Wes Fogden - ain't no stoppin' him now

The one player at AFCB who continually manages to surprise me in his dogged determination and energetic playing style is Wes Fogden. He looks like he might get knocked over if you accidentally brush past him, but Wes is much stronger and fitter than the average player from what I see when I go to Dean Court. A real action man.

Wes Fogden before the Orient away game last season. Action man
comes complete with eagle eyes and flexible limbs!

Having had a life-threatening spine tumour at Brighton in his younger years, he recovered amazingly to play on at non-league teams like Dorchester, Bognor and Havant & Waterlooville before he was spotted by AFC Bournemouth and signed a three year deal in October 201l. It seems that he has been around longer. He is "part of the furniture" as they say. 

Wes is a battler and jumped from non-league to League One with no difficulties. I would expect a lot of the players in the team to admire his rise to fame and you always know that he will put in a shift for the team every time he appears. The way he gives his all has made him a bit of a utility player, but his strength has to be a winger and as a goalscorer. He could be viewed as a lucky player as things just seem to go right for him when it comes to the bounce of the ball or beating his man. Yet we can all see in the way he gets around the pitch that he has put in the hard graft to get to where he is now. It's his energy that really stands out though. 

Whether Mr Dynamo will get as much game time in the Championship as he did in League One is yet to be seen. No one has suggested that he could be on his way and he is a firm favourite with many of the supporters that I sit near. But what can he be thinking. He must be just bursting to make his debut in the Championship, like so many of our players.  

While he is going to have to try and grasp the chance to play when he can, the fact that players like Wes can keep his spirits up, when he has been waiting on the sidelines to come on, is testimony to the closeness of this squad and the team's spirit. Simply put, Wes is one of the lads who gives all to help the team and that kind of attitude gives strength to the knowledge that the lads are all in it together to get the wins. That team spirit is going to be tested next season. Indeed, Wes will be tested next season.

Yet, you know there will be no slowing down for Foggy. For those that are old enough to remember McFadden & Whitehead you'll soon be singing "Ain't no stoppin' us now, we're on the move", because Foggy never stops running. He will hit the Championship full on at 100 miles an hour snapping at the heels of fellow professionals and I suspect as usual he will surprise most of us more than a few times, because it's easy to forget what a good player he really is to have around.