The announcement that Jonathan Woodgate and Joe Jordan would be leaving Dean Court at the end of their contracts with AFC Bournemouth has been just the start of the domino run beginning to fall.
Their departure has been followed by some long-standing AFC Bournemouth servants, indicating the end of an era on the south coast.
AFC Bournemouth assistant manager Stephen Purches, first-team coach Simon Weatherstone, goalkeeper coach Neil Moss and physio Steve Hard have all left Dean Court.
All four men have been stalwarts of the Eddie Howe era at AFC Bournemouth, with Purches and Moss also serving the club as players. Purches made 272 appearances for the club in all competitions between August 2000 and June 2007, scoring the goal of the game in the AFC Bournemouth Division Three Play-Off Final at the Millenium Stadium in 2003.
He returned to the club in June 2010 after a spell with Leyton Orient. Purches made an additional 43 appearances before having his career ended with a double leg break at Rochdale in 2012.
In 2013 Purches joined the coaching staff at Dean Court, first as development coach replacing Chris Hargreaves before progressing to first-team duties under Eddie Howe. In the summer of 2020 he was announced as assistant manager following the promotion of Jason Tindall as manager.
— Stephen Purches (@Purch21) June 29, 2021
Neil Moss began his career with AFC Bournemouth and would go on to enjoy three spell as a player with the Cherries, also featuring in the 2003 Division Three Play-Off winning side. He made 223 appearances in all competitions in total.
Moss joined the coaching staff at Dean Court in 2009 under Eddie Howe and was part of the set-up through all four divisions and earned his UEFA Goalkeeping A Licence in 2016.
Simon Weatherstone joined AFC Bournemouth in January 2014 as first-team coach and would be part of the backroom team that won promotion to the Premier League, before enjoying five seasons in the top flight of English football. Weatherstone had previously played under AFC Bournemouth assistant manager Jason Tindall during their time at Weymouth and joined Tindall and manager Eddie Howe at Burnley in May 2011, initially as a senior scout and progressing to the manager of the Burnley Under 21 side.
The final member of the backroom staff who had their departure announced was first-team physio Steve Hard, who even precedes Eddie Howe’s time as manager joining the club in May 2006.
Hard was just 30-years-old when he made the move to Dean Court after previously spending six-years with Millwall. Hard worked under eight permanent managers, Sean O’Driscoll, Kevin Bond, Jimmy Quinn, Eddie Howe (twice), Lee Bradbury, Paul Groves, Jason Tindall and Jonathan Woodgate.
Your say…
northstandmark wrote…
Sounds like Fletch is being kept on? The wardrobe is part of the furniture after all 
Weatherstone is expected, seeing as he was recently about to join Eddie at Celtic by all accounts. Makes sense the board will save themselves that bother every time Howe eyes up a job. Perhaps Hard will follow Howe into the next job as well?
Purches and Moss I’m sorry to see go. Purchy very well accredited, and Moss is, well, Moss!
klaus_afcb wrote…
Hard to put into words how I’m feeling this evening, but sadness is my overwhelming emotion.
The Eddie Howe years encompassed over half my supporting life. I know that players, managers and staff come and go (it’s the nature of life) but the last 12 months have been extreme. Eddie going was obviously a blow, but to have also lost JT, Purchy, Neil Moss and stalwart players like Franno, Surman and others in the few short months that have followed is as dramatic a change as I’ve experienced as a fan. At least Fletch is still here!
I’ve always struggled with the business, winning-at-all-costs, side of high-level football and naively see AFCB as a community institution built on local connections and long-standing relationships. I said before that I’d rather have gone back to League 2 with Eddie than hover around the Championship with someone who doesn’t really care for the club. It feels like today we have finally become just another mercenary football business.
I know I’m being overly dramatic and sentimental, and I’ll get over it soon enough. Just feels a bit raw right now. I do of course wish SP all the best and will be supporting as passionately as before. Hopefully, in 10 years time I’ll feel the same sadness about him, his staff, and the new club legends he unearths moving on to pastures new. UTC!
fritter added…
Klaus makes some good points and speaks from the heart. Takes courage.
Things change, of course. This season will be different. The core of the club for so many years has been people with AFC Bournemouth in their heart and soul. Not just players, but backroom staff as well. Maybe it had gone stale. Maybe the changes are needed. Time will tell.
But, the core of the club has now changed. We have employees who don’t have the club in their blood. And that’s different. Better or worse, who knows? But definitely different.
Part of what made this club different for so many years was seeing staff out and about, from Eddie to AlanConnellAlan, who would stop and chat. You knew you had a bond, a shared passion for the club.
Once I’m back in the ground it will feel different, but I can’t summon any enthusiasm for Parker. I have no negative feelings, just indifferent.
We have just experienced a magnificent few years, something unique. I am so grateful and appreciative that I was there.
But you can’t (and shouldn’t) turn back time and you can’t live in the past, but it’s ok to acknowledge change and to express a sense of loss, of mourning something very special that we will hold in our hearts forever.
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Time for a change,we have lived the dream. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a new one.