We’ve all heard the name once or twice in the past couple of months; but who is Eddie Howe?
Born in Amersham, northwest of London, Howe was raised just north of Bournemouth, where he developed an interest in football and a passion for AFC Bournemouth, the local team. Since joining the Cherries as a 13-year-old, Howe has established himself as one of the most influential figures in the club’s 117-year history – and at just 37 years old.
Originally a part of the AFC Bournemouth youth setup, Howe would make his professional debut for Bournemouth just before the Christmas of 1995. He would then play just over 200 games for the Cherries, before moving down the road to Portsmouth. Howe’s playing career would really struggle during his time at Pompey. Having only made two appearances for Portsmouth, Howe would be loaned out to Swindon Town, before returning to Bournemouth in 2004. Due to the club’s financial frailties, his transfer fee was crowd funded under the guise of the ‘Eddieshare’ fund. Within a couple of days, they had raised the £21,000 needed to bring Howe back to Bournemouth. He would then see out his playing career at Dean Court, making 56 league appearances over three seasons before retiring.
Almost immediately after Howe ceased his playing obligations, he was given authority over numerous administrative roles around the club. In the 18 months after his competitive retirement, Howe operated under such titles as reserve team manager, first team coach, caretaker manager and finally club manager.
If you ask anyone who has followed the progress of Bournemouth over the past six years, what defines Eddie Howe’s stint as Bournemouth manager? They’ll tell you, something along the lines of “He saved the club”. When Howe took over the top job, Bournemouth were struggling with a lowly existence in the fourth tier and even for a moment were facing the possibility of relegation. Nowadays, they’re an elite club, playing against elite opposition week-in-week-out. Howe must have done something right along the way.
During Howe’s first full season in charge, he managed to gain promotion back into League one, despite the club being hindered by a transfer embargo. The following season he would jump ship to Burnley, only to return 18 months later citing ‘personal reasons’. During his time away Bournemouth had made no significant moves towards promotion or the Premier League for that matter.
In his first season back at the Bournemouth, The Cherries would secure a second place promotion to the Championship. The club stalled there for a season, before making a historical push for Premier League promotion- well all know how that ended. In the eight years that Howe has been managing he has received eight managerial honours, including League Managers Association Manager of the Year, Championship Manager of the Year and Football League Manager of the Decade Award.
The tracksuit-clad Englishman oozes inexperienced eagerness, seemingly content with the task in front of him and his Bournemouth side. He speaks with in a measured tone and very rarely resorts to the kind of tomfoolery that you would expect from a ‘Jose Mourinho’ type.
Which brings us to his defining quality – loyalty. Not only to AFC Bournemouth but the entire Bournemouth region. Yes, he did move away during his playing career, but there are those that believe that it was a ploy to financially reinforce the struggling Bournemouth of the time. As a manager he left for Burnley but returned. The common denominator in both situations was that he returned – to the benefit of Bournemouth. To hear him speak about the club that he first played for when he was 13, you’d swear he was referring to a close relative.
What can we expect from Howe this season?
A Howe-lead Bournemouth have been turning some heads with their positive attitude and philosophy, a mixture between traditional and meticulous. From the first two games, we can tell that he is loyal to his players, leaving out marquee signings in favor of the boys that won the championship. The most notable case is left-back, Charlie Daniels being selected over club record transfer Tyrone Mings. In a recent interview with The Independent, Howe said that “I am going to be loyal to the core group that have got us this far”.
Another sign that Howe holds a preference for familiar faces is the story of Tommy Elphick. Elphick has been with the club since their Football League One days and has actively been backed by Howe despite the constant rise in the standard of opposition- picking up the club captaincy along the way. It is a trait that makes Howe one of the few managers in the league whose players appear to be playing for him and not just a paycheck.
Whatever you make of Howe, as a manager or a person, there’s no doubting his passion for Bournemouth and his desire to better the club. His at the helm of a club, that is emerging as a financial force and has a boardroom that supports him- which again is a pretty rare thing in the Premier League. During a pre-season tour of the US, chairman Jeff Mostyn was caught reflecting on his relationship with Howe, where he said that sometimes the two joke about the club not being able to afford a better manager.
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