better I don’t want you anywhere near me and that was kind of the level that he was at that I’m here to get better and if you’re not going to make me better then I don’t want you anywhere near me so that’s again that Elite level mentality of you know I mean I’m taking this seriously if you’re not then I don’t want you near me so um yeah and then again Warren um came from lead United uh with a good reputation as well he played in a very good lead side and again just added Pace power um could finish every so often as well um but I think where he was better than Jermaine he’s out of he’s out of possession work was outstanding outstanding he didn’t stop running and he was one of those players that you know if the game was kind of in the balance a bit he he would make something happen by forcing people to make mistakes because he was just a nightmare to to play against so um yeah two really good additions and unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get us over the line but that game um at the meski stadium was was an absolutely crazy game I believe went 3 one up um yeah and they had one of the best strikers in in in the country at the time I think was it Butler um yeah yeah he was on fire I think he he was like top scorer in all divisions at the time or something so we knew it was going to be a tough game um and it was a full out I remember a helicopter was arriving to deliver the match ball and all that business and it was just it was absolutely crazy and obviously we got off to a really really good start I think Jermaine scored in that game as well yeah I believe yeah so it was just like it’s written the stars now we’ve had this great run to the end of season we’re g we’re going to do it um and then I believe there was a free kick where I think Tindle tried to stand on the line um I don’t know what he was doing and then he kind of got in G Stewart’s way so that W went in and then the momentum was with ring and went to thr and I and I remember I think it was pery kind of in the last seconds of the game a ball came across I think it was a far post something and he stretched and he missed it by about half an inch and that would have been the game over and um yeah it was that was hard that was a really hard one at the end of the game I think all the players were really emotional because we just had such an amazing run and I think if we’ got through into the play we’d we’d have had reading in the playoffs and I know for a fact they didn’t want us they didn’t want to play playoffs and I think if we’ have got through I think if we’ have gotten into play us we’ have beat reading because I think they just they just didn’t want to play us but um yeah really emotionally charged game um crazy yeah really really crazy time I it was boiling hot as well and it was just um yeah it was it was um it was a tough one it was a really tough one but um another game that lives in the memory for good and bad reasons yeah yeah it’s uh yeah it’s one of those wh ifs isn’t it um if we just quickly briefly touch on the uh Following Season uh the 20012 2002 season um which unfortunately overall was was a disappointment um but we did return to a new fre sided Dean Court um but in between that what was it like traveling to the Avenue Stadium as a squad every time to to play your home games it must have been a a bit weird yeah it was um it was a a surreal time really um because obviously we knew the reasons why because we’re having a new Stadium built which is which is obviously great um but yeah the Avenue Stadium again was um it had its own it had its own little quirks U big massive Tes goes right next to it and um yeah it’s the pitch wasn’t the best if I’m honest um so it was some of the games we played there especially in kind of Mid Winter where um obviously as you know we like to play football as a team we weren’t a you kick it and lump it team so it kind of favored the away team sometimes the state of the pitch because obviously we would try and play we would still try and play but it wasn’t um looking back it probably wasn’t the right thing to do on that pitch sometimes but we were adamant and Shan was adamant that that’s how we’re going to play and we’re going to do it you know pitch or not um yeah it was it was a it was a weird time really um because obviously it’s quite a small ground as well um and the atmosphere was was different cuz um I remember I think three sides or maybe all four sides didn’t even have a roof on so you know any sort of atmosphere kind just dissipated into the atmosphere so um yeah it was what it was I mean it wasn’t ideal for us really um but we kind of knew it was it was the bigger picture really of having a having a new stadium which you know we all really wanted and you know I said earlier on in the inter that Dean Court had seen better days um and it needed redeveloping so we were kind of you know we were we were happy to go along with it really because we knew that the out the outcome was going to be a positive one long term for the club going back to the uh new Dean Court um after being at the Avenue the facilities were so much better than the old one um in what way were they were they better obviously the if I remember rightly the old change rooms didn’t they like have broken windows and leaky plumbing and things like that it was it a real difference to go back to this new one yeah I mean yeah d c was was a bit of a mess I remember the corridor leading up to Chang he had this old carpet and that carpet must have been about 100 years old I know that because I was in the youth team it was my job to sweep it every day and you’d sweep it and the amount of dust that would come up we’d actually have to squirt the carpet of water first to make the dust would go like mud because it was like if you if you us to use a stiff brush it was like nowadays you wouldn’t get away it it would be health and safety hazard but You’ just be breathing in this dust and yeah the change rooms like you said some of the showers work some didn’t some were boiling hot some were freezing cold um crack Windows broken windows um The Players Bar just looked like an old sort of 1960 social club like dark and dingy um whereas the new facilities yeah the changing rooms were you know bigger brighter um the hospitality facilities were excellent all the executive boxes were you know like shiny and new and and and nice and then obviously the pitch was class as well so obviously because it had been rotated 90 degrees everything was was from scratch um and even W even weird things like the flood lights like the flood lights were so much better you know improved lighting and that um because there was some spots that Dean caught where if you if the ball was at a certain point you couldn’t see it because you know it get caught in the lights and things like that so um yeah the facility it was on Miles better and it just I don’t know it seemed to like rejuvenate the club it was almost like a you know A New Beginning for the club and all that sort of Torrid history and all that past had been kind of put to bed really and it was kind of a new dawn for the club really in in going in the right direction but yeah we were all really excited I remember us getting a tour from the site manager um when the club when the um when the stadium was about to be signed off and we found it weird that it was three sides because yeah don’t think there was any other state that only had three sides around and especially a new one as well so it was it was really odd and it was just this like dirt Mound behind the coal it was it was really weird but um I mean the other three stands were were top draw so it was kind of you know something that we you know we just kind of said it is what it is and it was kind of a little Quirk that our Stadium had that no others had really yeah yeah I remember those days and there was always there was a tree there as well I think and some of the uh kids used to jump up the tree to watch the game for free so yeah yeah know good old times um that uh season also we saw Eddie move on to pompy um how did you feel that that impacted That season with with kind of the end result um it I’d be I’d lie if you say like when you lose a big player um I’d lie you say it doesn’t have an effect because it does um because Eddie had been obviously a part of bourma from from a young kid um like myself so to see the move on is is gratifying in one sense because that’s what football’s all about you want you want players to go on and play as high as they can um but obviously it did have a big impact on the club as a whole um because you know it’s no you know secret that he was a fan favorite as well um so I think it had a big impact on the fans and that as well but I think the majority of the fans would have been pleased um probably not necessarily moving to pompy aren’t really a rival but obviously they’re another South South Coast Club as well so um maybe that stung a little bit for some of the fans but yeah um it definitely had an impact um like I said when you lose such a big player like that it does take a little bit of time um to sort of settle things in I mean I don’t even know where we finished that season if I’m honest um my memory is not that great so I don’t know how the season finished but it would have had an impact definitely um on a personal level for myself playing with someone like that um and developing that relationship because I’m I’m a big thing about developing relationship especially Center half I think you need to have a real strong relationship