New regular feature for 10/11, every week we'll be chatting with an opposing fan to try and get a greater insight into their club. Starting the season is Cherries fan Mark Shergold. Our thanks to Mark for his time...
Q. Mark, its been an amazing rollercoaster for AFCB since going into administration in Feb 2008. Could you briefly summerise how the club's fortunes, on and off the pitch, have panned out in that period ?
So much has gone on. Administration meant relegation from League One in 07/08 thanks to the -10 points deduction, it was just too big an ask to recover from. That summer was a nightmare; several bidders for the club turned out to be time wasters, and at one point there was a lot of doubt as to whether AFCB would actually start the 08/09 season. If the club couldn't secure a viable owner then the Football League would not release the 'golden share' that allows a club to be a member of the League.
Finally a deal was done with two owners calling themselves Sport-6, and just days before the season started the club had new owners and could start the season. Unfortunately, being able to start the season had strings attached, the biggest of which was a 17 points deduction, so it was clear that we'd be fighting hard just to keep our Football League status.
A poor start to the season meant Kevin Bond was sacked, and Sport-6 appointed their own man in Jimmy Quinn. Things didn't improve and at the end of the year it became clear that the club was in financial trouble again, as well as being in serious danger of being relegated into the Conference. Sport-6's running of the club had been a disaster and the debts had been racked up again, to the tune of a couple of million.
It was all change on New Year's Eve as a new director came in, who promptly sacked the hapless Quinn and appointed Eddie Howe. Results soon started to change; the fans rallied behind the club legend Howe and the club started to move forwards. A promotion-style run of results over the second half of 08/09 kept us in the league. Off the pitch however the club was in trouble; the Football League rightly was very upset that we had racked up debts again just months after coming out of administration due to Sport-6's clueless running of the club. They wasted the clean sheet that administration brings, and made the club a laughing stock for being in trouble again. Sport-6 fell apart and left, and the club was left without any leadership throughout the summer, complete with a transfer embargo and various other sanctions.
Eddie Howe went into the 09/10 season with the same group of players as he had during that great relegation escape, around 18 professionals, and continued to pull them into a very solid unit with great team spirit. The club had new owners as a group headed up by current chairman Eddie Mitchell took over. The team started the season superbly, and the excellent start just continued on and on despite horrendous player shortages through injury, and players often played through injuries just because there just wasn't anyone else.
That eventually resulted in promotion, a simply remarkable feat considering the circumstances the team had to play under. Off the pitch, the new chairman appears to have got the club into a much better place, debts are now around half a million, considerably less than they were. The Football League, now happy with how the club is being run, lifted the embargo and we've signed our first players for 18 months this summer.
Q. Eddie Howe has done a fantastic job. Given his age and his lack of experience when he got the job, were there many doubters at the time of the appointment ? Was it seen as a cheap 'needs must' option ? What has he managed to do so well given the long-standing transfer embargo ?
We all wanted rid of the previous manager, but yes Eddie was seen as probably being a cheap option at the time. The guy was a legend at our club from his playing days and as part of the coaching setup, and it was assumed that at some point he would end up as manager. But when aged just 31, and in such a high pressure situation?
However due to his legend status everyone rallied behind him, and he became the figurehead for a complete change in the club's mood, from despair to determination. He has managed to squeeze every last drop of ability out of every player, average players became good players and good players became excellent ones. A great bond quickly developed between all the players and the fanbase; everyone connected with the club was suddenly fighting as if their life depended on it.
Q. Has there been much concern he will be poached by a higher club ?
Peterborough offered him their managerial hot-seat last season. With them in the Championship at the time and with a much larger budget than we could ever give him, Eddie immediately turned them down. Eddie is so good that at some point he will out-grow the club in all probability, but he is a local Bournemouth boy, grew up in the area and has been at the club since being a youth player (bar two years as a player at Pompey), so he cares for the club and he won't be going anywhere just yet.
Q. Was last season's successful year completely unpredicted, or was it felt there was always the chance of a good year ? What was it that made the club do so well ?
We knew that we had some handy players and we knew they were very capable of getting results thanks to our promotion-esque form to escape relegation the previous year. However no one thought the same squad could keep that same promotion form up for the entirety of a season. The embargo meant that we only had around 18 professionals to work with, and no one believed a squad that small would keep going all season.
It was that bond that Eddie developed that kept the squad going, kept them fighting in every game through the pain barrier and through injury when necessary. The treatment from the Football League with the embargo developed an immense siege mentality at the club.
Q. Is this season simply about survival, or do you feel you realistically should be more ambitious than that ?
Survival is obviously the main aim, but we know this division well because it's where we've spent the majority of recent decades and we think our current side with the additions we've made is capable of better than just surviving. We'd like to keep the relegation scrap at arms length.
Q. Have the core of last season’s squad been retained ? Have the summer additions been seen as potentially improving the first team, or making the squad stronger ?
The only players to leave were players we wanted to release (4), everyone else has stayed. Our seven signings this summer have given the squad some depth which it hasn't had for a few years. Midfielders Harry Arter (who you will know about) and Marc Pugh should help with creativity, which was the only weak spot last season. We didn't always score enough goals. Arter seems to have settled well here and has really stood out in pre-season, we expect him to be a good player for us.
