Quartet leave Bournemouth after over 50 years' combined service
Goalkeeper coach Neil Moss and Head Physio Steve Hard have left the club
Written by Simon Austin — June 30, 2021
A quartet with more than 50 years’ experience of working on the backroom staff at Bournemouth have departed the club following the arrival of Scott Parker as Head Coach.
The former England international left Fulham to take charge at the Vitality this week. As TGG had revealed, he took five staff with him - assistant Matt Wells, goalkeeper coach Rob Burch, Head of Performance Alastair Harris, Lead Physical Performance Coach Charlie Moore and Head Analyst Jonathan Hill.
To make way, four long-serving staff have exited, all of whom had played a significant part in the club’s promotion to the Premier League in 2015 under Eddie Howe.
They are: assistant Stephen Purches, first-team coach Simon Weatherstone, Head Physio Steve Hard and goalkeeper coach Neil Moss.
All had stayed on when Howe left after eight years at the helm in August 2020. They remained when assistant Jason Tindall was promoted to become Howe’s successor and then when Jonathan Woodgate took over on an interim basis in February 2021.
However, following Parker’s arrival, the club have decided to have a fresh start and fully move on from the Howe era.
Purches played for the Cherries for more than a decade during two stints and earned a testimonial with them in 2003. When he retired in 2004 he joined the club’s youth set-up as a coach and progressed to become first-team coach and assistant, as well as gaining the Uefa Pro Licence.
Moss made 211 appearances in goal for the club as a player and became their goalkeeper coach in June 2009, working with a number of top keepers including current England squad member Aaron Ramsdale.
Weatherstone was appointed first-team coach at the club in June 2014, while Hard had been first-team physio with them for 15 years.
