Ollie Harfield : "I saw the club rise from the bottom to the top!"

Defender but also can play in midfield, Ollie Harfield gives SGFS insight into his time at Bournemouth, loans he has experienced and his current club Weymouth in the National League South. Here is what he had to say!...

Q: Firstly, starting off your youth football exploits at Bournemouth FC. Can you give us a flavour what it was like growing as a player in a club like the Cherries?

A: I joined Bournemouth when they were in league 1 so I saw the club rise from the bottom all the way to the top. Which was good to see. Having use of the top facilities and training with a great manager and great players gained me a lot of experience & showed me how good you have to be to be at the top.

Q: In the midst of it all you had two loans at Southern League side Poole Town and National League side Boreham Wood FC. How valuable was it to you in career and would you recommend it to fellow footballers?

I had my first loan to Poole Town FC when they were conference south. it was a good loan for me because I could continue training at Bournemouth FC. I recommend it to any player that is young to get out on loan and play as many games as possible. (u21 games don’t go down on your CV) it made me into a man and taught me it’s all about getting the 3 points. I moved onto Boreham Wood FC (conference) in the latter half of the season. Unfortunately didn’t play much but we got to the play off final at Wembley so was all valuable experience for me!

Q: Before your current club, you amassed 35 appearances in the National League, can you summarise that time period playing at that level?

Last season I was at Dagenham, I played a lot of games and was probably my favourite season. Fans were great and took well to me. It’s a tough league. Full of strong talented players and it really developed me. I learnt a lot about myself living in London out of my comfort zone and playing in that league. End of the season came and I had a decision to make whether to accept an offer from Dagenham or look elsewhere.

Q: Fast forward to now playing for Weymouth FC in the National League South. What attracted you to the move and how do you feel it is going now?

Weymouth contacted me and really attracted me to the club which I know quite well previously so that was always nice. I knew the manager well from my Bournemouth days and I also knew a lot of the lads so that always makes things easier. The philosophy of the club always suits me very well.

Q: Have you got a personal aspirations in football and have you already achieved any of your targets?

Personally I want to play as many games as possible at the highest level. I’m looking forward to pushing on this year and seeing where it gets me!

We appreciate and thank Ollie for taking his time to answer the questions!