Despite playing for both AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United, Wayne Fereday admits he has few fond memories of his time with either club.
Fereday joined the Cherries as part of the deal which took Gavin Peacock to St James’ Park in November 1990 before leaving for West Bromwich Albion just 13 months later.
Still revered at his first club QPR, Fereday made more than 200 appearances for the West Londoners and was capped by England at under-21 level.
As a 17-year-old, he scored twice on his debut in a 4-0 win over Bristol Rovers and helped QPR clinch promotion to the top flight after being crowned Division Two champions.
Fereday, who played alongside David Seaman and Tony Adams for England under-21s, spent six seasons at the top level before joining Newcastle for a reported fee of £300,000 in July 1989.
He still lives locally and works for Cookes in Christchurch as well as being a Premier League match delegate.
How did your move to the Cherries come about in November 1990?
I wasn’t having a great time at Newcastle and they wanted Gavin Peacock.
I played with Gavin at QPR and he is still a good friend of mine.
He was flying at Bournemouth and did a great job for them as he did with every club he played for.
Harry Redknapp did the deal with Newcastle and I was part of it so Gavin went up there and I came down here.
What was the mood like around the club, considering the Cherries had been relegated just a few months before you joined?
It wasn’t great but my mood wasn’t either because I didn’t have a great time at Newcastle.
I just wanted to get away and start playing again.
I had only just arrived so it didn’t hit me straightaway. It took a while to see it.
What were your first impressions of the squad?
They had some very good players. Even though Ian Bishop and Mark Newson had left by then, they still had a good squad.
There were a lot of good players and some big names. When I arrived, we had the likes of Luther Blissett, Paul Morrell, Gerry Peyton, Sean O’Driscoll, Matty Holmes and Kevin Bond.
What was Harry Redknapp like to play under?
He was a great manager then and has been ever since.
My time with him wasn’t great, I didn’t perform and Harry let me know.
Before I arrived, he achieved massively at Bournemouth and went on to be very successful as a manager at the highest level.
He persuaded me to come down in his convincing way but I didn’t perform. I knew that and so did everyone else so my time with Harry was a little strained.
What can you remember about your debut – a 0-0 draw at Chester in front of a crowd of 995?
I remember running out and thinking ‘where is the crowd?’
We didn’t have massive crowds at QPR but you would regularly play in front of 15,000 to 16,000.
I remember making my debut for Newcastle against Leeds in front of 30,000.
All of a sudden, I was at Chester and there were 900 people there. It was definitely an eye-opener.
I don’t remember the game but I probably had one of my indifferent performances.
As far as the game is concerned, it was 0-0 so obviously wasn’t a classic and the ones who stayed away got lucky!
You scored your only goal for the club in a 5-1 defeat at Portsmouth in the FA Cup – what are your memories of that game?
I remember the goal well. I smacked it from quite a long way out and it flew in.
It was probably the best thing I did while I was at Bournemouth.
We did well to reach the fourth round even if we got hammered on the day.
For me, it was one of the better moments of my brief stay at the club, even if it didn’t help and we got knocked out of the cup.
Although the Cherries had been looking to make an immediate return to the second tier, you had to settle for ninth in 1990/91. Was that an underachievement?
You have to say it was considering the squad we had.
No disrespect to some of the players, but I had never heard of these guys when I first arrived.
It was only when I started training with them that I realised how good they were at that level.
With those guys and someone like Luther Blissett up front, you would have to say ninth was an underachievement.
You returned with West Brom the following season and lost 2-1. What are your memories of that game?
I played right-back and had a decent game.
All in all, we were atrocious and I remember Jimmy Case crumpling me a couple of times.
Bobby Gould was our manager at the time and I remember him disappearing out of the changing room at the end of the game.
He went to the car park to find a couple of fans and brought them into the changing room.
He must have told them not to hold back and to tell us what they thought because they really tore into us.
They got to me and said I had done alright but they laid into the other players and were telling them how rubbish they had been.
It was one of the weirdest things to happen to me during my career.
Although you didn’t have a great time of it at AFC Bournemouth, you still live locally and have remained in the area for a long time. How come?
I love the people and love the area to bits. I would never move away.
If I come to the ground, a couple of the older fans will have a pop at me and tell me I wasn’t very good when I played for them.
It’s all good natured and they are entitled to their opinion because they pay good money to watch.
I love going back to the club. It’s great to see them in the Premier League and Eddie and Jason have done a fantastic job. I just hope they can stay up this season.
