The loss of a local hero

With English football now routinely importing players from around the world rather than the British Isles or even just the local area, fans like nothing better than a successful home-produced player, especially if they were born and raised locally, proudly chanting "he's one of our own" whenever possible.

Tuesday's announcement of the death of former Bournemouth goalkeeper David Best at the age of 82 leaves the Cherries' older supporters mourning a fondly remembered local hero.

Born in nearby Wareham, Best joined Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic (as they were then) in 1960 and soon displaced experienced Republic of Ireland international Tommy Godwin between the posts, despite being only 17.

Best was a consistent performer as the Cherries just missed promotion from the old Third Division under player-manager Bill McGarry, and missed only one game in an otherwise uninterrupted run between December 1961 and May 1966.

After 230 league games for Bournemouth, Best made nearly a century of appearances for Oldham, before spending six years with Ipswich where he played in Europe under Bobby Robson, keeping clean sheets in both legs of a Uefa Cup victory over Real Madrid.

Following a stint with Portsmouth, Best returned to Dean Court in 1975 to make two more appearances before joining Dorchester Town as player-manager, later returning to his home town Wareham while managing several local non-league sides.

Cherries supporters of every vintage will have a favourite keeper from "their" era. Ken Bird, Godwin, Best, Roger Jones, Fred Davies and Gerry Peyton will all have their advocates, as will the likes of Artur Boruc and Asmir Begovic in more recent years.

But Best, having established himself as first-choice shot-stopper at such a tender age, probably beats current Bournemouth goalkeeping coach Neil Moss to the title of "best local goalkeeper" (pun intended) to have served the Cherries.