Darren Anderton is one of our modern day greats.
League Cup winner in 1999, the right-sided midfielder played 357 times for us over a 12-year period, 1992-2004, having signed from Portsmouth. He was our record-appearance maker in the Premier League for many years on 299 before being finally overtaken by Hugo Lloris in August, 2021.
Darren formed a telepathic relationship with goalscorer Teddy Sheringham, was key to the performances of Teddy and Jurgen Klinsmann together in 1994/95 and earned 30 caps for England - he was a member of Terry Venables’ team that took apart Holland on the way to the semi-finals of Euro 1996 - he set up Paul Gascoigne's iconic goal against Scotland - and then scored against Colombia in the 1998 World Cup Finals in France.
What is perhaps less known is that Darren ended his 18-year playing career at Bournemouth.
Signed in 2006, he was there in 2008/09 for Bournemouth's 'great escape' when they recovered from a 17-point deduction to survive in League Two, before beginning a journey that reached the promised land of the Premier League. They won the Championship in 2014/15, first played in the Premier League in 2015/16 and have been in the top flight for nine of 11 seasons since.
Speaking to us back in 2019, Darren recalled those days back on the south-coast...
First of all Darren, tell us about your move to Bournemouth...
Darren: “I’d been up at Wolves with Glenn (Hoddle) and really enjoyed it, but my dad was ill at the time and I wanted to come back down to the south (he was born in Southampton). I had friends in the area, a few knew the Chairman and it all came about via a chance meeting. The club said to me ‘let’s try to make it happen’. It was a club with the reputation of trying to play the right way and that’s what I was all about. Sean O’Driscoll was manager when I signed, but he left that day! Kevin Bond then came in and it went from there. I had two-and-a-half great years down there.”
You clearly enjoyed your time there...
Darren: “It was a great set of lads, good young players and it was nice to be appreciated. They could see I wasn’t just there for a ‘jolly-up’ as such, I did things right. The fans were always good to me as well. To see where they are now, it’s fantastic.”
You were there in some difficult days in League Two. What was that like?
Darren: “At that time (2008/09) the club was more or less bottom of the Football League after a points deduction. Bondy left, Jimmy Quinn came in and we started okay, but it started going pear-shaped. As I said, I was there to enjoy my football and always promised myself if I wasn’t doing that, I’d retire and that’s what happened. The new owners accepted that. They soon sacked Jimmy Quinn, Eddie Howe came in and the rest is history. It’s incredible what has happened since then, unbelievable.”