My early childhood was more punctuated frequently than dominated by trips to Villa Park. Instead it was AFC Bournemouth that provided my up-close-and-personal formative experiences of live football, and I was a regular at Dean Court from the early 1990s until an Aston Villa season ticket found its way into my pocket for the first time in the middle of the 1995/96 season and for a while afterwards too.
There were plenty of heroes in that time. Scott Mean, Neil Masters and Vince Bartram were early favourites. Neil Young, coincidentally the brother of Villa defender Luke, was a favourite of mine at right back and isn’t long retired in the grand scheme of things. But if we’re talking icons, longevity and total, unadulterated hero worship, few Cherries players can hold a candle to Steve Fletcher.
Fletcher has been a fixture of my experiences with Bournemouth. Brentford away, Shrewsbury at home and the Great Escape? Fletch was there. The Winter Gardens meeting and the near-extinction of the club? Fletch was still there. The playoff final in Cardiff? Surviving in the Football League after a 17-point penalty? Flying high in League One against the odds as Eddie Howe begins a glittering career? You guessed it: Fletch was, and is there - and he’s always played an important part. Not surprising, then, that Cherries supporter and Narrow the Angle author Chris Lines is so fond of the man:
“His goal record of roughly one in five is quite poor for a striker, and I think I’m right in saying that he’s only twice hit double figures in a season. But to judge him on goals is to miss the point of Steve Fletcher. He is quite simply Mr Bournemouth. When he’s on the field, most things go through him. His knock-downs with both head and chest are excellent - goodness knows how many assists he must have racked up over the years. And he inspires teammates and the crowd with his never-say-die attitude, always shouting encouragement and ruffling a few feathers in opposition defences.”
There are many sides to Steve Fletcher. He’s the eternal club captain, who hasn’t always been a nailed-on starter but could have been born wearing an armband. He’s a gentleman and a fan favourite, and quite probably the nicest footballer I’ve ever spent a significant amount of time with. But he has been a vital player for Bournemouth over the years and there’s no more deserving man to have a stand named after him at the King’s Park stadium.
Born in Hartlepool, 38-year-old Fletcher established himself on the south coast after moving from the local club in 1992 and went on to become a true legend. He was signed by Tony Pulis, the first manager at Bournemouth whose leadership I can clearly remember. Having played under Mel Machin and former playing colleague Sean O’Driscoll, Fletcher was released by Kevin Bond in 2007 and played for a season with Chesterfield before joining Crawley Town. With Howe now in charge at Dean Court, Fletcher came home in January 2009 as the new manager’s first signing. Despite his age, nothing’s really changed.
Earlier this season Fletcher came on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion and wreaked havoc with his strength and presence. He was described by a journalist after the game as being “built like a coffin on legs”, but his manager was far more complimentary: “What a professional. He ran around like a 20-year-old. The desire and the hunger for a man his age is testament to him.”
My personal fondest memories of Fletcher closely mirror key developments in Bournemouth’s recent history. Under Machin, Bournemouth turned around an appalling start and pulled off ‘The Great Escape’. Fletcher’s importance in that team was clear, and the final two games of that season will live in my memory forever. On 29th April I went to Griffin Park as a 2-1 victory on the penultimate game of the season sparked incredible celebrations with Bournemouth’s destiny in their own hands ahead of a midweek fixture against Shrewsbury Town at Dean Court. The Cherries came roaring out of the traps on that Tuesday evening and were soon 3-0 ahead. The win secured safety against the odds.
But for Bournemouth the rollercoaster was only just beginning. Financial problems had begun to take a grip of the club a few years previously and would come close to putting the club out of business repeatedly. One trip to Wembley was the high point as Bournemouth eventually did fall into a cycle of relegation and promotion.
In 2003, Fletcher played his part in one of the the greatest afternoons in Bournemouth’s history. Facing Lincoln City, who’d defeated them at home in an ill-tempered clash just weeks earlier, Bournemouth won promotion to the third tier with a stunning 5-2 win at the Millennium Stadium. The start couldn’t have been better and Fletcher’s early half-volley from Marcus Browning’s knock-down only served to enhance the Super Fletch legend.
By the time Fletcher was re-signed by Howe, Bournemouth were back in the fourth division and failing in their quest to survive in the Football League in the face of a 17-point penalty. Howe turned their form around, Fletcher made an important contribution and survival was confirmed on 25th April 2009 when the Cherries beat Grimsby Town 2-1 to escape relegation. The winning goalscorer? You guessed it. “I don’t know who writes the big man’s scripts,” enthused Howe in the aftermath, “but I’d like to meet him”.
Howe’s miracles have continued with Bournemouth’s remarkable promotion in 2009/10 and look sure to be repeated long into the talented young manager’s future. But for Fletcher, the fairytale is dwindling peacefully into the background. In March, chairman Eddie Mitchell announced that the club would be enshrining the striker’s iconic status by naming the North Stand after him. It’s a fitting tribute to a true Bournemouth great. I’ll leave the last word to Chris Lines:
“The image of Fletcher, bare-chested and flexing his muscles after scoring in the 2003 playoff final, is one of the most enduring images in the club’s history. He is one of our all-time greats - he adores the club as much the club adores him. Not many people get a stand named after them while they’re still playing for the club…”
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Tags: AFC Bournemouth, Steve Fletcher