AFC Bournemouth
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
This inspiring quote came from J M Barrie’s book about Peter Pan, the fictional character who was taught to fly by the fairies and birds.
It teaches the importance of self-belief, something AFC Bournemouth star Adam Smith has in spades.
The defender this week penned a contract extension which will lengthen his stay at Vitality Stadium at least until the summer of 2024.
Smith, who joined the Cherries for a bargain £250,000 from Tottenham in January 2014, has twice helped the club win promotion to the Premier League.
During the Cherries’ five-year stay in the top flight between 2015 and 2020, Smith experienced the whole gamut of emotions from memorable wins to crushing defeats, from staying up to going down.
However, irrespective of the opposition or the outcome, the Londoner has always kept believing, an attitude which has served him well during 144 appearances in the Premier League.
On Saturday, Scott Parker’s team face Manchester City in their own back yard and few, if any, pundits give them any chance of collecting their first points against the champions.
And while 31-year-old Smith is old enough and wise enough to know Cherries will need to be at their best if they are to break their duck, experience tells him unexpected results do happen in football.
Previewing the trip to Etihad Stadium, Smith told afcb.co.uk: “There’s no point playing the game if you don’t have belief.
“You’ve always got a chance and crazy things happen in football. Nobody thought we would win at Chelsea in our first season in the Premier League but we did.
“I had just scored my first Premier League goal in a 3-3 draw with Everton when we went to Stamford Bridge and we were in the bottom three.
“After we beat Chelsea, we beat Manchester United and West Brom. The draw against Everton and those three wins on the trot gave us extra confidence that we could stay in the league and compete with the best teams. That run played a massive part in us staying up.
“Anything can happen in football. A lot of people outside the town didn’t expect us to stay up in our first season and we proved them wrong. It shows you what great team spirit can do for you.
“Every season we’ve been in the Premier League, we’ve been written off. It doesn’t bother us whatsoever. It’s annoying but you get used to it. It doesn’t keep me up at night though!
“The Etihad is probably the toughest place to go in the Premier League. We’ve had some decent games with them but never beaten or drawn against them.
“Nobody is expecting us to get anything so we’ve got nothing to lose. It’s games against the teams around us that we’ve to get points from. Points against the bigger clubs are a bonus.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game, possibly our toughest of the season, but it’s one we will give 100 per cent in.
“We defended well against Villa but it could be ten times harder than that. We know we will be defending for long periods and won’t get a lot of possession so maybe we can try to hit them on the counter or from set-pieces.
“One thing I know for certain. It’s great to be involved in games like this. I know I’d rather play Manchester City at the Etihad than Barnsley at Oakwell and that’s not being disrespectful to Barnsley.”
Smith’s contract extension came hot on the heels of similar deals for Dom Solanke and Lewis Cook, while Mark Travers signed a new long-term deal in pre-season.
A flurry of activity at Vitality Stadium over the past fortnight also saw the permanent signings of Marcus Tavernier, Neto and Marcos Senesi, bringing to five the number of new recruits this summer following the arrivals of Joe Rothwell and Ryan Fredericks.
Smith said: “I’m really happy with the extension and I’m just looking forward to this season and more. Taking me to ten years here was a big factor for me, it’s not something you see much these days.
“When I first signed here, I didn’t think I would be here for ten years and what a journey to get this far. It’s scary how quickly it’s gone because it feels like yesterday that I signed.
“Hopefully, I can stay in the Premier League, it’s fewer games, less travelling and all-round better. I’ll be giving everything this season to make sure we stay in it.
“I know it must be difficult out there to sign players and the club have brought in some really good players.
“We’re pleased to have such a big squad now and it’s only going to stand up in good stead for the season because we know we’re going to have use a lot of players.
“It was a very good start for Tav against Villa. He had only trained with us for four or five days but he had a really good game.
“He’s going to be a massive asset for this club and just needs to keep playing like that and he will have a great career.”
Smith’s start against Villa saw him draw level with Stephen Purches on the club’s list of leading appearance-makers, the pair having both played 277 league games.
He also leads the way as the player in the current squad to have featured most for the Cherries in the top flight, his tally including five goals, ten assists and 26 clean sheets.
Smith needs another 27 league appearances to join club record goalscorer Ron Eyre in the hall of fame.
“It’s a nice achievement,” he added. “I spent a lot of time with Purchy, a fellow full-back, and it would be nice to reach the top ten.
“It’s not something I think about now, it’s something I will look at when I’ve finished playing and be very proud about.”
ADAM SMITH’S FIVE FAVOURITE PREMIER LEAGUE GAMES
CHERRIES 3 EVERTON 3 – NOVEMBER 2015
“I didn’t start the game, I came on at half-time when we were losing 2-0. I scored my first Premier League goal to make it 2-1 before Junior made it 2-2. Ross Barkley scored what some Everton fans thought was the winner before Junior popped up with a dramatic late equaliser. It’s a game I will remember for a long time.”
Chelsea 0 Cherries 1 – December 2015
“This one will always stick in the memory because it was almost as if we felt we belonged after this game. Chelsea were the champions but were having a tough time. As the game went on, we sensed we could do something special because they became a bit frustrated. Then, Glenn Murray popped up with the only goal late on and everyone went mad. A memorable game.”
Cherries 2 Manchester United 1 – December 2015
“The Chelsea game and this one stick in my mind for very different reasons. During the week, Harry Arter’s daughter had died at birth and it was very emotional for everybody. To this day, I don’t know how we played that game and I’ll never know how Harry got through the match. I had the utmost respect for him after that game.”
Cherries 6 Hull City 1 – October 2016
“I was playing against Ryan Mason, my best mate, and he levelled for them after Chaz had opened the scoring. I thought it was going to be a long day but we ended up getting our biggest Premier League win. Ryan’s missus was sitting with my missus so we had the bragging rights after the game!”
Cherries 4 Liverpool 3 – December 2016
“One of the craziest games I’ve ever played in, if not the craziest! Again, we were 2-0 down at the break before they made it 3-1 after Cal had scored a penalty. Ryan Fraser and Cookie scored in quick succession before Nath got the winner. Scenes! It will go down in history as one of the greatest games at Vitality Stadium.”
