JOURNALIST, amateur actor and AFC Bournemouth fanatic Gary Smith settled in Australia later in his life, but retained his avid interest in the club.

Each visit back home to Dorset included a date or two at Dean Court, where his love for the Cherries developed as a schoolboy supporter.

Mr Smith was a founder member of the Junior Cherries and played a key role in establishing that section of support.

He travelled with a regular group of fans to all away matches, his long white coat emblazoned with the names of all the Bournemouth players.

He had played in goal for St Aldhelm’s Primary School himself, and then for successful sides at Poole Grammar.

As a teenager, he hiked his way through Europe, taking in top football fixtures along the way.

Then, with his lifelong friend Mark Adams, he crossed the USA, hitchhiking or driving and delivering cars to get about.

Eventually Mr Smith decided to take up journalism, following his father Colin Smith who, working for the Bournemouth Evening Echo, covered the Cherries for many years.

Following a journalism course in Portsmouth, Gary joined a weekly paper in East London, followed by a spell on a Swindon evening paper.

When the travel bug bit again he made his way, in stages, to New Zealand where he worked on a weekly for a couple of years. Moving to Australia he joined the Murdoch group of papers as a sub-editor, later becoming theatre critic as well.

In Sydney he met Sandra, from Wales, who was to become his wife for 29 years.

As well as sport they shared many other interests including music, theatre and film.

They were both involved in amateur dramatics as members of the New Theatre in the Newtown area of the city.

They appeared in several productions, while Mr Smith did jobs as an extra in a few feature films.

Mr Smith, who had a son, Liam, and step-daughter, Rachel, died following a long battle with cancer, aged 55.