with the person you’re playing alongside as well so you know with him going um you have to start developing that relationship with someone else um because like I said when you have a string of games together with the same person you almost you start knowing each other’s game inside and out and then you have to start sort of start from scratch when you’re playing with someone else so yeah it would have definitely had an impact on on the team and and and I know it did for me as an individual as well yeah so I mean the end of that season we were relegated at rexam um on the last day um and that game we we had I think rexam were already relegated if I remember rightly and we we had a glimpse of of staying up but unfortunately we lost that one 2-1 um can you remember the feelings of being relegated and and with the squad the overall mood yeah I remember the game because I was again another game I was injured which unfortunately I suffered a few injuries during my career um sat in the stand I think I was with Richard Hughes I can’t remember who the other one was and we were um trying to list out for what the other results were um because as you said I think there was a glimmer of hopes if other result I think it was some Madness like three results needed to go away or something it was a real slim chance for staying up but there was an element of Hope um and yeah I just it was a it was a really weird weird weird atmosphere because as you said Rex and Mori relegated and then we had a very fine hope of staying up but not really and it was just I don’t know it was it was such a strange atmosphere and then obviously when the results came through and we we’ve been relegated it was it was awful but I think it’s it was hard for me that day because I hadn’t played a part in the final game it’s almost you almost feel a little bit guilty you I mean you almost feel like not that I would have come on and changed the outcome or anything but you almost feel like you haven’t played your part as much as you should have and obviously i’ played a big part in that season in terms of us not doing so well so I know you know I did play a part in a really unsuccessful season but I think just not being there and playing in the final game of the season it was it was really strange um and yeah the relegation was was was a tough one really um I remember us now you’ve jog my memory that was the season we got we got relegated I remember us we had quite a few players meetings um trying to work out what we can do to try and change things so I think like sometimes fans think you know when a team gets relegated at the not necessarily don’t care but they’re not all given their all but we we were literally calling meetings all like not all the time but like we would have it out and the meetings got heated and very heated at times and you know we got a lot of stuff out but you know ultimately it wasn’t enough to keep us in the league um which was really disappointing but um yeah I think that was a really tough summer for everyone going away um regrouping and and then probably like you have a couple of weeks where you’re you’re down in the dumps and then you’re thinking right I’ve got got to get myself ready now for for next season because we we need to get promoted and I think that was the the key message we’ve got relegate now we can’t do anything about it we need to get promoted next year and that that’s if anything less than that is a failure really so yeah well the next season we we did bounce back and obviously we were promoted um but if I remember rightly there was I think the first sort of four or so games of that season I think we had like three draws in a defeat um and I think sha adris was actually hand handed an ultimatum by by the chairman um the results had to improve um how did that make the squad react um for honest we were a bit pissed off with the chairman if I’m honest because like no disrespected his knowledge of football was non-existent really you know what I mean and it was it almost seemed like it was something to appease the fans um because again we weren’t playing awful we just weren’t getting the results it was kind of that I don’t know whe it was a hangover from getting relegated or um we were playing okay and we we were doing all right um and I remember I think one of the first games was against Swansea away at the vet and um it was a it was an error that cost us like something that was just an anomaly that cost us the game and it was little things like that like little things weren’t quite working for us but our general performances were pretty good um and then I think that that Ultimatum It looks like it had an effect I don’t know how much of an it probably Ved us as players to think like our chairman shouldn’t be coming and attacking us you know what I mean like let’s let’s sort of show him but like again I said like the performances were decent anyway and they were always going to turn around but yeah it probably looks like that ultimatum had more of an effect it actually did really if anything it just turned most of the players against the chairman if I’m honest oh okay that’s interesting um That season uh you hampered by a bit of injury if I remember rightly you made 21 League appearances and unfortunately you missed the playoff win against Lincoln but what was your memories of promotion That season and and and the final in Cardiff yeah like I said Bittersweet um it was another injury um another season that was affected by injury for me which was pretty much part of the course for my career if I’m honest I don’t think I had a season where I didn’t have some sort of injury um Looking Back Now my body probably wasn’t a made made for a Elite Sport I tried my best but it you know I probably should have played double if not triple the amount of games I did um you know but that’s that’s history now but yeah um that was a a bit of sweet season for me obviously the club getting promoted and obviously missing out on the playoff um final was was was a tough one really um I remember the game where I think we were playing Swansea at home and um I got landed on by the striker really innocuous and I felt a real burst of pain in my shoulder it was probably about 15 20 minutes in and I managed to carry on till halftime but I couldn’t move my my arm got assessed by the doctor and the Physio and said you can’t carry on playing um later went for a scan and stuff and I completely mashed my shoulder up so I had to have like you know reconstructive surgery on my shoulder and all that business that season so um that was really tough and so obviously knew that my season was kind of over really I think that happened in the February so obviously the playoffs were in May so um I played a decent amount of that season but not as much as I wanted to and then obviously leading up to the playoff final it’s it’s really tough when you’re a player that’s not going to be involved because the whole town gets excited by it um and I remember the week leading up to the playoff final it was absolute bedum and I went into Shan’s office and I said Sean I need I need to just go away for a couple of days are you okay with that and he said yep completely understand you just go and do what you do because I said although it’s brilliant for the club I said for me personally it’s really hard to see all this excitement I said I’m going to be at I’ll be at the final on that so anyway I went away for a few days and then I met the team um at the hotel in in Wales um and then just got around the training sessions and started getting around the lads and then just started feeling it and then I thought right my part now is just to be the biggest support role I can just getting around the younger players um helping in any way I can um just being that motivational person um so from that side of things like just trying to be a captain off the field um just making sure everything was all right for everyone and any problems anyone had just you know vent to me and stuff and then around the day I mean the the final speaks for itself it was unbelievable like what a performance 52 um unbelievable game um atmosphere was brilliant the bourma fans were outstanding that day absolutely outstanding there was I think we took about 30 OD thousand fans there or something like that or maybe more than that and it was just I just remember just seeing a sea of red and black on one side I think Lincoln only bought about 15,000 so they were like you know what I mean it was it was uh it was it was definitely a Bournemouth day that day and then yeah like said the result the result was fantastic and it and it was fully deserved and a culmination of a of a good season which which didn’t start off the greatest um but which proves that sometimes if you’re a little bit patient and then good things will happen and I think um yeah an amazing day and then the journey back was good I think we stopped off at an off license on theed outskirts of Wales and completely um emptied the place and then so like we was uh on the way down on the on the coach and I remember a couple of supporters buses were were overtaking us and we were traveling side by side for a couple of miles and just like you know cheering and that to each other it was just yeah it was it was amazing and it was just I think it was really nice for those fans that like I said before that enjoyed all the hard times and you know the struggles and that and then just having that day I think going up through the playoffs is the best way to get promoted if you’re successful I