Elphick has led the way all season

It has been another great season for Tommy Elphick. At first we only saw him fleetingly as he was kept out of the starting line up for the Charlton home game and after the humbling at Huddersfield and a Capital One Cup match against Watford he only played a couple of games in September and found that the form of Steve Cook and Elliott Ward would keep him out of the team until early November. But Tommy got through his injury worries and forced his way back into the team for the Derby home match in late November and did not miss a match then until the Ipswich away game in late April.

Tommy Elphick thrives on being the captain.

Tommy still managed to tot up over 40 appearances and led the team against Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup on 25 January 2014. That must have been a proud moment for him as I believe his is one of the players who is a Liverpool fan. He was probably equally as proud to leave the Cherries out against Brighton at the Amex on New Year's Day, although he probably dreamt that he would lead the team out on a sun baked day rather than the winter squall that made for a captivating game that day.

I knew that Michael Dunne of All Departments would be interviewing Tommy this week and so asked if he would question Tommy about the QPR match at home when Tommy scored his headed goal to give the Cherries a goal lead just before half time. The game was on a knife edge up until then with both teams looking dangerous and Bournemouth having the best of the end 15 minutes of that half. What was perhaps a surprise was that Tommy got the first goal, but it showed everyone how much he loves to lead the team and play his part at both ends of the pitch. I am not sure what happened immediately as the second half started, but AFCB continued to bounce back in games in the second half of the season and the belief that Tommy gave his team mates throughout the season was a good foundation for some of the success.

Tommy at the Millwall away game.

Reading Tommy's skipper entries in the Match Day programme you get a sense of his honesty and his fondness for the club. What is more he is confident that there are even better days ahead for the Cherries and I look forward to seeing those.
As I mentioned earlier, All Departments is releasing a special podcast with Captain Tommy Elphick, so make sure you tune in at some point today when the podcast is expected to go live. Just visit All Departments' website to hear what the captain has been saying about last season and life with the Cherries.