AFC Bournemouth
It didn’t feel like a step down at all. I went from being wrapped in cotton wool at Chelsea to the bottom of League Two on loan at Torquay United. It was culture shock for me, but I enjoyed that. To then be asked to go a league higher with Bournemouth was fantastic at the time and I was grateful for the opportunity.
Because I was so young I didn’t take too much notice of the the off-field troubles at the time. Some people had kids and families and it obviously affected them much more. To me at the time, it just meant that we had a smaller squad.
The points deduction really did kill us. I think it was only one or two points that we went down by in the end, and after working so hard all season for it not to be our fault on the pitch was gut-wrenching.
I was PFA representative at the time, but it was only because no one else wanted to do it! We always got paid, but it was sometimes late and uncertain. I was young, but there were lots younger than me, so I was the one who had to take responsibility and go and speak to the club.
By the next Christmas we were still on minus one points. We could see only one thing happening and it wasn’t a great time - probably my lowest playing for Bournemouth.
It is strange when one of your former teammates gets the job. However, from day one Eddie picked up the whole place, started getting results and gave everyone a new lease of life.
Sometimes we only had a couple of players on the bench. I think one of them was Jason Tindall, which shows how much we were struggling! Things like that bring you closer together. It’s probably one of the best squads I have played in personally and it is nice to see so many of the lads go on to do well at a higher level.
A few players began to leave the year after we were promoted and then the manager, which was obviously credit to how well we had done. You’re always looking at someone in the youth ranks to fill the void and luckily for us we did that, because at the end of that season we ended up in the play-offs.
Over the course of two legs, we felt like we had done enough to beat Huddersfield. In the penalty shoot out we didn’t give ourselves the best of chance by missing a couple. Unfortunately, they stuck almost all of theirs away.
I had been at the club for five years, so to leave was a difficult decision to make. I spoke to the manager at the time, Lee Bradbury, and explained the reasons why I had to leave. I was expecting triplets so I had to do what was right for them.
My favourite moment in a Bournemouth shirt has to be getting promoted at Burton Albion. With what happened the season before it was fantastic to bounce back and get promotion.
My best goal? It was against Boston United in the FA Cup during my first season. Others may have been more timely, but I hit that one from the halfway line so it is probably the one that stands out most in my head.
It's strange to see a club the size of Bournemouth in the Premier League. It’s actually quite amazing. However, knowing Eddie and some of the players, I am not surprised in any way that they have managed to achieve it.
Joe Partington has also spoken about his AFC Bournemouth journey, which you can read here.