think it’s just the all round sort of build up and you know the playoff semi-final against against Barry yeah you know having that day at um the Millennium when you when you go and win it and and you do get promoted I think yeah going up through the playoffs is is is the best way I’ve been fortunate enough to go up through the playoffs and automatic promotion with with another club so I think going up through the playoffs is that little bit that little bit sweeter yeah yeah yeah I mean that season as well if I remember rightly we had quite a lot of injuries with um I think feny was injured yeah um Tindle was injured yourself we had quite a lot of injuries across the side so um overall you know it was great to go up that season considering how many first team players we had out and um I feel like perie played Center Midfield that day I think and you know was quite versatile some of the players in in in that Squad yeah and I think we had um I think Phil guler was on loan that time that’s so like yeah it just it I think it just showed the kind of quality that we had in our Squad that we could have that many injuries to key players yeah still have a successful season and I think you know Sean you know deserves a lot of credit for that in terms of you know I bowling players that are right and Peter Grant to to get them in and to make sure that they’re the right players because I think there’s a danger sometimes that you get like I said before you get lone players and and they aren’t quite the right fit yeah um and I think like Phil came in and and I’ve seen Phil since then we we’ we’ve crossed paths later on in our careers and um I know he said that’s one of the best days in his career like just the the whole thing around you know going up through the playoffs is very very special yeah yeah well I can’t uh speak about um your at the club without mentioning um one person but how how much of an inspiration was uh big Fletch on on the team during your time at D um how much was an inspiration um yeah I mean he’s he’s he’s a club Legend and and and rightly so um obviously he was relatively young what is he about 85 now he was relatively I’m sure he was 40 when I made my debut but um yeah he was he was relatively young lad um when I made my debut um and got in around the first team and he was just he’s just a really likable character um he’s got a lot of personality and I think personality goes a long way in football sometimes as well and you know you can only see the career he’s had at Bournemouth um you know fully deserved and I can’t I was in one of the games I can’t remember which one it was I don’t know whether he broke the goal record or the appearance record or something and remember I saved him from getting sent off because he’d already been booked and he took his shirt off because you know he likes to show off his you know he likes to show off his pecs and all that DAV on himself um and I’ve said to the ref ref please like he’s this is a massive moment for him in his career like you can’t book him and the ref was like and so like and Fletch thanked me for that I told him after the game so like I didn’t want him to have his day ruined by getting sent off because he wanted pecs but um yeah um Fletch is a top bloke um really down salt the earth guy you know obviously from Harley pool and that and um I know he left the club for a spell he went to Chesterfield and then came back again so um he’s without being born through and through in terms of where he’s born he’s born through and through in terms of you know he I think he absolutely loves the club and and the club love him and you know I believe he’s an ambassador or something now for the club which is you know you know I think that’s right and I think you know clubs should do more to sort of look after their ex players I know like I know this is different but you know you look clubs like Bayern Munich and stuff like they they really value their ex players and they make sure their ex players are are in and around the club because they you know they know that they’ve played a massive part in that club’s history um and they value that and I think you know clubs in this country could could um sort of take a leaf out of their book I think players that have given a lot to a football club should be held in highest Steam and I think Fletch is and I don’t know if he still got that cheesy picture of his face on his stand any longer oh no so it’s not there anymore no no yeah that’s um that was a strange one that you still playing at the time wasn’t he he he shooting towards the North Stand and and there’s his head yeah the top of but that’s that’s that’s Fletch though is it that’s Fletch but yeah like I said top bloke and I’ve got nothing but good words to say about him is is um he was great to have in the Chang him as well in terms of like his personality and that and when you’re going through tough times like we did you know someone the seasons you sort of lean towards people like that that you know are kind of you know got that personality and that spark about them and and you know he did care a lot about Bournemouth and that sort of that fed into new players that came in as well like he he made sure that they understood what the club was all about and how much it meant to the supporters so yeah he’s um he was a really really top BL yeah well after the first seven games or so I think of the 2004 2005 season Kyle Fletcher as we’ve briefly spoke about but he moved on um he sold to West Ham and sha adris handed you the captain’s armband um how did that make you feel and how did it change you as a player um I’ll tell you the story how it came about actually typical sha way um so basically the captain’s armband was put on your peg in the changing room um when you were like made Captain so obviously be like Carl Fletchers or or Steve Fletch or whoever was Captain um and I came in the he didn’t speak to me just came in the change room and the captain’s armband was on my Peg and then that was it that was how I got found that was typical Shan no big song and dance about it was literally like the Captain’s armbands on your Peg and then that was it so obviously I was assumed I was Captain um how would it make me feel um probably one of the proudest Moments Of My Life um you know I’d been at been at bourma since a young boy come through the center of excellence um made my debut and then obviously being bestowed with that honor of of captaining my my team my club um it was amazing and um really really proud moment for me as an individual um and it was something that I enjoyed because I I did it anyway even without having the arm band on my arm you know I used to pride myself in in being a leader on the pitch um and the captain’s armband was just sort of recognition from the manager really that he saw those qualities in me and it was um yeah it was amazing and and I loved it and you know I enjoyed that responsibility because the captaincy isn’t just about on the pitch as I spoke before it’s about stuff off the pitch and that as well some of the stuff you do in the community and that um making sure the lads appreciate you know all the stuff that we need to do in the community because you know we were a community club back then as well um and making sure that they do fully embody what being a Bourn of player is it’s not just you know getting the agulation on a Saturday or Tuesday night when you’re playing it’s about going out into the community visiting schools visiting food banks and things like that and and you know having that real tie to the community and that’s something that I really enjoyed as a captain of you know getting around some of the amazing organizations in around the Bournemouth area that that support some of the most vulnerable people um and just being a presence from the club and and taking that role really seriously during your your your time that season as Captain um we had a draw in the League Cup against um Blackburn so he went up to eward Park um a game which has lived long in the memory of lot of cherri’s fans um and you scored in that one and we won on penalties how did it feel to beat a premier league side at their own ground um well good obviously um it’s uh it’s it’s a good feeling but I think sometimes you can look at results like that and think it’s a bit of a fluke or you know it was I don’t know that you know the little minnow beat the mighty blackb but we we were going up there and I’m telling you 100% we were going up there and we knew that we could beat them we had the confidence and we we had an we had an idea as well that they’d be playing a pretty much full strength Squad as well bar a couple of you know additions you know like reserve players what but they were they were near on full strength Premier like the team that they put out in the Premier League um and we were confident and I remember we were we were training so they let they let us train at their training ground and um Martin Tyler was watching us because obviously was he was commentating for the game yeah on sky and um he watched our training session and you know we did we practiced penalties in that as well and I think he made like he was speaking to a few of the boys and he was like he said like you know you’re a decent side aren’t you youve got some really good players here and we’re like yeah we are we are a decent side and we are confident and he was he wasn’t taking it back a bit but he was almost like yeah Fair played you know what I mean because he’s he’s obviously been in round football a lot and