CHERRIES are rapidly approaching the end of their seventh season as a Premier League club.
Following two wins last week, they already know they are going to end it with a higher points total than they have ever managed before, regardless of what happens in the next three fixtures.
Cherries currently have 48 points, eclipsing the previous best total of 46, set in the 2016-17 campaign under Eddie Howe.
The other five campaigns have seen Cherries pass the 40-point mark three more times, in 18-19 (45), 17-18 (44) and 15-16 (42).
Last year they totalled 39 points, with their lowest being 34 in the 2019-20 relegation campaign.
Cherries’ players and management have regularly spoken about trying to set a new club points record in recent weeks.
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Now they have been surpassed, we thought we’d have a look back at the previous record holders of 2016-17, with 27 players featuring during a campaign which saw Cherries finish ninth in the Premier League.
Still playing for the club
Two players who featured for the club during the 2016-17 season are still key members of the group now.
Adam Smith missed just two league games that season and is continuing to prove his worth now. Having just turned 33, the right-back has made 26 top-flight appearances this term and captained the team at the weekend.
Lewis Cook has missed just five league matches this term. Having just signed for Cherries as a 19-year-old back in 2016, the midfielder was struck down by injury for the majority of the campaign, playing six league games in all in 16-17.
Working at the club
Unsurprisingly given the time that has elapsed, a number of the 16-17 squad have now finished their playing careers.
Three of them are still at Cherries, in various capacities.
Simon Francis has the highest profile role, set to become the club’s new technical director this summer.
Having retired from playing in 2020, Francis totalled 2,940 minutes in 16-17, across 34 league appearances.
Junior Stanislas retired more recently, last summer having remained on the playing staff at Cherries until then.
He played a key role in the 16-17 Premier League points record, scoring seven goals across his 21 appearances, the second-highest tally of anyone in the squad.
That included goals in each of Cherries’ last three fixtures, against Stoke City, Burnley and Leicester City, as they made a strong end to the campaign.
The 34-year-old now works as assistant manager in the under-18s to James Lowy.
Moved into coaching
Another former player who was on the coaching staff at Cherries until fairly recently is Andrew Surman.
He was in the role which is now occupied by Stanislas, leaving in February to move to Southampton.
Midfielder Surman played 22 times in the Premier League in 16-17, totalling 1,802 minutes, retiring in 2020.
A player who shared central midfield duties with Surman that season was Jack Wilshere.
A marquee loan signing from Arsenal, the England international played 27 times, for a total of 1,913 minutes.
Wilshere went on to spend another season with the Gunners, before time at West Ham and then a spell back at Cherries in 2020-21.
He ended his career at Danish club Aarhus, retiring in 2022 and is now head coach of Arsenal’s under-18s.
A key player in 16-17, missing just four games, Charlie Daniels has also gone down the coaching route.
The left-back scored four Premier League goals that season, including one in a 3-3 draw with Arsenal.
Daniels went on to play for Shrewsbury Town, Portsmouth and Colchester United, before calling it a day in January 2022, to pursue coaching.
The 21-year-old is now head coach of Watford’s under-21s.
Still in the Premier League
Prior to his arrival on a permanent basis, Nathan Ake spent time on loan at Cherries in 16-17.
Backup initially, the Dutchman scored three goals in 10 appearances, famously netting in the iconic 4-3 win over Liverpool at Vitality Stadium.
After a spell back at Chelsea, Ake returned and become a fans’ favourite with Cherries, before a big-money move to Manchester City, who he helped win the treble last season.
When fit, striker Callum Wilson is a key player for Newcastle United.
He scored six times in 20 games in 16-17, before a knee injury curtailed his progress. Two of his goals came in the aforementioned fixtures against Arsenal and Liverpool.
Someone else unlucky in injury is Tyrone Mings. He played seven league games in 16-17, and is now as Aston Villa, but battling back from knee surgery.
One of Cherries’ key men in 16-17, playing 36 of the 38 games, was Harry Arter.
The midfielder, who was spotted at Vitality Stadium recently watching a game alongside his close friend Francis, remains on the books at Nottingham Forest.
However, he has not played for them since the 2020-21 season, having had loan spells at Charlton Athletic and Notts County.
Playing in the EFL
Steve Cook did not miss a minute of Premier League action in 16-17 and was voted Daily Echo Micky Cave player of the year.
He has added another trophy to his collection this season, voted fans’ player of the year at his new club QPR.
Cook, who scored in THAT game with Liverpool, as well as a 6-1 thrashing of Hull City, helped Nottingham Forest to promotion after leaving Cherries and is still going strong at 33.
Ryan Fraser, who scored three goals in 28 appearances that season, is looking to add another promotion to his CV this season, during a loan spell in the Championship with Southampton from Newcastle United.
He could meet former teammate Ryan Allsop, who was one of three goalkeepers to feature for Cherries in 16-17. ‘Rocky’ featured on the final day, in a 1-1 draw at Leicester (more from that game to come later).
Allsop is now first choice at Hull City.
The fourth player from that squad who is now playing in the EFL is defender Baily Cargill.
