FORMER Cherries physio Steve Hard recently hit the 1,000 games in football milestone.

Hard was a long-serving member of staff at Cherries, serving six managers as head physio and working under Eddie Howe as the club moved up from League Two into the Premier League.

He joined in 2006, working as a one-man medical team, before seeing the department grow and grow in the ascent to the top flight.

Hard was let go by Cherries in the summer of 2021, following the appointment of Scott Parker as boss, who brought in his own staff.

But Hard has now joined League One Portsmouth as head of medical.

Pompey boss John Mousinho told the Portsmouth News: “Steve has worked at the top level, with Eddie Howe extensively, and is close to 1,000 games.

“He brings a huge amount of experience, not just in terms of physiotherapy but also leading medical teams.

“Steve was at Bournemouth until Scott Parker came in, then went into private practice after that and we’re really pleased he decided to take the leap here.

“It works out for him geographically and is a fantastic opportunity for both parties. We’re looking forward to pressing forward with a medical department and turning it into one which is really vibrant.

“It shows the intent and where we want to go as a football club.

“We couldn’t manage to get this in at the start of pre-season and Steve had quite a number of other commitments to take care of before taking the role.

“This is a long-term appointment, we want Steve to stay here for many, many years. We want to make sure we get it right and build a world-class medical team from there.”

Hard, who has also had spells working with Millwall and Crawley Town, hit 1,000 games in Pompey’s game against Peterborough United earlier this month.