you know these lower league sides they can almost go to these Premiership sides and and kind of lose the game not on quality but because they’re in awe of who they’re playing and we didn’t have any of that in our Squad um we were quite a young Squad and we were we were hungry and and you know and we knew we could get a result and you know obviously the the result speaks for itself now and it was a good game as well it was a really enjoyable game to play in and I think it was a good game to watch as well and as you said like I didn’t score many goals in my career and that’s kind of the one that if I am going to tell anyone where I scored I always tell them I scored at Blackburn and to knock a premier helped to knock a Premiership side out of the cup so that’s my one little claim to fame that I get for my for my career so yeah it was um it was a brilliant night um really good and and like I said winning it on penalties I’m lucky I think was it Eddie scored the winning penalty yeah yeah it was yeah I’m glad he did because I was next and um obviously you know I missed a penalty in the FA Cup against Aton Stanley away so I wasn’t um too enamored by the fans in terms of like my penalty record so if I’d about to taken one I don’t know how that would have gone but yeah glad I’m glad Eddie scored so I didn’t have to have that responsibility yeah yeah if I remember rightly he pretty fped it as well yeah Eddie’s not gonna go finesse he would just literally put the ball down and whack it as hard as he can he scores and yeah it was again it was a really good night for the fans and that’s what football’s all about and it’s when you’re a player you just try and you know give those moments for the fans and you know we’re still talking about it now like 20 years on so you know it’s it’s yeah it was it was a great game to be part of and really proud yeah yeah no definitely um towards the end of that season you know unfortunately you suffered another injury um but did you stay close to the match uh to the team on Match days you know did you make yourself a presence in the changing room obviously as leader yeah and it would be obviously trying to support the the skipper who was who was had obviously taken the arm band you know from it we know because obviously losing it through injury you’re still the captain but you’re not the presence on the pitch so yeah I just made sure I was in and around it all the time um and sha was big on that as well he just said look I need you to be around um I want you to kind of be that that bridge between me and the players um and like I said just you know eyeballing the younger Lads really making sure that they’re they’re doing what’s expected and then obviously any support get around the lads and you know motivation and stuff that you just make sure and then sometimes having I say at halim as well because OB watching the game from a different perspective in the stand so does give you a different viewpoint on the game and maybe just speaking to individuals about what I’m seeing as well so i’ you know gravitate towards the center backs or the Defenders really because that was my role and I could have an idea of maybe what they’d be seeing and feeling in the game so I’d kind of get around those those groups of players really and just just giving them their my view point and and my sort of advice or experience really if if if they needed it and then sometimes recognizing when not to say something either I think there’s a there’s a lot of power in not saying stuff for the sake of saying stuff sometimes um so yeah it was um yeah I made sure was I was in around it as much as I could be just for me as well I think for my own sanity as well because um there’s nothing worse than being a footballer and not playing football it is it is horrendous it’s it’s it’s awful listen and I know people have their struggles in life and I’m not you know bleeding heart and all this stuff but it is tough when when you when you do something that you love doing and you can’t do it it’s it’s it’s awful um so yeah just for my own sanity a little bit really of just making sure I felt part of of what was going on really I mean that season as well we had some talented players I mean the likes of um John Spicer um obviously wer um James hater Brian stock but we we had quite a lot of injuries in the squad That season I mean I I still think that you know if everyone was fully fit we we would have got promoted That season would you agree yeah I agree I think um that was almost like the season before was a bit of a transition one in terms of like getting new players in and yeah we had a lot of young players um I think James ‘ Conor was in as well fromer and stuff so like we had a lot of an influx of young Lads and uh we all seem to Gel really quickly um and yeah you get in change room sometimes where you’re just all on the same level quite quickly um and I think I I agree with you I think we had a really talented Squad that year and I think if the majority of the boys had stayed fit I think I think we would have won promotion yeah I definitely agree because I just look at some of the talent that was in that Squad um and when when we’re all playing together there was there were there wasn’t many better teams in that League than us yeah I mean I think that was I think we had like the most away wins season as well like 14 away wins was it or something like that yeah I remember one of them was Sheffield Wednesday away I think and spice the scored that game as well yeah like Sheffield Wednesday had some unbelievable home record or something and I don’t think like we’d won at Sheffield Wednesday for God knows how many years but we completely dominated him that game it was a fully deserved result um yeah yeah yeah that was one of the games that stuck out it was I remember that we were really good that day and spice was he was unplayable he was just like couldn’t get near he was class yeah yeah he was he he was a class player and um yeah no I remember that I think that was a midweek game if I remember rightly and uh yeah no great season you know just a shame there was so many so many injuries but sha adris um obviously as we’ve touched on um you know he great coach highly respected by by the Bournemouth um fan base but there came that time when he did depart to D donc cter um obviously he was a guy that was around D court for the holy duration of of your career to that point um so what was it like for you and the squad when he announced that he was he was moving on um it came with a bit of a shock if I’m honest because a lot of the times in football you you kind of football’s a small world and people talk and you get Rumblings of things but excuse me this kind of came not out of the blue out of the blue but it was it was a bit of a shock um I think we found out a couple of days before he was going that there was there was murmurs of something happening and then then it was just finalized um I think we were I can’t remember where we were going we were playing away Brighton away or something like that and it was kind I think Joe roach um I do apologize I forget the other guy that was supporting oh uh Stewart Murdoch yeah that’s one yeah so yeah that’s yeah I apologize because he he came in from nowhere really so obviously knew Joe from like his work so obviously they stepped in for the game and it was kind of like right he’s gone now he just got to get on with the game and it was really quick um there was no real like massive goodbyes and stuff I managed to find Sean Purley and you know saying goodbye before he he did theart but yeah it came a little bit out of the blue really but um reasoning behind it I don’t know sha will know his reasons I think maybe he thought he he’d achieved everything he kind of could have um with Bournemouth and I think like you know the that’s that team that should have got promoted that didn’t get promoted maybe that was I don’t know played into his thinking of you know maybe we’ve missed our chance again with Bournemouth to get him promoted and you know he wanted to to to plow far elsewhere and donc cast were a big Club at the time um good resources um probably better resources than we had um so you know it just looked like a challenge for him that maybe just he couldn’t really turn down yeah yeah yeah cuz if I remember at the time they they had quite a decent Squad there at Doncaster as well um Kevin Bon coming um obviously took over um with uh Rob Newman as his assistant um how did those two differ to the odris gr odris Kelly combination um very different very different um I think obviously Kevin coming in from high level teams being in around Premiership teams and that um I think he didn’t fully appreciate what it’s like coming down the league leagues a little bit in terms of player expectation levels um and obviously Rob had managed like lower level so I think that that’s where that Dynamic kind of I thought they help thought it would work in terms of like you know Kevin with experienced from higher level and working under Harry for so many years and then Rob being in around lower league management and stuff but um yeah from my point of view um it’s it was a tough one because obviously Kevin made the decision to not retain me at the club which probably was the right decision um I’d obviously come off the back of a being out for my whole season with my back and then I think he came in the season um after that where I was finding my feet a little bit and yeah from Hest I wasn’t really up to speed um it was just disappointed for