The academy graduate came off the bench to help Cherries seal a 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford, in what proves to be still his only Premier League appearance.
Cargill, now 28, has recently played a key role in helping Mansfield Town clinch promotion from League Two, having had spells with Milton Keynes Dons and Forest Green Rovers.
Starring in non-league
Back to that Leicester game and somebody who came off the bench to make his only league appearance was Matt Worthington.
Aged 19 at the time, he replaced Fraser for the final 16 minutes of the season at King Power Stadium.
Since leaving Cherries, Worthington has been with Yeovil Town and just captained them to promotion from National League South.
In action abroad
Four players who featured in 16-17 are now plying their trade on foreign shores.
Joshua King was a massive part of Cherries’ 46-point haul. He missed just two games, totalling 2,720 minutes and scored 16 goals. That was the most for any Cherries player in a top-flight season, until it was bettered by Dominic Solanke this season.
His haul included a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over West Ham United.
King stayed for a few more seasons before leaving in 2021 and featured for Everton and Watford, before moving to his current club Fenerbahce in Turkey.
With Wilson out injured, Benik Afobe saw plenty of game-time up front, featuring 31 times.
The former Arsenal youngster bagged six goals, including in a draw with Liverpool at Anfield.
Afobe, now 31, went on to sign for Stoke City and Millwall, before joining UAE club Al Dhafra, where he has been prolific.
Max Gradel, who played a bit-part role in 16-17 across his 11 appearances, is still performing in the top tier of Turkish football, with Gaziantep, having had spells with Toulouse and Sivasspor.
Brad Smith, a £3million signing from Liverpool, played five times totalling 270 minutes in 16-17, has since built a good career for himself in the USA.
Aussie Smith is now with Houston Dynamo, after time at Seattle Sounders and DC United. He has won both the MLS Cup and US Open Cup during his time Stateside.
Retired
Starting goalkeeper Artur Boruc missed just three league games in 16-17, and was voted by Daily Echo readers as Cherries’ goalkeeper of the decade.
He left Cherries in 2020, returning to Poland to play for two more years with Legia Warsaw, before eventually hanging up his gloves aged 42.
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Fellow goalkeeper Adam Federici has also retired. He played twice in the league in 16-17, going to feature for Stoke before moving back to Australia Macarthur FC and then retiring in 2021 due to injury.
On Instagram, Federici now says he is a “full-time dad and part time surfer/golfer” living in New South Wales.
Marc Pugh too has called it a day. Voted as player of the decade by Echo readers, Pugh played 21 times in 16-17, scoring in wins over Leicester and Middlesbrough.
Pugh left Cherries in 2019, joining QPR and then Shrewsbury Town, before retiring from professional football and becoming known across social media as ‘The Foodie Footballer’, working as a nutritionist.
The evergreen winger did briefly come out of retirement in 2023, to play alongside brother Lee at eighth-tier Clitheroe.
Free agents
The final four players have not officially retired, but are currently without a club.
Dan Gosling played the biggest role of the four in 16-17, with 1,356 minutes across 27 games, scoring two goals.
The popular midfielder reluctantly departed Cherries in January 2021, after falling out of favour, and joined Watford.
Injury hampered any hopes of him extending his stay at Vicarage Road, Gosling briefly linking up with Notts County earlier this season.
The 34-year-old has been without a club since January, doing some coaching work back at Watford, but in a recent interview said: “Until that last flame is extinguished, I still feel I can do a good job for someone.
“I just hope there’s somebody out there who might be able to use a box-to-box midfielder.”
Jordon Ibe made 25 appearances that season, but his career hit the rails after issues off the pitch, including mental health struggles.
The 28-year-old, once a £15m player, has played just three games since leaving Cherries in 2020, across spells at Derby County, Turkish club Adanaspor and non-league Ebbsfleet United, where he has just been released.
Ibe’s friend at Cherries, Lys Mousset, is also currently clubless.
Cherries got good money from Sheffield United for the striker in 2019 and the Frenchman briefly looked the part, before tailing off.
Mousset had loan spells at Salernitana in Italy, Nimes in France and signed for VfL Bochum in Germany, but was let go in January after off-field issues.
Lewis Grabban played a key role for Cherries during their EFL days, but was out of favour in 16-17, playing just three times in the league, before joining Reading on loan, who he helped reach the Championship play-off final.
Grabban has since played for Sunderland, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Saudi club Al-Ahli, but has been without a club since 2023. It is unclear whether or not he has officially retired.
Non-playing roles
There were three players in 16-17 who were unused subs for league games but did not feature.
Aaron Ramsdale and Sam Surridge were on the bench on the final day at Leicester. Ramsdale is hoping to win a Premier League title with Arsenal this season, while striker Surridge is impressing in MLS with Nashville.
The third player is Marc Wilson, who was restricted to cup duty for Cherries and has now retired.
It would be remiss not to mention boss Howe and his assistant Jason Tindall, who, of course, are now working their magic at Newcastle.
(All stats courtesy of transfermarkt.co.uk)
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