AFC BOURNEMOUTH: VERSION 2.0
The man who saved the Cherries is repeating the feat at Yeovil Town WFC
Who’d run a football club? In 2008, Bournemouth were second-bottom of League Two, hampered by a 17-point deduction after cash woes. Businessman Adam Murry built a consortium to buy 50 per cent of the club, then appointed Eddie Howe (below) as caretaker manager. One supporter, unsure of the wisdom of putting a 31-year-old in temporary charge, thanked Murry by spray-painting, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ on the wall of his house. A fortnight later, Murry made Howe’s appointment permanent and awoke to find a new message: ‘You STILL don’t know what you’re doing’. That aged well.
Now, Murry is busy attempting to transform the fortunes of another club in crisis. The writing was on the wall for Yeovil Town Women: having spent the past three years in the Women’s Super League, they suffered financial problems last season, in part due to the demands of the top flight turning fully professional.
Deducted 10 points after informing the FA of their intention to call in the administrators, they ended the 2018-19 campaign on -3 points. Insolvency was eventually avoided, thanks to a financial hand-out from the FA, but the Glovers had been consigned to relegation – and then they discovered that they wouldn’t be granted a licence to play in the Championship. Yeovil would be forced to play in the National League, the third tier of women’s football. Manager Lee Burch announced his departure, and the Somerset outfit – whose men’s team also started the 2019-20 season in the National League following a relegation of their own – were up for sale. The club had hit rock-bottom. But the Glovers were handed a lifeline when Murry, who also leads the Elite Soccer Skills Academy in Florida, stepped in with a takeover bid. Inspired by England’s Lionesses at the World Cup and enticed by women’s football thriving over the summer, he set out his bold ambition to rebuild Yeovil Town Women. “As with Bournemouth when I took over there, this is a club with a great heritage, a great feeling about it and wonderful support,” said Murry, unveiling “plans to take the club back into the higher leagues”. His first move was to appoint a young manager from within his coaching ranks, following his own footsteps with Howe in 2008. “As I did with Eddie, you recognise something and you want to give them a chance,” explained Murry. “Good young coaches are something that I look out for.” Sadly, this particular appointment worked out less well: Jamie Phillip stepped down after just a few matches in charge. At least nobody sprayed graffiti on Murry’s house this time...