me because it was coming up to my 10 years of being a first team player which you know would lead into my testimonial year but that’s a story for another day but but yeah it was um it was tough it was tough um because I think he wanted to see things from us that we maybe weren’t capable of um and the way he wanted us to play was probably suited to you know players that are playing in the Premier League in international level um and I think he got you know a bit of a shot quite early on and then tried to change things it was a bit of a scatty season really I don’t want to it’s difficult for me because it it I don’t want to come across as I bitter because he’ made that decision just I think it was the right decision um but that season um was a bit all over the place really um in terms of expectations and and players kind of um I don’t know not really having a clear path of how we wanted to play and um yeah it was a bit of an Up Up and Down turby Season really but um I think Kev Kev and Rob were like really decent people um I think they did care about you know wanting the best for us and the club um and yeah was just bit of a difficult one really and and obviously he had a bit of a short tenure at the club yeah yeah well at join your time at the club there was obviously some um uh people working in the background um that from from my point of view I thought were quite important the likes of um Joe roach you just briefly mentioned and um Kitman ber Morton how how how important were those kind of people in around the first team uh um they are the most important people they are the most important people and I think um one of the things that obviously I’m working at wolves now in terms in the academy like one thing we say to the boys is that um obviously the boys will naturally see the coaches as like the most important people in the building but the cleaner is just important as us the people working in the canteen are just as important of us because without them doing the little jobs the big machine doesn’t run so you have to have that humility and people like Bernie and that and like you said and Joe roach and there’s other people like M mck Cunningham the late mck Cunningham photographer and things like that these people are they’re not doing it for the money because the money’s crap they’re doing it because they love what they do and they care about what they do and people like that are invaluable to football teams um and there’s no secret when big managers go into big clubs the first people they’re going and seek out are the tea the Kitman because they know how crucial they are for the teams to run and without them teams aren’t successful and you know you can have the best players in the world you can have the best manager in the world but these people that do the day-to-day stuff that goes unseen are so valuable to football clubs and I think sometimes Bourn probably were in that state of flux a few seasons ago when they when they went up to the Premier League that everyon starts getting overly excited and you know starts throwing money at stuff and getting new people in that look all Jazzy and this that and the other but these people that have been there through the crap times and have seen how the club have developed and and they understand the club they are I think they are the heartbeat of the club and they are they are massively important and us as players we always we always knew that we always used to take the mick out of Bernie because he was he was always making mistakes and stuff like I’ll give you a couple of stories so we play M wall away and I’m standing there in my pants waiting for my kit and Bernie’s in the Skip and his head’s going redder and redder and redder and I’m like Bernie what’s what’s going on mate and he went I forgot you kit so he’d forgot my whole match kit so they had to go and find a fan a bourma fan they took his shirt got it printed up in the mil wall Club shop um and it’s absolutely stunk a Bo by the way this shirt it was to wear that for the whole game so I’m playing in a in a kit that isn’t my kit um a m wall away and then he’s he’s done things like we used to wash the water bottles out with Milton which is like a type of bleach and we we got to the training one day and like Sean’s gone on go and get a drink and all the lads started drinking and they’re like hacking this like like what what the hell’s going on and he’d left he’ left the Milt so but just things like that um we played Blackpool away and we were training on the beach and he forgot the balls so we we were doing um you know I don’t know if you’ve seen the the film Harry Basset whatever it is you know yeah we’re pretending we’ve got a football so we’re like miming like overhead kicks and that on the beach like cuz forgot the footballs but like little things little things like that you’d you’d forgive him because top bloke and like I said he’s very important yeah yeah they definitely um during your time at Deco you had several um Center back Partners um who would you say complimented you best uh well that’s a tough one um I’d probably say although I didn’t play alongside him as as many times I like probably Ian Cox um I think just him as a player just athletically excellent um really calm and cultured on the ball but also a really calm person um because I’m quite vocal when I’m on the pitch and I’m all like herum scar and you know I like to get stuck in and you know have a battle whereas coxy was like an elegant Center half so I think yeah me and him um and yeah he’s he was my mentor a little bit when I came into the first team um yeah I remember an incident where I can’t remember his the French Center half I can’t remember what what his name was oh um Frank Roland that’s the one yeah I played in the Reser I played in a reserve game um I think Frank had dropped out the first team I think Eddie had taken his place actually which he wasn’t happy about and I played in a reserve game and Frank was on at me all game like he was hammering me for all sorts and he was I can’t trust you and this certain other and um coxy found out about it and then we were like jogging around the pitch before one training session and he’s and he’s pulled Frank and he’s gone listen mate leave my boy alone like just just leave him alone like he’s he’s only young I don’t want you talking to him like anymore like just just leave it out like talking his like that leave it out man leave it out and then like to be fair I I I hold my hands up and Frank came up to the me after the um finished he apologize he said you know I’m just I’m stressed and that about not playing and stuff you I took out on you so I really apologize that was the measure of the in terms of Ian Cox like he was just know I mean real real Class Act on and off the pitch and yeah I think probably he he would be the one that I probably would have wanted to play a lot more games with if I was honest yeah yeah and obviously he got his uh his move to Burnley didn’t he and uh yeah had a fairly decent uh great even went to the World Cup I think in 2006 with Trinidad Min coxy so um yeah he was one of my favorite players at the time and uh he was actually a midfielder wasn’t he Mak transformed him saw that little bit about him and and transformed him into a into a center back so uh yeah and he’s he’s still back at the club now as I think he’s working as part of the um Community setup yeah he’s doing some Community I think he does like um youth work I believe yeah yeah yeah so uh it’s good to see uh coxy in and around the ground when at the game so uh yeah but um five goals for Bournemouth do you want to talk us through any any of your goals or I’ve already mentioned I me to the blackb one that’s probably the only one of any note um but obviously my first goal I think I it took me like 100 games or something to score I think I scored on myund first I don’t know if that’s correct or not but I think it was scunthorp at home um and I remember like just scoring and I didn’t really know what to do I was just running around like an idiot and I just spinning around and I remember big Fletch grabbed me afterwards and he went calm your down now he said because for the next two or three minutes you’re just going to be buzzing and you know like just calm down um so yeah that was a good one obviously scoring your first goal for the club um and I’d obviously scor I scored it in front of the bourma fans in front of the home end as well which was which was even more sweeter for me um and then I think after that goal off I scored my first and I think I scored against South endway in the cup in the FA Cup which was the game after um I think I scored like yeah I scored two in a row and then I think I I’m sure I scored goal in the next game and it got disallowed so I went from scoring no goals in 100 games to almost scoring three in a row so I was going to be the next Germaine defo but it didn’t quite happen um so yeah um yeah like I said I probably didn’t get as many goals as I should have really um being a center back in that you know I should be really scoring four or five goals a season not in my whole career but for whatever reason it didn’t materialize that I scored that many goals but I like to think I played my part in um stopping quite a few goals which was what I was paid to do in the first place so um I take solace in that that you know I stopped I’ll stopped quite a few goals if even if I didn’t score as many goals as I should have really but yeah I think the Blackburn one away was a was a really special one like I said