WHILE his appetite for football may be on the wane, Ian Cox’s affection for AFC Bournemouth has never diminished. Far from it.

Cherries supporters have fond memories of their former hero – and the feeling is mutual.

Cox went to a World Cup, played at Wembley and once had a £1.8m price tag on his head during a distinguished spell in the professional game.

So when he credits Cherries and Mel Machin with putting him on the right path, it is high praise indeed.

“I was at Crystal Palace at the time, playing in the reserves and coming to the end of my contract,” said Cox, reflecting on his Dean Court days in an interview with the Daily Echo. “Mel just took a chance on me.

“If it wasn’t for Mel giving me the opportunity to come to Bournemouth and also the people of Bournemouth being quite supportive in their ways, I possibly wouldn’t have done what I did when I was playing.

“For me, it was a stepping stone, but it was a positive move and a move that really got me on the track.

“I enjoyed my time in Bournemouth, enjoyed the football I played and it (joining Cherries) was the most defining moment in my football career.”

Converted into a centre-half by then-manager Machin shortly after arriving from Palace in March 1996, Cox proved a big hit in Dorset, soon establishing himself as one of Cherries’ top performers.

Daily Echo/Micky Cave supporters’ player of the year in 1996-97, his fine form saw him regularly linked with the sort of big-money moves that would even raise eyebrows at the now more affluent Dean Court.

A former defensive partner of both Rio Ferdinand and Eddie Howe, classy Cox went on to captain Cherries, earning his place in club folklore by leading out the team at Wembley in the 1998 Auto Windscreens Shield final.

But although those recollections remain dear to Cox, the man Cherries sold to Burnley for £500,000 in February 2000 – after 172 league appearances – is now more focused on his new career.

Working in an assessment centre, he helps decide whether youngsters are placed into one of the organisation’s main houses or into a foster placement.

“I am enjoying what I am doing now,” said the 40-year-old, who lives in Kent. “I always wanted to work with kids and young people who had been a little bit unfortunate through whatever circumstances, trying to make a little bit of a difference in their lives, whether that be through me being there as a carer or worker, or just being a support mechanism for them.

“I finished in professional football in 2008 at Gillingham. I took a little bit of time off and signed that same year for Maidstone.

“In 2008, I kind of lost my appetite. I picked up a few injuries and didn’t particularly see eye to eye with the manager at the time, and it was the right time for me to move on.

“At Maidstone, the manager was Alan Walker who used to play centre-half for Gillingham. He brought back my appetite for playing football.

“Due to work commitments, I couldn’t justify trying to get time off to play. I had already done that in the early part of my career and it was now time to settle into what direction I was going to get into next.

“I watch the games at Gillingham but I don’t have too much to do with it now. When I came out of the game, I kind of lost my appetite for it and just wanted to come away from it.”

Although not directly involved any more, Cox has plenty to reminisce about when he looks back on his playing days.

And such was the impact made by Cherries, the club is given a mention alongside the 2006 World Cup, where Cox travelled as part of the Trinidad & Tobago squad that locked horns with England.

Cox said: “The only downside – if you can call it a downside – was that I didn’t get any playing time.

“But that aside, the whole experience of being fortunate enough to go to the World Cup was the highlight of my career.”

Cox added: “Bournemouth played a massive part.

“I was at Crystal Palace and if Mel hadn’t taken a chance on me at the time, you just don’t know where you would have ended up or what you would have ended up doing.”