Stephen Purches

Stephen Purches

Personal information
Full name	Stephen Robert Purches
Date of birth	(1980-01-14) 14 January 1980
Place of birth	Ilford, London, England
Height
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	AFC Bournemouth (Development Coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2000	West Ham United	0	(0)
2000–2007	AFC Bournemouth	238	(10)
2007–2010	Leyton Orient	110	(5)
2010–2014	AFC Bournemouth	33	(0)
Total		381	(15)
Managerial career
2013–	AFC Bournemouth Development Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:34, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

Stephen Robert Purches (born 14 January 1980 in Ilford, England) is a retired English footballer who played mostly for Bournemouth over two spells. He also made over 100 appearances for Leyton Orient. When he retired from football he became the development coach at Bournemouth.

Club career

Purches is a defender who can play at centre back, midfield or full back on either side. He was previously a trainee at West Ham United but left in 2000 after failing to make a single appearance for the first team. He joined Bournemouth where he spent seven years and missed only three league games in his time at the club.

In summer 2007, he rejected a new contract at Bournemouth and left on a free transfer to join Leyton Orient. Purches watched his first football matches at Orient and described his move as being "like coming home". He was also handed the team captaincy when he arrived. After 132 games in all competitions, he was released by manager Russell Slade on 9 May 2010. On 7 June 2010, Purches re-signed for Bournemouth. On 18 February 2012, Purches broke his leg playing in a match against Rochdale.

On 19 May 2014, he formally retired from playing football due to injury, but will continue to work as part of Bournemouth's coaching staff.

Personal life

He is the brother-in-law of Linfield Manager Warren Feeney, as Feeney has married Purches' sister.

External links

• Stephen Purches career statistics at Soccerbase