scoring at a Premiership ground gets a Premiership side um and contributing to us knocking them out of the cup and then obviously my my debut goal sorry my first goal for the club as well which was which was a really special one yeah want to tell the grandkids one day um after 20 27 I think it was appearances for for the cherries um how would you sum up your time at Dean Court [Applause] um uh good question I would say um I look back at my time at Bournemouth with real fun memories um it’s my club you know what I mean I’ve been there since I was a boy and to have represented the club that many times is a real honor like I said it should probably have been double that amount but you know injuries dictated that that’s not the case but uh yeah I’ve played for some other teams but Bournemouth will always been my team um from a kid and yeah I’ve I loved every minute of playing for that football club and I like to think the fans would see that when I played I did try and give everything you know may not have always been the best player but when I was on that pitch I made sure that I didn’t leave anything out there um and I gave everything I could and you know even when I was playing injured and hurt you know I still still gave everything but yeah I I really I really love playing for warmouth and you know as you can see I’ve got one of my shirts behind me on the you know so that’s the promotion shirt and I’ve got many many happy memories of of of being on the south coast and although I don’t live there now anymore um it’s it still has a special place in my heart so you moved on you ended up at uh Herford if I’m if I’m correct um and on the first day of preseason you turn up and there’s only eight players yeah bit of a strange one yeah um again really weird one um like myself and Marcus Browning like they wanted both of us and we traveled up one day and we went to have a look at this at the ground and that and um I think Marcus was thinking about traveling up every day and then he got back and he dropped me off and I got out of the car and he went broad went I can’t do this mate I can’t travel that every day so I’m pulling out and I went okay fair does mate that’s Co um so I I decided to sign for Herford um met Graham Turner who’s obviously very well respected in the game had a great manager with careers especially at walls which ironically I’m working for now um and he just basically said that I’m having a complete rebuild um they’d got promoted from non League two seasons before and then the season before they just avoided relegation so they were struggling he’d had a clear out of players and he said I want to have a right go now he said the club are in a position where I think we can and push on we got a good fan base um we got a little bit of money behind us so we’re going to have have a go and he said we’re going to see some new faces he’d highlighted me um Richard o Kelly had worked uh alongside John truck who was the assistant um they worked really closely at West Brom together in the youth setup so Richard Richard obviously rang John and said look you know take on car’s you know ex Captain blah blah blah um so that’s how the relationship was built there um uh GR I’m going to make you Captain straight away I’ve got a young Center half that I want you to help um he’s he’s come from a London side and he’s you know he’s got a lot of potential I need you to help him he said and you know he sold the club and the SPI but he didn’t say about how many players that he had signed yet he just said this is my plan it was great went and had a look at the training ground all good so signed the forms um moved up three days before um staying in the hotel um turned up for the first day pre-season um got to the ground and there was like two Lads there and then you know players start drip feeding in um so we at we met at the stadium and it was like right Lads we’re going and there was like eight of us was like oh the other Lads just must be meeting us at training ground or something like the local Lads so we’ve got to training ground and um doing the warmup and it’s like it’s just eight of us I was like me and another lad who just signed for warsa I was like mate what what the hell’s going on eight players and he was like I don’t know he said like did the gaffa tell you about this I went no he told me about all these big players yeah yeah he said the same to me he like didn’t say how many players we saw and I was like oh my I was like you you just think like what the hell is going on here like what have I got myself in for into here and it’s like I signed a two-year deal so I like I can’t get out the contract I was like lick but then as preseason progressed like new players were coming in and um yeah some of the players that that he brought in were just you know like Trevor Benjamin who played in the Premier League um Clint Easton who played in the Premier League for for um Norwich like got in some real top quality players and then as preseason went on the lads started you know bonding and jelling and then yeah that there we had we had a really really good season I think we were odds on favorites to be relegated that year and we ended up getting automatic promotion in the first season so that was um yeah it was that was a really that was probably one of my most enjoyable seasons in football actually of just how mental it started off how chaotic but then um how it just pushed on and yeah we had a really successful season you mentioned um obviously the manager Graham Turner um was veteran like you say of the game I mean I think he’s fourth in line of of managers that have managed the most games in in the football league you know behind the likes of you know Fergie and Warner and Fenger but how did he differ to Sha’s coaching and style um he was very um like authoritarian if that makes sense so like it was this is how we’re going to do it and this is how we’re going to do it if you don’t like it then you ain’t playing um he was very straight down the line as like I said very direct which is what I like um you knew where you stood of him there was no gray area there was no like oh you’re not playing because you know I need you to restr you or this that and the other it was like you’re not playing you’re not good enough and someone I’m going to get some given someone else a chance which I respect that because everyone knows where they stand and I think that’s probably why we had so much success in the first season where um he knew how to manage egos as well so we had a few Lads that had played in the Premier League and I’m not saying they did have big egos but I think if there was any point where they would step out of line or get in a bit above themselves then he would snap them back in into shape but um it was quite a unique situation really because he was manager and owner of the club at the same time he bought the club um so he had a real vested interest of making sure that every player that came in was the right player he was very diligent in terms of like knowing a lot so I remember like when we sat down and he discussed we were discussing like you know me signing for the club he knew everything he knew absolutely everything about me knew injury record he knew games I played he even knew stuff about my personal life so he he went into fine detail because like I said because he was owner as well he needed to make sure that every player was the club was was correct um and he didn’t he didn’t suffer fools gladly either if you were if you did anything who stepped out of line he flipping told you straight away um he was almost like um we used to call him the sergeant major because he was like would come in there go right men and he was like proper like but he was he was um he had a good sense of humor as well and he had some good stories about you know some of the players that he’ coached and um if you ever wanted some advice um he his his his door was always open um but he he kind of left the sort of training and coaching stuff to John truck who would take the training sessions and he would oversee and step been as and when and then he would kind of manage um the sort of day-to-day run in the squad and selection and things like that so um yeah I I liked gram I think he was um a real football bloke that makes sense he’s he knew football inside and out and you couldn’t P the W over his eyes and he’d seen and seen and done it all really so yeah really really respected him so after a successful spell at Herford um if I’m if I’m right you you had a trial back at B is is that is that right it wasn’t a trial it was um so basically my contract had come to an end at Herford and I wasn’t offered a new one um and obviously Eddie was manager at the time and I just said to him um I’m at a club I haven’t got a club at the moment is it all right if I come and just do preseason just to keep myself fit and just wait for anything that come comes about and Eddie was like yep no problem mate like you know come and get involved um and then there was discussions in around I think the club under some embargo at the time yeah yeah so he like we had we had like discussions and he said look I’d want to sign you but I can’t um Club are under embargo and I said look it is what it is I’m here to just train and play and just get fit and then obviously Crawley came in for me and then that’s you know I made a decision to go to Crawley um but yeah it wasn’t it wasn’t a trial as such it was just um a mate doing me a favor and let me train with the squad and and just get as fit as