DARREN Anderton has revealed how his Dean Court swansong rekindled his love for football – and that being appointed Cherries captain was one of the proudest moments of his career.

Anderton, who was capped 30 times by England and made more than 300 appearances in the top flight, finished his playing days with Cherries during one of the most traumatic periods in the club’s history.

Signed on the day Sean O’Driscoll left for Doncaster in September 2006, Anderton was on the books when the club fell into administration and was relegated due to a points deduction in 2007-08.

Despite his trials and tribulations, Anderton, who started his career at Portsmouth before spells at Tottenham, Birmingham and Wolves, says he has fond memories of his time with Cherries.

His memoirs have been put in print in his autobiography TakeNote, which is due to appear in bookshops this weekend.

In a chapter entitled Cherries on the cake, Anderton wrote: “I was without a club and, have to admit, out of love with the game in the summer of 2006. But I made a decision that was, looking back, one of my better ones. My experience at Wolves had soured everything that had gone before in my playing career. It would have been so sad to leave the game that had been my passion for as long as I could remember with such a negative feeling.

There is no doubt in my mind I’d have felt that way until my last breath without the move I made next – to approach AFC Bournemouth. It was that important.

A friend of mine, Matt Ford, who ran the Poole speedway team, knew outgoing Cherries chairman Peter Phillips and soon-to-be chairman Abdul Jaffer and I went to see them. They told me they would really like to do it, but needed to find sponsorship for my wages. I wasn’t asking big money.

It was peanuts compared to what I had been on, but Bournemouth was a club in financial difficulty. Also there was a takeover imminent. It was going to be difficult to make a deal work.

The chairman, now Abdul, asked me whether I would be interested in becoming manager in the future or even a coach. I told him firmly: ‘Not a chance. I didn’t come here to do that. I’ve made it clear all I want to do is play.’ I got into the training and found the lads, mostly young, a down-to-earth, regular bunch. They took to me and we used to do a lot socially together, with me getting them into clubs on Saturday nights where I knew the owners. I might have been able to enjoy the trappings of being a top player for over a decade, but they knew I wasn’t a Big-time Charlie and was just one of the lads.

On the field, I earned the respect of the other players by proving my attitude was the same as when I played for England and in the Premiership. I moaned like hell, tried my socks off and made every effort to show I was a complete team player. I’d always been like that and I wasn’t about to change just because I was playing League One football.

I played in all but a couple of matches that season and, although we struggled, was able to help the team keep their status with a draw against Gillingham in our last home game. And I was voted Player of the Year. I had not had that honour since my first year at Spurs. I even managed to hit the first hat-trick of my career that season – in a 5–0 home win against Leyton Orient on 10 February 2007.

The following season, I was flattered when Kevin Bond made me club captain. I’d skippered Spurs once or twice, but this was the first time I’d been given the job full-time, although it was taken away from Neil Young, which I felt bad about because he was a good mate.

I will always feel fortunate that I was able to play down there. I couldn’t have wished to have spent my final years as a professional footballer anywhere else.”

• Taken from ‘TakeNote’, Darren Anderton’s autobiography with Mike Donovan. Published by DB Publishing and available this month.