Tom Crocker: My Cherries history

As a football-obsessed kid born in the 90s, my whole experience of the game had either been in parks on Sunday mornings, or watching the Premier League, FA Cup and England games on TV.

That story I’m sure is not unfamiliar to many people reading this, with the first opportunity to actually go and see a proper match live being something that will always stay in the memory.

February 16, 2002 – AFC Bournemouth versus Wycombe Wanderers in Nationwide League Division Two at Fitness First Stadium.

A big Wycombe fan in the family decided to make the trip down for the game, and I managed to make myself part of those plans to go along too.

The exact minutiae from the 90 minutes itself have since left me, but I certainly remember the back and forth ‘banter’ between the home and away sections, as well as the dramatic finale from the game itself, and also a surprise half-time shoutout from the PA ahead of my ninth birthday.

All three goals came in the final 25 minutes. Eddie Howe equalised a Sean Devine opener, before Jermaine McSporran netted a stoppage-time winner as Wycombe ran out 2-1 winners. Cue bedlam in the away end.

That is where my journey with AFC Bournemouth began.

And that was very much only the start. I have been ingrained with the club, either actively or from afar, for almost 25 years since. The fact it has been that long since that first game feels pretty mad when I write it down.

I’ve seen the club change so much. I don’t need to go over all the details – anybody reading this knows the incredible, unique and special story which has unfolded.

The attendance for that Wycombe game was just shy of 6,000. Cherries started the season playing home matches at Avenue Stadium in Dorchester, whilst building work was ongoing at Dean Court. They ended the season relegated to the fourth tier.

As well as football, I also loved writing as a child. The moment I found out writing and football could be combined into an actual job, my mind was made up. That was what I was going to do.

I would watch matches on TV, make notes and create match reports from them. Not long after that, I started to attend Bournemouth games more regularly, as I got to an age where I could be dropped off and go to matches with my mates.

I went to quite a few games in the iconic 2008-09 League Two season, notably Eddie Howe’s first as permanent boss. Ironically it was again against Wycombe – who topped the table at the time.

This time I cheered the Cherries on from the North Stand, not the away end. A lot of the actual details remain in the memory from that one – Matt Harrold tackling David Button to open the scoring, before a brilliant Brett Pitman free-kick levelled the game.

Jason Pearce put Cherries in front and then, in front of the North Stand, loanee Jake Thomson saw his cross loop in and the hosts sealed a 3-1 win.

Had things gone badly in the months ahead, there may have been no AFC Bournemouth. Thankfully, Eddie and the team rallied and avoided relegation out of the Football League.

One year on from that game, I was in the press box for the first time.

To this day, the fortune of my timing in entering sports journalism in this part of the world is not lost on me. Sending a speculative email now to AFC Bournemouth, as a 16-year-old with no experience other than liking to write about football on the telly, would, I imagine, not got very far. The club is completely different now to what it was.

The circumstances certainly played in my favour. The media team in January 2010 basically consisted of Niall Malone, the press officer who looked after the comms side of things, and Mick Cunningham, the legendary club photographer, who also ran the website and matchday programme. I am forever grateful to both for the opportunity, support and guidance.

With the club chasing promotion, I went along for my first press box experience. There was no fancy media lounge then, or for a fair while after. It was a case of banging on the door at one of the security gates and waiting for a steward to come and open it.

A free press food voucher to use in the concourse was a welcome perk, but the game itself did not go to plan. Bournemouth suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat to Bury. That proved to be my first look at how tough it can be to try and get insightful post-match interviews after a defeat.

Thankfully, I wasn’t viewed as a bad-luck charm and was invited back. Before long, I was essentially running the website on matchdays, with a couple of other budding local journalists also regularly helping out for the home games.

For away matches, I was tasked with producing a live blog and match report via Kris Temple and Willo’s commentary on BBC Radio Solent. I’m not sure how many people inside or outside the club actually knew that’s how things were working, as, on the face of it, having a teenager writing the main content on your club’s website without having seen any of the game itself is kind of crazy. But again, it just highlights the financial situation of the club at that time and, I’d like think, showed I was doing an okay job of it too.

Cherries ended the 2009-10 season promoted and covering the 4-0 win over Port Vale from the press box and seeing the party atmosphere as fans and players celebrated is something which sticks in the memory, with a crowd of over 9,000 in Dean Court.

I did a few more seasons working for the website, including personally funding some away trips, such as the League One games against Southampton. That spell saw Paul Groves and Lee Bradbury come and go as bosses.

After getting some professional journalism qualifications under my belt, I continued to cover the club occasionally on a freelance basis for the Football League Paper, during their time in the Championship.

Then, in 2019, came the dream career move – covering the club day-to-day for my local paper, the Bournemouth Daily Echo.

In my five years there, Cherries had six managers, a relegation, promotion, play-off heartbreak and two FA Cup quarter-finals. Plenty to get my teeth into! One particular story of mine during that time which blew up was the Dan Gosling-Jon Moss row (if you’re unaware, give it a Google – it certainly got people talking).

The spell also saw me covering the club during Covid-19. Being one of the only people allowed into the grounds during that time was a responsibility to Cherries fans which I took seriously.

In the summer of 2024, I stepped away from the Echo, and sports journalism completely, becoming somewhat disillusioned with the direction the industry was heading.

I still kept tabs on the club from afar, attending the odd game as a fan (including against Everton where David Brooks bagged one of the goals of the season).

I was also privileged to be at the stadium for the historic night back in May, as the 1-1 draw with Manchester City secured a first season in Europe for AFC Bournemouth.

The opportunity to be part of the CounterPress network and team up with my former Echo colleague Jack Tanner again has given me the enthusiasm and excitement to return to sport and be part of the club’s journey again.

And, for the record, I’ve not been back in the away end since my first game at the ground in 2002!

You can follow Tom on social media, @TomJCrocker on Twitter and @tomcrockerwrites on Instagram.