I can um for an opportunity to come up and like I said opportunity to go to Crawley came up and and I took it so when you signed for Crawley um you United with um an ex- Cherry keeper um Simon Raina um how had he changed and developed as a player because I think he was in our Squad kind of early 2000s was it something like that so how how had he developed um when he was at Bournemouth he was very young I think he was still a teenager I remember um when he was told he wasn’t getting a contract um you know he he got quite upset and I had a kind of a sort of onetoone conversation and said look it’s just a bump in the road um there’s going to be other opportunities just go go away work hard and you’ll get an opportunity to to play elsewhere I’m sure because he had some good qualities um but I just think at the time at Bournemouth he didn’t really have a pathway because there was players that were you know more experienced and better than him at the time um and as you know like young Keepers you know Keepers their career is different to Outfield players they they mature right um so yeah always knew he had the attributes to be a goalkeeper and then yeah um he changed quite a lot because obviously he’d grown up quite a bit because a lot of time had passed um he was just this big Canadian bear um just big hairy thing um that’s had chewing tobacco in his mouth all the time and he was just uh yeah just he developed to matured he still couldn’t kick the ball very well though I said I said that to him in the first training session I said you still [ __ ] have kick him excuse me you’re still crap at kicking um and and he laughed but yeah he he he’ filled out he’d got bigger um he’d become a lot more confident um a lot more of a commanding presence in the box which is what you want as a center half you want your goalkeepers to be commanding um but I think he just sort of appreciated that the time at Bournemouth wasn’t right for him and you know the decision probably was the right decision at the time and I think you know players that do get released or aren’t you know their contracts aren’t extended sometimes it is the right thing at the time you don’t think it’s the right thing because ego or Pride or whatever steps in you think well no it’s it’s the wrong decision but you know as I’ve looked at you know decisions that people have made about my career they probably were the right decision at the time I didn’t think they were um so I think he’d kind of had that reflection piece and he was really comfortable with where he where he was at and yeah I think he was um I think he uh the season before he’d won some award for like I know League award for a m most mount clean sheets or something so yeah he is yeah he developed really well um as a person as well he’s a lot more um grounded and I think he was settled in Crawley with a partner and stuff and had a house and that so yeah it’s weird because I felt really old because I remember speaking to him when he was young and then looking at him and he’s you know he’s got a partner in a house and I was like blood I’ve aged I’ve aged U obviously he played under the uh charismatic Steve Evans um no you didn’t I did yeah yeah what was he like as a manager because I mean you hear some stories about him and obviously Fletch played under him while he was at Crawley so you know Fletch has uh told some stories about him as well so what what was he like for you um yeah he’s very unique um as a manager um away from football probably one of the nicest BLS you’re likely to meet um honestly we do anything for you um sound as sound as anything but come to game day just Jackel and hide um we used to know if you’re going to get it because he bring a towel in with him so he’d bring a tow him because he was sweat he’d sweat that much he was shouting for that long that he’d have to have a towel to dab his face because so like if the towel was bought in you just knew it was going to be 15 minutes of him standing there and just berting you for 15 minutes uh um but yeah look he’s I he he was unique to me probably not my Cy in terms of managers in terms of the way he managed but he’s successful as a manager so I can’t you know say too much about that side of things because he’s he’s had a successful manager real career um and he’s had success at pretty much every every Club he’s gone to so there’s something in there that’s good um but probably you know the longevity of him at teams isn’t there because it only works for a certain amount of time is it is my personal opinion I think players can only put up with that type of management for a certain amount of time um but yeah he was he was always sound with me um I never really had any issues with him and you know like I said away from football some of the socials we have together he’d be top class and really genuine sort of nice bloke um and did care a lot about football and I think that care sort of probably didn’t come out in the right way sometimes and I think if you know knew how to read him because I was a bit of I was an older Pro then I think some of the young Lads just were like what the heck is this but I think just looking at him as a person he cared that much that he just over spilled sometimes in the wrong way um but yeah look like I said I’ve got no bad words to say about Steve I think you know everyone’s everyone’s got Steve Evans story I’ve been on a few um few coaching courses doing my coaching Badges and um I spoke of some players that played under him and every time we’ve mentioned his name we all just smile or laugh because we we know everyone’s got a story about Steve Evans um because he he is a big personality and um I think yeah football needs them personality sometimes because I think you look at some of the managers they’re so boring like you know media trained up the eyeballs and they don’t they answer a question but without really answering it and things like that whereas with Steve you’ll ask him a question and he’ll just tell you what he’s thinking on his mind and I think there is a place in the world for that sometimes because it’s it is entertaining yeah no definitely definitely yeah he is he is extremely entertaining um after you left Crawley um it seemed that at that point you kind of fell out of love with with the game a little bit um and an ex Herer teammate I think it was gave you a call to say that um was it suly hle Moos that yeah needed a center back yeah um so you began to obvious obviously play again um how was this period for you towards the end of your your playing days um I think it’s it’s tough cuz you know no secret that my injury record isn’t great and I think like after my contract had finished at Crawley um my body was kind of telling me that you know you could probably scratch around move around for another season or two you know at the lower leagues and you know earn all right money but at what cost to your body um and at the time of um being at Crawley I met my partner who I’m with now and um she became pregnant so it was like I needed to move up to wolver Hampton cuz I haven’t got any kind of family left around so um I moved up to wol Hampton and then I was like half looking to get a team but not really like my heart wasn’t really in it um I went to tford um for a little bit for six weeks and then I was just like this isn’t for me um and then I kind of just fell out of football for a season and just just did bits and Bobs like working you know doing different types of jobs and just exploring the world a little bit really because I’ve been in this football bubble since I kind of 12 um and sort of experiencing what real life is like because you know the football world isn’t real life um it’s it’s not a real job really I mean it’s it’s a crazy world so like you know actually going and living a proper life um and then yeah Simon Johnson who I play for at Herford um he just called me one day and said look bro I’m a Solly hole at the moment um this struggling for a center back I know you haven’t played for a bit what do you think and I SP to my partner and I was like you know what you think she look if you think you can do it then do it um so went for preseason um quite enjoyed it um I enjoyed the vibe around the place it was uh my first sort of experience of like proper semi-pro football um which was a learning curve in itself training two nights a week um not knowing sometimes what the what the numbers of the session could be because someone might be late for work or they’ve got a job on somewhere else which I couldn’t really couldn’t really comprehend because I was used to full-time football um and then yeah just had a season there playing um it was all right I don’t know how much I enjoyed it and then I had a conversation with the manager at the end of the season and he said look I’ll sign you as a as a player but I don’t know how much you’re going to play because you know various reasons and he said do you fancy being my assistant manager and I went yeah okay crack on so um had a SE two seasons as assistant manager under Marcus bner and learned a lot about the other side of the game um and started to fully appreciate what coaching and managing is all about and some of the stresses and strains although it being at a lower level um and did that for two seasons and then Marcus kind of moved on and then yeah I left Solly hole and then started a started my coaching career from then really so you’re based at wolves now um and you are under 15 16 Youth Development pH coach is that right is that the right title yeah um what exactly does