Departing Bournemouth hero Andrew Surman expressed his gratitude to the club this weekend.

The club favorite, who is now 37, was working as the Cherries Under-18s coach after retirement.

But he has now moved to neighbors Southampton, taking up the same role at their academy.

He played for the Saints as a youth player and a senior pro, before eventually reaching Bournemouth in 2013 and staying until 2020.

Surman told the Daily Echo: “It was brilliant. I was grateful for the opportunity.

“I had 18 months off after I retired and then wasn't quite sure what to do.

“But football was always sort of calling me back.

“I had a lot of experience and wanted to impart that. I spoke to Franno, who said they were trying to build something and the opportunity came up.

“It was perfect. I slotted straight in as under-18s assistant to Dan Carroll.

“He was brilliant for me. I was obviously just starting out and he helped me loads with my coaching.

“Then James Lowy took over in the summer, so I've been assisting him as well. He's a really, really good coach.

“This year has really been about me learning the ropes and finding out how to coach, how it all works and all the stuff that goes into it, which I didn't realize when I played.

“So it's been a really good year of experience."