Midfield general Mark Molesley admitted AFC Bournemouth’s 2009/10 promotion campaign had been a bitter-sweet personal experience.
Plucked from non-league, Molesley starred during the Greatest Escape and hit the ground running at the start of the following season.
He was on target as the Cherries got off to a flying start by registering an emphatic 3-0 win over much-fancied Bury at Gigg Lane on the opening day.
And Molesley pocketed a host of man-of-the-match awards as Eddie Howe’s team soared to the League Two summit after winning eight of their first nine games.
But disaster struck for the popular Londoner when an innocuous injury in training brought his season to a premature end in October 2009, leaving him with a frustrating watching brief.
Molesley today kicks off our series of player interviews for The Journey with a look back at the 3-0 win over Bury and his memories of the season.
He told afcb.co.uk: “It was a really solid away performance. Bury had been tipped for promotion and had brought in some strong players over the summer.
“Although there was still a lot going on off the pitch, we were on the crest of a wave after staying up the previous season.
“The gaffer brought in John Dalzell to do some fitness work and we had a really good pre-season. We were a fit, strong and hungry group.
“We were also very tight-knit. The squad was small because of the transfer embargo but we used that to our advantage.
“I started the season playing in central midfield alongside Anton Robinson. We were both fairly new to it all having just come out of non-league. We wanted to make a name for ourselves.
“In Stephen Dawson and Brian Barry-Murphy, Bury had one of the best central midfield pairings in the league but we won our battles that day.
“We had the mentality and attitude that we wanted to prove all the doubters wrong and that ran through the whole squad.
“I remember Brett Pitman and Anton scored in the first half and I managed to get one at the start of the second half.
“I chopped one way and then the other before finding the top corner. I was pleased with that one. It gave us a nice cushion and spurred us on to the three points.”
The club’s precarious financial position impacted on Molesley during pre-season as he looked to complete the formalities of signing a new contract.
“My previous contract had run out and everything had been agreed for a new one,” he said. “Fortunately, the gaffer was keen to keep me and I was desperate to stay.
“But because of what was going on off the pitch, it hadn’t been ratified by the FA so everything was up in the air for me.
“I’d got married in the summer and my wife was back in London expecting our first child. I was living in digs in Ashley Road.
“I couldn’t move her down here until the contract was signed. We were supposed to be setting up house together and it was an unsettling time.
“The paperwork was done on the eve of the Bury game which gave me some security. My wife moved down the following week and our little girl was born in the October.
“Things could not have been going any better. I was playing for a club I loved and playing in the Football League.
“My contract had been sorted, my wife had moved down, I had just got married and we had a baby on the way.
“I was playing well, I was enjoying my role in the team and we were top of the league. All my dreams had come true.
“Then, I was just running in training one day and my foot crumbled. I hit a whole host of problems after that but that’s another story. My season was over.
“I was out for the best part of 18 months and there were times when I feared my career could be over.”
While Molesley continued his painstaking rehabilitation, Howe’s team completed their promotion mission thanks to a 2-0 win at Burton Albion.
Molesley, who was Howe’s first signing in management, travelled to the Pirelli Stadium with Cherries director Adam Murry.
“I remember it well!” said Molesley, who now assists Shaun Cooper with the club’s under-21s. “It was an unforgettable day. It was just a shame I had to watch it from the side of the pitch.
“I was just about to have another operation and was sitting there in my tracksuit when Alan Connell scored our second goal.
“I shouldn’t even have been on the side of the pitch but started running down the line and tried to join in the celebrations with the lads!
“I was immensely proud to be around the group and to have involved that day. I just wish I could have been on the pitch. It hurt.
“We had just won promotion but unless you are on the pitch, you don’t feel as if you’ve contributed. You want to be out there giving it your all.
“To stay up and then get promoted against all the odds was a fantastic achievement and a monumental day for the club.
“Nothing was built on money. We had our problems off the pitch but overcame absolutely everything. It was a real triumph in the face of adversity.
“Hopefully, it went some way to starting to build solid foundations for the club. That season epitomised everything – don’t have limits, dare to dream and believe in yourself.”
The Journey continues on Saturday when Eunan O'Kane looks back on the Cherries' 2012/13 promotion campaign.