Q. AFCB averaged 5,700 last season. Do you see attendances picking up this year ? How difficult is it for Bournemouth to grow as a club ? How big an impact does Southampton play as a near rival ? Is the club pro-active in the community, or should it be doing more in that respect ?
We expect the average gate to increase to around 6500, the fair weather fans will come out for the more attractive games we have at this level, and away followings coming to us will be far better compared to League Two due to bigger clubs and more southern-based opponents.
The club is quite active in the community, particularly with kids, because we have to put a lot of effort into our youth side to find players seeing as we're never going to have the money to go and buy quality in as bigger clubs can. We have to produce our own and make money by selling the really good players that come through.
Southampton does have an effect, when they were in the Premiership some kids in the area would choose to support them. This isn't such a problem currently and we have to make the most of that. Saints also have a habit of poaching promising young players from us, Adam Lallana being a good example which is frustrating.
0
Comments
Blimey that is a can of worms, there's a lot of politics involved here! The Supporters Trust (ST) has become very divisive amongst fans. It all started so well in the 90s when the ST ran the club. The ST board voting to sell the newly re-developed Dean Court in a rent-back arrangement to raise money massively spilt the fanbase. Following that, the ST selling the club into private fans to raise money split the fans even more. Nowadays the ST isn't very well supported and its membership is now pretty insignificant, certainly nowhere near the 3000 members it once commanded at it's peak. Not interested is probably the best way of putting it. It's a shame it's declined like this; a fanbase always need representation at it's club.
Q. Which players are you expecting to go on and have a good season ? Who should we be keeping an eye out for on Saturday ?
The obvious one is Brett Pitman who grabs most of the headlines for his goals. He can score from anywhere, a specialist at volleys. However there are many more un-sung players; Liam Feeney on the wing provides Pitman with much of his ammunition, and in defence, the foundation of our recent success, centre back and captain Jason Pearce, and left back Rhoys Wiggins are real gems.
Q. As an opposing fan, how are Charlton perceived as a club ?
I think Charlton were one of those clubs who nobody disliked and often cheered on against the top clubs in the Premiership. Now certainly a big club at this level, you've fallen on hard times financially but are likely to re-establish yourselves at a higher level at some point.
Q. How do you see Charlton's season panning out ?
I know you've had to sell a couple of very good players in Bailey and Shelvey and you're currently struggling to rebuild a squad. However you still have some players who should be big at this level like Dailly and Youga. Also your latest signing Abbott is a proven goalscorer. I expect Charlton to be up there challenging for the play-offs.
Q. Who do you think the automatic promotion spots will be contested by ?
The top two will be contested by Southampton, Peterborough, Huddersfield and Swindon for me.
Q. And finally, how do you see Saturday's game panning out ?
We'd take a draw for sure. We'll try and be tough to break down and we have some pace on the break. 0-0 wouldn't surprise me and we'd be delighted with that, Charlton will be tough.
Is there a reciprocal arrangement re this feature?
JB - The whole point of the feature is to try and provide something that is a bit more informed and indepth than simple quick fire answers. You'll never believe it, but there was a time pre-messageboards when written pieces used to contain more than 200 words :-)
Didn't really know much about Bournemouth's recent troubles so i found the replies very interesting, but i suppose i am biaised as i asked the questions !
Most people can read more than 2 paragraphs of writing without getting a headache....Very interesting stuff there, well done AFKA.
Anyone see read this?:
"A great bond quickly developed between all the players and the fanbase; everyone connected with the club was suddenly fighting as if their life depended on it."
Ah, I know people think I'm one of the rose-tinted brigade (too right I am!) ......but it reminds me of the siege mentality we had at Selhurst and our fight to return to The Valley, plus the days of Fortress Valley.
Lest we forget, it was the club, players and supporters pulling together as one that saved our club.
And won us our Premiership 'glory ' days.
Nice feature though better the standard questions predict the score, best player etc
Hopefully on the lines of, "I thought Bournemouth were a bit unlucky.
"We might have scored in the 3rd minute except for a tremendous save from your keeper,
And then Arter hit the bar with that glorious 25 yarder - what a goal that would have been for the youngster on his return to The Valley!
"Going in at an undeserved 1-0 down at half time, I thought the Cherries had equalised soon after the restart but for a desperate last ditch block on the goaline by Dailly ......only for Charlton to catch us cold on the counter, as Kyel Reid outstripped two defenders and fired a terrific drive into the net from 20 yards. Abbott made it 3-0 from the spot before Arter collected a consolation goal in time added on."
Who needs tea leaves or crystal balls ....?
Oh so the complete opposite of what has been going on here in recent years...........
Great read and proof there are other great stories out there , well done to afka for bringing it to us
... and Charlton.
I thought twice would have been a bit of overkill to be honest.
That site lists the main forums for English and Scottish clubs. Might be a way of finding a few fans for this if struggling to find someone.
Every home game sounds about right, are you hoping to include cup games (if we get anyone outside of our league)?