Eddie Howe


Edward John Frank Howe is an English professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of club Bournemouth.
A defender before retirement who spent much of his career at Bournemouth, he was the youngest manager in the Football League when appointed Bournemouth manager in January 2009. Howe rescued Bournemouth from relegation out of the Football League in his first season in charge, after the club started the season on minus 17 points, then led them to promotion the next. After a brief spell as manager at Burnley, Howe returned to Bournemouth and led them to two further promotions in three seasons resulting in the club playing in the top flight of English football for the first time in their history. Howe's successes with Bournemouth resulted in him being given the inaugural Football League Manager of the Decade Award in 2015. The departure of Arsène Wenger from Arsenal in 2018 made Howe the longest-serving active manager in the Premier League.

Playing career

Howe was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. When very young, he moved to Verwood in Dorset, and later began his footballing career with local youth teams Rossgarth and Parley Sports before starting his professional career at AFC Bournemouth. He made his first-team debut in December 1995 against Hull City. Howe established himself as an important player in Bournemouth's defence and in 1998 he was selected for the England Under-21 team in the Toulon Tournament.
In March 2002, Portsmouth signed Howe for £400,000, making him new manager Harry Redknapp's first signing. Shortly after signing, a knee injury on his debut against Preston North End ended his season.
He returned for the opening game of the 2002–03 season against Nottingham Forest, but he injured his knee again after only nine minutes and was ruled out for the entire campaign. He did not return to full fitness until January 2004 after 18 months out. He was loaned to Swindon Town on transfer deadline day in March, although he did not feature for the club.
Portsmouth loaned Howe back to Bournemouth for the first three months of the 2004–05. He proved to be successful on his return to his first club after two injury-ravaged seasons with Portsmouth. With the club in a very poor financial state, supporters joined together to create "Eddieshare" to fund a transfer fee. Within days of creation, £21,000 was raised funding the required permanent transfer fee.
After a further three seasons and over 270 appearances, injuries forced his retirement as a player in 2007 and he then moved into coaching with the reserve squad.

Managerial career

In December 2006, at the age of 29, Howe was promoted to the position of player-coach by manager Kevin Bond, and handed the task of coaching Bournemouth's reserve team, though he continued to play in the first team. He retired from football in summer 2007, after he was unable to recover from a knee injury. In September 2008, Howe lost his job when Bond was sacked as manager.

Bournemouth

Howe returned to Bournemouth as a youth coach under Jimmy Quinn and took over as caretaker manager when Quinn was sacked on 31 December 2008. Even though his two games in charge as caretaker manager were away defeats, he was hired as the permanent manager of the club on 19 January 2009 and brought the club out of the relegation zone despite a 17-point deficit.
In the start of the 2009–10 season, Howe won eight out of the nine games, a club record. In November 2009, Championship club Peterborough United approached Howe to replace Darren Ferguson as their manager but Howe rejected their approach.
Despite the club's transfer embargo remaining in place for the rest of the season, Bournemouth secured promotion to League One after two years in the fourth tier of English football thanks to a 2–0 away win at Burton Albion on 24 April 2010.
In early 2011, Howe was approached by several other clubs but on 11 January announced that he was staying at Bournemouth. However, on 14 January 2011, Howe became the new Burnley manager after the club agreed a compensation deal with Bournemouth. He took charge of his 100th and final Bournemouth match of his first time with the club, later that day in a 2–1 defeat away to Colchester United.

Burnley

On 16 January 2011, Howe was announced as the new manager of Burnley after signing a three-and-a-half-year contract at the Championship club. His first game in charge of Burnley was away to Scunthorpe on 22 January 2011, which ended in a 0–0 draw. Burnley finished 8th in the Championship in season 2010–11 and 13th in season 2011–12 under Howe. He left Burnley in October 2012 citing "personal reasons" for his departure.

Return to Bournemouth

In October 2012, he re-joined his former club Bournemouth as manager. He won the League One Manager of the Month for November after guiding the club to three league wins and two draws, as well as an FA Cup victory. On 20 April 2013, he secured promotion to the Championship with Bournemouth finishing runners-up and one point behind champions Doncaster Rovers. In the 2013–14 season, Howe's Bournemouth finished 10th in the Championship, six points outside of the play-off positions.
On 19 April 2015, Howe was selected as the Manager of the Decade at the Football League Awards.
On 27 April 2015, he secured Bournemouth's promotion to the Premier League. Bournemouth beat Bolton Wanderers 3–0 at the Goldsands Stadium, a win which whilst not guaranteeing Premier League football for the 2015–16 season, required third placed side Middlesbrough to overcome a 19-goal goal difference with one game left in the season. Howe said of the promotion and of Bournemouth supporters, "It shouldn't be them thanking me, it should be me thanking them. It is a family club and deserves its moment in the sun." Bournemouth confirmed their promotion on the last day of the season, 2 May 2015, with a 3–0 victory at Charlton Athletic and, due to already-promoted Watford's failure to win their last match, were crowned champions of the league.
Howe guided Bournemouth to Premier League survival in their first season in the top flight football, with a 16th-place finish seeing them five points clear of the relegation zone. An even better campaign in 2016–17 saw Bournemouth finish ninth. A year later, he took them to 12th place in the Premier League to secure a fourth consecutive campaign at this level.
Howe's side finished in 14th in the 2018-19 Premier League, but the club's 5-year stay in the Premier League ended in 2019-20 after the club finished in 18th place.

Personal life

Howe and his wife Vicki have three sons.
On 5 March 2019 Howe was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Bournemouth by Bournemouth Borough Council. He is an Everton fan. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Howe became the first Premier League manager to take a pay cut.

Career statistics

As a player

As a manager

Honours

Manager

AFC Bournemouth