Past and present AFCB legends

I imagine there was a lot of thinking behind what the South stand should be called in view of its long awaited presence and the fact that the world's press will be having a good look at it on Sunday night. I thought the Ted MacDougall name was most fitting, but then I am getting on and can remember newspaper headlines of the great man scoring loads of goals for the Cherries when I was a kid.

For today's young supporters it could be a bit of a library or Internet session to go and look up what Ted managed to achieve for the club, but I don't think that is a bad thing. They will know much more about the present players like myself and researching the club's history is something fans will do when they are good and ready. Having a statue or stand named after someone will jog the memory and give everyone the reminder that there is a story behind this person and they are being recognised for something exceptional.

While we have plenty of present day heroes I studied history and like to see that we do not forget what has happened in the past. If we didn't do that there would be no point in having records or any awards each year. To be fair there will be many good players who were part of the team when Super Mac was playing in his two spells at the club who don't get mentioned enough, but strikers usually get the acknowledgements.

Certainly more legends will be created in the future. You can already say we have been celebrating the efforts of Stephen Purches this year and Steve Fletcher, while Eddie Howe's status is already right at the very top. It is us fans though that put players and managers on pedestals, while they will say they are just doing their job. The truth is that many of the personnel at AFCB have done some special things over the years - so let's celebrate that.