that job role inael oh how long you got um in a nutshell it’s basically um our 15 16 cell are basically ready getting our players ready for their scholarship year going into 18 so they they’ll get a two-year scholarship um which they are employees of of the football club so our job myself and the and the two I’ve got d the cell um myself and Wes Hughes who run the cell so our job is to get players ready for full-time football basically so under 18s and then giving them the the sort of tools to make it as a pral footballer so we’ve currently got three Lads we’ve got um one lad under 15 who’s in around the first team at the moment been on the bench a couple of times where okad DOA and then we got two other boys that are training um in around the first team quite regularly so we’ve had quite a bit of success in our cell the year in terms of um know sort of blooding those young players um but yeah schedule is the lads are in um four nights a week for training Monday uh Monday to Thursday uh Friday off game Saturday U so we’re in the Premier League games program so we’ll playing all the other cat one cies um and then that’s it really so we a whole holistic approach so they get um the package the boys gets unbelievable really I look at my days incentive exent we have none of this so they get a nutritionist they get an anal they get they’ve got analysis um so they’ve got their own account huddle account so they can look at games all training sessions of films um they have um education so they’ll do a day release session so they we have them all day uh one day a week on a Tuesday and they have education during that so they have tuts that help them with the school work um they have transport provision so the lads get taxes in around training sessions they don’t have to worry about funding in there um transport into the ground which we never had my mom and dad had to pay to get me to to bour so it’s like football uh youth football has moved on um light years away what it was like when I was a young lad and I just look at sometimes what some of these boys have um and it’s a reminder sometimes to the boys that you know you have to keep your feet on the ground they are given quite a lot at a young age and it’s almost like an expectation that that’s what it’s going to be like all the time um and sometimes as a sell we’ll just throw in some curve balls for them to you know to sort of keep them on track at times but yeah um really enjoying my job it’s it’s time consuming it can be stressful at times but ultimately um I’m still in the field football which I I love I love football and like I said I had a period where I kind of fell out of love with football a little bit or almost become a little bit bitter towards it because I felt like I could have given a bit more but my body was telling me that was my own stuff really but now um sort of helping the Next Generation really is um really really satisfying and you know just imparting some of that knowledge and experience that I’ve gained over the years playing at different levels and just trying to help the Next Generation Um Forge a career in football whether it’s at wolves or elsewhere our job is just try and get the the boys a career in football at any level that they can I think that’s a success really yeah yeah and it’s yeah like you say it’s amazing isn’t it to see what you know what they get these days and what you had Chapel gate and that was was about it back in your day so but yeah that’s a real good Insight um obviously being at wolves um got to ask the question what um what did you think of the job that Gary O’Neal did at Bournemouth last season and what he’s done at wolves this season um I think both excellent um I’m surprised that he he he got sacked from uh Bournemouth if I’m honest or left bourma however that it wanted to be phrased because you know media speak now you never really get the full TR but yeah I found it weird that he he left bourou on this because I thought he done a very good job considering that’s his first ever manage eal job really um and even at the when he was coaching at at Liverpool I believe he I don’t think he ever led a game for the 21s he didn’t even take a game he was always assistant so he come into a Premiership side um and turn him around really if I’m honest um you know I mean they got they had some really good results and they look like a really formidable side um but obviously the decision um at the higher levels has been made that they obviously didn’t see a future for him um and he’s coming to wolves and he’s done exactly with Wolves what he did at Bournemouth um he’s completely galvanized what was a fractured Squad um and the results speak for themselves and and you know like I don’t I don’t think wolves are the only team that have struggled this but we’ve had quite a few injuries to key players this year and I think the fact that we’re finishing in the position that we are with all the turmoil that’s happened this season I think he’s done an outstanding job and I think um he’s going to have a long career in management at the highest level I think I think he’s um he’s very studious the way he conducts himself around the building um he’s very intense um and it looks as if he he values young players as well which for me as an academy staff member is is is good because we couldn’t say that about previous managers they didn’t they didn’t value the the young players they just wanted the Hear and Now players whereas you know football clubs are you know have to be sustainable and if you can get young players through the through the gates and and and start forging a career in the first team it’s only going to be beneficial for the club as a whole um and Gary seems like he’s he’s willing to trust the young Lads because we’ve had quite a few that have been around the first team this year all that through necessity or through injuries but you know sometimes Talent needs an opportunity and there’s no greater opportunity than if if someone’s injured sometimes although it’s at the detriment of the person that’s injured then someone’s got to come in and do a job and you know that’s that’s how I got my start and in football career and that’s how a lot of young players get their start yeah well that’s uh yeah like I say I mean I I’ll be uh thankful to Gary for you know turning Bournemouth around last season obviously uh Scott Parker didn’t leave on the uh best of terms and you know like the squad like you’ve said similar to wolves you know they were fractured and you know didn’t really have much confidence and uh you know Gary did did turn them around manag to keep us in the league so uh yeah definitely um yeah definitely was a surprise when when he uh he left um but finally um what are the long-term goals and Ambitions for Kyle broadhurst um I think just take my coaching career as high as I can get it now really I think um I made a concerted effort to say that I want to get into to men’s first team football again at some level if I can um but I wanted to earn my strikes as a coach cuz I think um just because you played the game it doesn’t mean necessarily that you’re going to be a good coach and I think learning the game from a different Viewpoint um is really important because if you do get your first job in football in men’s football it’s that’s the most important job because that’s when you set your stall out and um you build your reputation so I just want to be as as prepared as I can be if that opportunity does arise that once I get that opportunity I’m going to run with it and make it a success um so I just feel that coaching um young players at the moment is probably a good good fit for me at the moment in terms of learning the game um but still with my eye of of of what my progression is going to look like and and wolves have been really good in supporting me in terms of my progression so far um so the next next stages for me are either going to be working around the 18s 21s and then and then hopefully looking to to secure a men’s first team position somewhere whether that be first team coach or manager um at a credible level so um that’s kind of of my long-term Ambitions and that’s kind of what I’ve got my eye on but at the moment I’m just concentrating on the job I’ve got in the moment and and doing that to the best of my ability which I feel I’m doing at the moment excellent well bro it’s been an absolute pleasure to uh talk to you and learn more about you and uh go over your Dean Court days and um obviously learn about what you’re doing now so it’s been a it’s been a pleasure to to chat to you and thanks for coming on good I I hope you found it interesting mate I think someone I mean hope you haven’t you to death too much no no no no no I appreciate the opportunity to um to just share some of my experiences and um hope you enjoyed some of the stories I’ve had to tell um yeah I wish you every success with with your podcast mate I hope it goes from strength to strength yeah thank you V cheers it’s been great you’re welcome mate that was a very eventful insight into uh the careers the ups and downs and what Kyle B Hurst is doing now um so thank you for joining me and caryle for this uh interview today it’s been a real pleasure and a privilege to talk to Kyle and um stay tuned to up the cherries and all departments because we’ll have some more former player interviews coming up throughout the summer and next season and there’s a lot more to come on on the channel going forward so uh until next time up the cherries [Music] [Applause]
1 Comment
Good show